U.S. Supreme Court creates new hurdles for patent holders seeking to enjoin their competition

The U.S. Supreme Court created new hurdles for patent holders seeking to enjoin their competition in a closely watched decision released late last month.

In a unanimous opinion authored by Justice Clarence Thomas, the Court said patent holders must be treated the same way as every other

Boston attorney Tony Fitzpatrick, a patent litigator and co- chair of the Intellectual Property group at Duane Morris, said the decision was one of the most important IP cases in half a century.

The decision is couched as essentially clarifying the law, or telling lower courts that they perhaps were not applying the correct law, but in practical effect this is a change in the law in patent cases, he said.

Sharon Barner, chair of the Intellectual Property group at Foley & Lardner in Chicago, agreed.