Supreme Court of the United States

The US Supreme Court is the highest court in the USA.

Some important cases

Starting with the most recent:

• Bilski v. Kappos 2009 (as of April 9th, 2010, opinion still pending)
• Diamond v. Diehr, 1981
• Parker v. Flook (1978, USA)
• Gottschalk v. Benson, 1972
•  ? EBay v. MercExchange (2006, USA)
•  ? KSR v. Teleflex (2007, USA)

The judges

The judges of the 2009 term (Oct '09 - Oct '10), who are deciding the Bilski v. Kappos case are:

• Chief Justice Roberts
• Justice Stevens
• Justice Scalia
• Justice Kennedy
• Justice Thomas
• Justice Ginsburg
• Justice Breyer
• Justice Alito
• Justice Sotomayor

Justice Stevens is the only member of the court involved in previous cases which touched on patentable subject matter. Stevens wrote the majority opinion in Parker v. Flook (1978, USA), and wrote a dissenting opinion in Diamond v. Diehr (1981, USA).

Related pages on ESP Wiki

• Case law in the USA
• USA patents courts and appeals
• US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit - the Federal court that hears patent appeals, below the Supreme Court

External links

• http://www.supremecourtus.gov/
• Transcript of the Bilski hearing
  • ESP's highlights
  • Software and business method patents: at least four justices see through the Christmas ornament loophole, by Nick Szabo