Smith & Nephew, Inc. v. Arthrex, Inc.

 
DOCKET NO.
OP. BELOW
SUBJECT
Patent

Question(s) Presented

“Whether administrative patent judges are ‘principal’ or ‘inferior’ Officers of the United States within the meaning of the Appointments Clause.”

Date
Proceedings and Orders
July 20, 2020
Consent to the filing of amicus briefs received from counsel for Arthrex, Inc. submitted.
July 20, 2020
Consent to the filing of amicus briefs received from counsel for Smith & Nephew, Inc., et al. submitted.
July 20, 2020
Consent to the filing of amicus briefs received from counsel for United States submitted.
August 12, 2020
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/29/2020.
October 5, 2020
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/9/2020.
October 13, 2020
Petition GRANTED, the petition for a writ of certiorari in No. 19-1434 is granted as to Federal Circuit case No. 2018-2140, and the petition for a writ of certiorari in No. 19-1458 is granted, all limited to Questions 1 and 2 as set forth in the July 22, 2020 Memorandum for the United States. The cases are consolidated, and a total of one hour is allotted for oral argument. VIDED.
October 13, 2020
Because the Court has consolidated these cases for briefing and oral argument, future filings and activity in the cases will now be reflected on the docket of No. 19-1434. Subsequent filings in these cases must therefore be submitted through the electronic filing system in No. 19-1434. Each document submitted in connection with one or more of these cases must include on its cover the case number and caption for each case in which the filing is intended to be submitted. Where a filing is submitted in fewer than all of the cases, the docket entry will reflect the case number(s) in which the filing is submitted; a document filed in all of the consolidated cases will be noted as “VIDED.”
January 14, 2021
CIRCULATED
January 25, 2021
Record requested from the U.S.C.A.Federal Circuit.
February 24, 2021
The record from U.S.C.A. Federal Circuit is electronic and located on Pacer.
March 1, 2021
Argued. For United States: Malcolm L. Stewart, Deputy Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C. For Smith & Nephew, Inc., et al.: Mark A. Perry, Washington, D. C. For Arthrex, Inc.: Jeffrey A. Lamken, Washington, D. C. VIDED.
June 21, 2021
Judgment VACATED and case REMANDED. Roberts, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court with respect to Parts I and II, in which Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett, JJ., joined, and an opinion with respect to Part III, in which Alito, Kavanaugh, and Barrett, JJ., joined. Gorsuch, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part. Breyer, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment in part and dissenting in part, in which Sotomayor and Kagan, JJ., joined. Thomas, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan, JJ., joined as to Parts I and II. VIDED.
July 23, 2021
JUDGMENT ISSUED.