SG Urges Justices to Tackle Patent Eligibility in 2 Cases

Intellectual Property attorney Anthony Fuga was quoted in a Law360 article discussing the solicitor general’s suggestion for the U.S. Supreme Court to hear two cases dealing with patent eligibility. In its brief, the government recommended reformulating the questions presented in the petitions to remove other issues, allowing the justices to address whether the claimed inventions are ineligible for patent protection. In one of the cases recommended to the high court, the Federal Circuit summarily affirmed a lower court decision siding with the accused infringer Polar Elector Oy, and invalidating Interactive Wearables' patents on a media player that provides details like the name of a song while the content is playing. Mr. Fuga, who represents Polar Electro Oy, indicated that the issue is not suitable for Supreme Court review.

 "[The government's brief] raises issues related to purported misapplication of the law, which aren't exactly suitable for Supreme Court review," he said.

He further noted that while the brief expressed concern that the judge's eligibility analysis of the media player patents included other issues like obviousness and enablement, the decision acknowledged the distinction between those issues. Additionally, Mr. Fuga mentioned that the Supreme Court rarely hears cases that involve the misapplication of a properly stated rule pointing out that the Federal Circuit affirmed the lower court with a one-line order, and denied Interactive Wearables' request for en banc review with no dissents.

READ: SG Urges Justices to Tackle Patent Eligibility in 2 Cases