Supreme Court Grants Certiorari in Patent Case

Today the U.S. Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari in a patent case, a rare occurrence. The Court announced that it will hear an appeal from the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Global-Tech Appliances, Inc. v. SEB S.A. The Global-Tech case concerns the level of intent that a patentee must prove to establish infringement by inducement, a very important legal issue. The Court's decision will have significant ramifications across many industries, including the computer and software industries in particular.