In a case that could clarify the specificity with which patent holders must describe their inventions, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court and the attorneys arguing the case of Nautilus Inc. v. Biosig Instruments Inc., No. 13-369, had a tough time finding the right words to articulate a standard.

Tagged with: Antonin Scalia Patent Act Sonia Sotomayor Stephen Breyer

The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court seemed to cast some constitutional doubt on a state statute that prohibits making false statements about political candidates during oral arguments in the case of Susan B. Anthony List v. Driehaus, No. 13-193.

Tagged with: Antonin Scalia Ruth Bader Ginsburg

The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court are facing the difficult task of determining whether computer-implemented software programs that draw on non-computerized principles — a category that could encompass countless types of programs that are in use by millions of people — are eligible for patents.

Tagged with: Antonin Scalia Patent Act patents Ruth Bader Ginsburg Sonia Sotomayor

The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court have an opportunity to dramatically change the landscape of securities fraud class action litigation by limiting, or perhaps overruling altogether, a decision upon which plaintiffs have relied for decades.

Tagged with: Anthony Kennedy Antonin Scalia Clarence Thomas Class actions class-action lawsuit Elena Kagan John Roberts Samuel Alito Securities fraud

The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court wrangled over the language of a statute that allows prevailing parties in certain patent infringement cases to recoup attorney fees — an issue that could mean millions of dollars in already costly legal proceedings.

Tagged with: Anthony Kennedy Antonin Scalia John Roberts patents U.S. Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court has cast serious doubt on President Barack Obama’s constitutional authority to install three members on the National Labor Relations Board without Senate approval in 2012.

Tagged with: Antonin Scalia Elena Kagan NLRB Ruth Bader Ginsburg Samuel Alito U.S. Supreme Court

Ruling that airlines have broad immunity from lawsuits under a post-9/11 security law, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday threw out a $1.4 million defamation judgment awarded to a pilot who was reported by his employer as mentally unstable and potentially armed.

Tagged with: Antonin Scalia Clarence Thomas defamation Elena Kagan Sonia Sotomayor Wisconsin Supreme Court

The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court are struggling to determine how mandatory statutory damages to victims of child pornography should be allocated among those convicted of possessing and viewing the material, and what proof is required to establish liability.

Tagged with: Antonin Scalia Child Pornography Samuel Alito Stephen Breyer U.S. Supreme Court

The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court used a parade of hypotheticals involving speeding, kidnapping and terrorist threats to try to pinpoint just when information from an anonymous tip can serve as the basis for a police traffic stop.

Tagged with: Antonin Scalia U.S. Supreme Court

During an expanded, 90-minute argument session Tuesday, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court wrangled over whether the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to impose power plant emission rules upon states that contribute to the air pollution of neighboring states.

Tagged with: Antonin Scalia Elena Kagan EPA John Roberts pollution Stephen Breyer U.S. Supreme Court

The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court expressed doubt on Wednesday as to the legality of a commonly used type of labor negotiating pact, setting up the possibility of a high court ruling that could shake up workplace organization efforts.

Tagged with: 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Anthony Kennedy Antonin Scalia Ruth Bader Ginsburg Samuel Alito U.S. Supreme Court

During oral arguments Tuesday, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court tried to nail down just what intent is necessary for a conviction for the federal crime of aiding and abetting the use of a firearm in a violent or drug felony.

Tagged with: Anthony Kennedy Antonin Scalia John Roberts Ruth Bader Ginsburg U.S. Supreme Court

The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court faced the task of drawing a line between permissible religious addresses by private citizens at public meetings and unconstitutional government-sanctioned prayer during Wednesday’s oral arguments in Town of Greece v. Galloway, No. 12-696.

Tagged with: Anthony Kennedy Antonin Scalia Elena Kagan Establishment Clause John Roberts prayer U.S. Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to fill in some of the legal blanks left by its 2012 ruling in Lafler v. Cooper, which extended criminal defendants’ right to effective counsel to the plea bargaining stage.

Tagged with: Antonin Scalia Ruth Bader Ginsburg U.S. Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court appeared likely Tuesday to throw out caps on some contributions by the biggest individual donors to political campaigns.

Tagged with: Antonin Scalia First Amendment John Roberts U.S. Supreme Court

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia says he thinks Christian values are necessary for capitalism to succeed.

Tagged with: Antonin Scalia U.S. Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court is making decisions that should be left to Congress or the people, from wiretapping to "inventing" new classes of minorities, Justice Antonin Scalia said Monday.

Tagged with: Antonin Scalia health care U.S. Supreme Court

In a historic victory for gay rights, the Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a provision of a federal law denying federal benefits to married gay couples and cleared the way for the resumption of same-sex marriage in California.

Tagged with: ACLU Anthony Kennedy Antonin Scalia Defense of Marriage Act Elena Kagan John Roberts Larry Dupuis Ruth Bader Ginsburg same-sex marriage Stephen Breyer U.S. Supreme Court

A sharply divided Supreme Court on Monday made it more difficult for Americans to sue businesses for discrimination and retaliation, leading a judge to call for Congress to overturn the court's actions.

Tagged with: 7th Circuit Anthony Kennedy Antonin Scalia Elena Kagan job discrimination Ruth Bader Ginsburg Samuel Alito Sonia Sotomayor Stephen Breyer Title VII U.S. Supreme Court

In a decision that seemed designed to carve out a middle ground in the legal battle over whether companies can hold exclusive rights in the use of biological material, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that isolated human genes are not patentable, but synthetically created genetic material may be patented.

Tagged with: ACLU Antonin Scalia Clarence Thomas DNA patents U.S. Supreme Court

A deeply divided U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a procedural default in state court did not bar a Texas death row inmate from seeking relief in federal court based on the assertion that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel at sentencing.

Tagged with: Antonin Scalia Clarence Thomas Ineffective assistance John Roberts Samuel Alito Stephen Breyer U.S. Supreme Court

Three U.S. states and three countries have approved same-sex unions just in the two months since the Supreme Court heard arguments over gay marriage, raising questions about how the developments might affect the justices' consideration of the issue.

Tagged with: Anthony Kennedy Antonin Scalia Defense of Marriage Act gay marriage U.S. Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has affirmed the authority of federal regulators to try to speed local government decisions on proposals to build or expand cellphone towers.

Tagged with: Anthony Kennedy Antonin Scalia FCC John Roberts Samuel Alito U.S. Supreme Court

Defining “property” may seem an easy task. But for the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court it may be much trickier as they consider whether a nonbinding recommendation for an investment fund qualifies as “property” that can be the subject of attempted extortion.

Tagged with: Antonin Scalia Samuel Alito Stephen Breyer U.S. Supreme Court

Can a common practice in criminal defense trigger constitutional protections when it’s suddenly changed?

Tagged with: Antonin Scalia Elena Kagan Habeas Corpus Sonia Sotomayor Stephen Breyer

Emotions - and tensions - ran high at the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in a case asking whether a federal tribal law allows a biological father to regain custody of a child who had been legally adopted by a couple under state law.

Tagged with: Antonin Scalia John Roberts Sonia Sotomayor

It was a closely watched case that came to a dramatic and unexpected conclusion of questionable precedential value. Now attorneys are left pondering what effect, if any, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend will have on class-action certifications.

Tagged with: Antonin Scalia class-action lawsuit Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Defense of Marriage Act Ruth Bader Ginsburg Stephen Breyer U.S. Supreme Court

A consumer class action should not have been certified because the plaintiffs’ expert testimony failed to establish that the case was susceptible to awarding damages on a class-wide basis, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled 5-4.

Tagged with: 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Antonin Scalia class action Elena Kagan Ruth Bader Ginsburg Sonia Sotomayor U.S. Supreme Court

Police engaged in a “search” within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment when they used a drug-sniffing dog on a homeowner’s porch to investigate the contents of the home, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled 5-4.

Tagged with: Anthony Kennedy Antonin Scalia drug sniffing dog Elena Kagan Florida v. Jardines Fourth Amendment Ruth Bader Ginsburg U.S. Supreme Court

Less than a year after creating a narrow right to make a federal ineffective assistance of counsel claim in a post-conviction proceeding despite a procedural default in state court, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court tried to carve out the contours of that ruling during oral arguments in Trevino v. Thaler.

Tagged with: Anthony Kennedy Antonin Scalia Habeas Corpus Ineffective assistance Samuel Alito Sonia Sotomayor U.S. Supreme Court