Despite being short one justice for much of the year, the U.S.
Supreme Court handed down multiple significant decisions this past
term that can unsettle long-standing legal understandings in
multiple technology fields. These rulings have involved everything
from class actions to patents, trademarks and copyrights to the
First Amendment. Fenwick's litigation group convened a working
group to track these developments and unpack their potential impact
on how tech and life sciences companies operate and do
business.
The Supreme Court continued its streak of overturning
established Federal Circuit law and overruled every patent decision
that the Federal Circuit made. This included the Supreme
Court's landmark ruling in TC Heartland that patent
infringement lawsuits must be brought in the state where the
defendant company is incorporated, which may effectively shut down
lawsuits brought by non-practicing entities in the Eastern District
of Texas.
