Supreme Court Decision Alert - June 22, 2015

Today, the Supreme Court issued two decisions, described below, of interest to the business community.

• Patent Act—Availability of Royalties after Expiration of the Patent
• Takings Clause—Price-Stabilization Reserve Requirements

Patent Act—Availability of Royalties after Expiration of the Patent

Kimble v. Marvel Entertainment, LLC., No. 13-720 (previously described in the December 15, 2014, Docket Report)

Under the Patent Act, a patent typically expires twenty years after its application date. See 35 U.S.C. § 154(a)(2). In Brulotte v. Thys Co., 379 U.S. 29 (1964), the Supreme Court held that a licensing arrangement as to a patent is per se anticompetitive if it provides royalties to the patentee for periods that extend beyond the patent's expiration date. Brulotte thus rendered agreements for post-expiration royalties unenforceable. In recent years, commentators and economists have broadly criticized Brulotte's suggestion that post-expiration