Court : US Supreme Court
Decided on : Jun-28-2010
Bilski v. Kappos - 08-964 (2010) SYLLABUS OCTOBER TERM, 2009 BILSKI V. KAPPOS SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES BILSKI etal. v . KAPPOS, UNDER SECRETARY OF COMMERCE FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND DIRECTOR, PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the federal circuit No. 08964.Argued November 9, 2009Decided June 28, 2010 Petitioners patent application seeks protection for a claimed invention that explains how commodities buyers and sellers in the energy market can protect, or hedge, against the risk of price changes. The key claims are claim 1, which describes a series of steps instructing how to hedge risk, and claim 4, which places the claim 1 concept into a simple mathematical formula. The remaining claims explain how claims 1 and 4 can be applied to allow energy suppliers and consumers to minimize the risks resulting from fluctuations in market demand. The patent examiner rejected the application on the grounds that the invention is...
Tag this Judgment!Court : US Supreme Court
Decided on : Jun-07-2010
Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Limited Partnership SYLLABUS OCTOBER TERM, 2010 MICROSOFT CORP. V. I4I LTD. PARTNERSHIP SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES MICROSOFT CORP. v . i4i LIMITED PARTNERSHIP etal. certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the federal circuit No. 10290.Argued April 18, 2011Decided June 9, 2011 In asserting patent invalidity as a defense to an infringement action, an alleged infringer must contend with 282 of the Patent Act of 1952 (Act), under which [a] patent shall be presumed valid and [t]he burden of establishing invalidity shall rest on the party asserting it. Since 1984, the Federal Circuit has read 282 to require a defendant seeking to overcome the presumption to persuade the factfinder of its invalidity defense by clear and convincing evidence. Respondents (collectively, i4i) hold the patent at issue, which claims an improved method for editing computer documents. After i4i sued petitioner Microsoft Corp. for willful infringement of that pa...
Tag this Judgment!Court : UK Supreme Court
Decided on : Mar-03-2010
LORD HOPE 1. The Scottish Parliament was established by section 1 of the Scotland Act 1998. It was opened on 1 July 1999. Section 29(1) of the Act provides: "An Act of the Scottish Parliament is not law so far as any provision of the Act is outside the legislative competence of the Parliament." 2. This provision lies at the heart of the scheme of devolution to which the Act gives effect. Section 29 has to be read together with Schedule 4 which protects certain enactments from modification, and then with section 30 and Schedule 5 which defines reserved matters. These are matters reserved to the UK Parliament, and which are therefore excluded from the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament. The area of competence that is identified by this group of provisions forms the basis for a series of sections that are designed to ensure that the Scottish Parliament confines itself to the defined areas of competence: section 31 (scrutiny of Bills before introduction), section 32 (the re...
Tag this Judgment!Court : US Supreme Court
Decided on : Nov-30-2010
Mayo Foundation for Medical Ed. and Research v. United States - 09-837 (2010) SYLLABUS OCTOBER TERM, 2010 MAYO FOUNDATION FOR MEDICAL ED. AND RESEARCH V.UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES MAYO FOUNDATION FOR MEDICAL EDUCATION AND RESEARCH etal. v . UNITED STATES certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the eighth circuit No. 09837.Argued November 8, 2010Decided January 11, 2011 Petitioners (hereinafter Mayo) offer residency programs to doctors who have graduated from medical school and seek additional instruction in a chosen specialty. Those programs train doctors primarily through hands-on experience. Although residents are required to take part in formal educational activities, these doctors generally spend the bulk of their timetypically 50 to 80 hours a weekcaring for patients. Mayo pays its residents annual stipends of over $40,000 and also provides them with health insurance, malpractice insurance, and paid vacation time. The Federal Insuranc...
Tag this Judgment!Court : UK Supreme Court
Decided on : May-19-2010
LORD COLLINS: Introduction This appeal concerns a claim by a beneficiary under a will for negligence against solicitors who, he claims, allowed his brother, also a beneficiary and then the administrator of the estate, to acquire and dispose of land which should have been part of the residuary estate. The claim was begun in a personal capacity, but it is now accepted that a claim that the solicitors owed a duty of care to beneficiaries would be difficult to sustain, and the claimant seeks to amend the proceedings to claim in a representative capacity on behalf of the estate. The events of which the claimant complains happened 13 or 14 years ago. The principal questions on this appeal relate to whether this is an appropriate case for a representative (or derivative) claim, which was the focus of the judge's decision, and to the interpretation and application of section 35 of the Limitation Act 1980 and the rules of court which were enacted pursuant to it, first in the Rules of the Supr...
Tag this Judgment!Court : Supreme Court of India
Decided on : Mar-25-2010
Reported in : 2010(2)SCALE204; (2010)4SCC653
..... act of a public servant to an actual existing authority under which it would have validity rather than to one under which it would be void. in such cases, this court will always rely upon section 114 ill. (e) of the evidence act to draw a statutory presumption that the official acts ..... which is free from even the appearance of arbitrariness, unreasonableness or unfairness. they have to act in a manner which is patently impartial and meets the requirements of natural justice. 33. learned counsel for the appellant ..... partem.19. in union of india v. col. j.n. sinha : (1970) 2 scc 458 at page 460, this court observed as follows:8 ..... problem including communal tension and endanger the life of the common public during his trial in general court.39. it is further incorporated in the counter affidavit that in view of ..... public confidence. the public confidence can be fostered by exposing courts more and more to public gaze.133. beth hornbuckle fleming in his article 'first amendment right of access to pretrial proceeding in criminal cases' (emory law journal ..... public trial restores the balance in cases when shocking crime occurs in the society.145. people have inherent distrust for the secret trials. one of the demands of the democratic society is that public should know what goes on in court while being told by the press or what happens there, to the end that the public may judge whether our system of criminal justice is fair and right. criminal trial is a public event. what transpires is a public .....
Tag this Judgment!Court : Supreme Court of India
Decided on : May-05-2010
K.G. Balakrishnan, C.J.1. Leave granted in SLP (Crl.) Nos. 10 of 2006 and 6711 of 2007. 1. The legal questions in this batch of criminal appeals relate to the involuntary administration of certain scientific techniques, namely narcoanalysis, polygraph examination and the Brain Electrical Activation Profile (BEAP) test for the purpose of improving investigation efforts in criminal cases. This issue has received considerable attention since it involves tensions between the desirability of efficient investigation and the preservation of individual liberties. Ordinarily the judicial task is that of evaluating the rival contentions in order to arrive at a sound conclusion. However, the present case is not an ordinary dispute between private parties. It raises pertinent questions about the meaning and scope of fundamental rights which are available to all citizens. Therefore, we must examine the implications of permitting the use of the impugned techniques in a variety of settings.2. Objecti...
Tag this Judgment!Court : US Supreme Court
Decided on : Jun-28-2010
..... amendment right protects the rights of minorities and other residents of high-crime areas whose needs are not being met by elected public officials. third, justice breyer is correct that incorporation of the second amendment right will to some extent limit the legislative freedom ..... fellow-subjects in great britain (emphasis in original)); the virginia resolves, the resolutions as printed in the journal of the house of burgesses, reprinted in prologue to revolution: sources and documents on the stamp act crisis, 1764 1766, at 46, 48 ( [t]he colonists aforesaid are declared ..... tribes of sioux indians, art. vi, april 29, 1868, 15 stat. 637 ( [a]ny indian or indians receiving a patent for land under the foregoing provisions, shall thereby and from thenceforth become and be a citizen of the united states, and be entitled ..... keep and bear arms, see supra , at 39, that [f]ree persons of color have never been recognized here as citizens; they are not entitled to bear arms ). section 1 guaranteed the rights of citizenship in the united ..... federalist pattern woven into our constitutional fabric. williams v. florida , 399 u. s. 78 , 133 (1970) (harlan, j., concurring in result). nor, for that matter, did it expressly alter the bill of rights. the constitution ..... records of their debates, and the few records that do exist reveal only modest discussion. see curtis 145. these facts are not surprising. first, however consequential we consider the question today, the nationalization of constitutional rights .....
Tag this Judgment!Court : US Supreme Court
Decided on : Jan-21-2010
Citizens United v. Federal Election Comm'n - 08-205 (2010) SYLLABUS OCTOBER TERM, 2009 CITIZENS UNITED V. FEDERAL ELECTION COMM'N SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES CITIZENS UNITED v . FEDERAL ELECTIONCOMMISSION appeal from the united states district court for the district of columbia No. 08205.Argued March 24, 2009Reargued September 9, 2009Decided January 21, 2010 As amended by 203 of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), federal law prohibits corporations and unions from using their general treasury funds to make independent expenditures for speech that is an electioneering communication or for speech that expressly advocates the election or defeat of a candidate. 2 U. S.C. 441b. An electioneering communication is any broadcast, cable, or satellite communication that refers to a clearly identified candidate for Federal office and is made within 30 days of a primary election, 434(f)(3)(A), and that is publicly distributed, 11 CFR 100.29(a)(2), which in the case...
Tag this Judgment!Court : UK Supreme Court
Decided on : Oct-20-2010
Introduction When a court grants a decree of divorce, nullity of marriage or judicial separation it has the power to order ancillary relief. Ancillary relief governs the financial arrangements between the husband and the wife on the breakdown of their marriage. Sometimes the husband and wife have already made an agreement governing these matters. The agreement may have been made before the marriage ("an ante-nuptial agreement") or after the marriage ("a post-nuptial agreement"). Post-nuptial agreements may be made when the husband and wife are still together and intend to remain together, or when they are on the point of separating or have already separated. The latter type of post-nuptial agreement can be described as "a separation agreement". We shall use the generic description "nuptial agreements" to embrace both ante-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements. A court when considering the grant of ancillary relief is not obliged to give effect to nuptial agreements “ whether they ...
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