Court : US Supreme Court
Decided on : Jun-23-1980
O'Bannon v. Town Court Nursing Ctr. - 447 U.S. 773 (1980) U.S. Supreme Court O'Bannon v. Town Court Nursing Ctr., 447 U.S. 773 (1980) O'Bannon v. Town Court Nursing Center No. 78-1318 Argued November 6, 1979 Decided June 23, 1980 447 U.S. 773 CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT Syllabus After the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) and the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (DPW) had revoked the authority of Town Court Nursing Center (a nursing home) to provide elderly residents of the home with nursing care at government expense under Medicare and Medicaid provider agreements, the home and several of its patients (respondents) brought suit in Federal District Court, alleging, inter alia, that the patients were entitled to an evidentiary hearing on the merits of the revocation before the Medicaid payments were discontinued. The District Court ultimately rejected this argument. On appeal, the Court of Appeals reverse...
Tag this Judgment!Court : US Supreme Court
Decided on : Jun-16-1980
Diamond v. Chakrabarty - 447 U.S. 303 (1980) U.S. Supreme Court Diamond v. Chakrabarty, 447 U.S. 303 (1980) Diamond v. Chakrabarty No. 79-136 Argued March 17, 1980 Decided June 16, 1980 447 U.S. 303 CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF CUSTOMS AND PATENT APPEALS Syllabus Title 35 U.S.C. 101 provides for the issuance of a patent to a person who invents or discovers "any" new and useful "manufacture" or "composition of matter." Respondent filed a patent application relating to his invention of a human-made, genetically engineered bacterium capable of breaking down crude oil, a property which is possessed by no naturally occurring bacteria. A patent examiner's rejection of the patent application's claims for the new bacteria was affirmed by the Patent Office Board of Appeals on the ground that living things are not patentable subject matter under 101. The Court of Customs and Patent Appeals reversed, concluding that the fact that micro-organisms are alive is without lega...
Tag this Judgment!Court : US Supreme Court
Decided on : Jun-02-1980
Andrus v. Shell Oil Co. - 446 U.S. 657 (1980) U.S. Supreme Court Andrus v. Shell Oil Co., 446 U.S. 657 (1980) Andrus v. Shell Oil Co. No. 78-1815 Argued January 15, 1980 Decided June 2, 1980 446 U.S. 657 CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT Syllabus The general mining law of 1872 permits citizens to explore the public domain and search for minerals and, if they discover "valuable mineral deposits," to obtain title to the land on which such deposits are located. The Mineral Leasing Act (Act), enacted in 1920, withdrew oil shale from the general mining law and provided that thereafter oil shale would be subject to disposition only through leases, except that a savings clause preserved valid claims existent at the date of passage of the Act. Upon complaints by the Department of the Interior (Department) alleging that respondents' claims for oil shale deposits located prior to the Act were invalid, a hearing examiner ruled the claims valid on t...
Tag this Judgment!Court : US Supreme Court
Decided on : Jun-27-1980
..... patent misuse when he seeks to control the sale of a nonstaple used in connection with his patent. section 271(d) specifies precisely what acts he may perform with respect to the nonstaple and not be guilty of patent misuse. as the principal witness on whom the court relies explained, these acts were specified as exceptions to what otherwise might have been considered patent ..... obtain when rohm & haas relinquishes its monopoly by selling the propanil. see app. 35-39. see also united states v. univis lens co., 316 u. s. 241 ..... c). 1951 hearings at 169. rich subsequently did state that an attempt to secure a monopoly on "unpatented articles" still would be patent misuse. id. at 172-173. but, in the context of his clarification regarding the ..... subcommittee no. 3 of the house committee on the judiciary, 82d cong., 1st sess., 150-151 (1951) (1951 hearings) (testimony of giles rich). [ footnote 19 ] see, e ..... because it reduced the cost of the patented invention. the court noted: "it is argued as a merit of this system of sale . . . that the public is benefited by the sale of the machine at what is practically its cost and by the fact that the owner of the patent makes its entire ..... patent office, a patent, no. 3,382,280, finally was issued in 1968. it was declared page 448 u. s. 182 invalid, however, when monsanto sought to enforce it by suing rohm and haas company (rohm & haas), a competing manufacturer, for direct infringement. monsanto co. v. rohm & haas co., 312 f.supp. 778 (ed pa.1970 .....
Tag this Judgment!Court : US Supreme Court
Decided on : Dec-09-1980
United States. R. Retirement Bd. v. Fritz - 449 U.S. 166 (1980) U.S. Supreme Court United States. R. Retirement Bd. v. Fritz, 449 U.S. 166 (1980) United States. Railroad Retirement Board v. Fritz No. 79-870 Argued October 6, 1980 Decided December 9, 1980 449 U.S. 166 APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA Syllabus The Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 (1974 Act) fundamentally restructured the railroad retirement system under the predecessor 1937 Act, which had included provisions whereby a person who worked for both railroad and nonrailroad employers and who qualified for both railroad retirement and social security benefits received benefits under both systems and an accompanying "windfall" benefit. Although providing that employees who lacked the requisite 10 years of railroad employment to qualify for railroad retirement benefits as of the January 1, 1975, changeover date would not receive any windfall benefits, the 1974 Act prese...
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Decided on : Mar-03-1980
Forsham v. Harris - 445 U.S. 169 (1980) U.S. Supreme Court Forsham v. Harris, 445 U.S. 169 (1980) Forsham v. Harris No. 78-1118 Argued October 31, 1979 Decided March 3, 1980 445 U.S. 169 CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT Syllabus Under federal grants awarded by the National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism, and Digestive Diseases (NIAMDD) (a federal agency), the University Group Diabetes Program (UGDP), a group of private physicians and scientists, conducted a long-term study of the effectiveness of certain diabetes treatment regimens. Pertinent federal regulations authorized some supervision of UGDP and gave NIAMDD the right of access to, or permanent custody of, the raw data generated by UGDP. However, the day-to-day administration of grant-supported activities was in UGDP's hands, and NIAMDD did not exercise its right to review or obtain custody of the raw data, which remained at all times in UGDP's possession and und...
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Decided on : Apr-16-1980
Andrus v. Idaho - 445 U.S. 715 (1980) U.S. Supreme Court Andrus v. Idaho, 445 U.S. 715 (1980) Andrus v. Idaho No. 79-260 Argued February 25, 1980 Decided April 16, 1980 445 U.S. 715 CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT Syllabus The Carey Act of 1894, in order to aid covered States in the reclamation of desert lands, "authorize[s] and empower[s]" the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary), with the President's approval, upon proper application by a State to donate, grant, and patent such desert lands, not exceeding a specified acreage, as the State should cause to be irrigated, reclaimed, and occupied, provided however, that the lands may be restored to the public domain if the requirements as to reclamation are not satisfied within stated time limits. Under 43 U.S.C. 643, the Secretary was also authorized, upon request of a State, to withdraw desert lands temporarily from the public domain prior to the State's submission of a formal plan un...
Tag this Judgment!Court : US Supreme Court
Decided on : Apr-15-1980
United States v. Mitchell - 445 U.S. 535 (1980) U.S. Supreme Court United States v. Mitchell, 445 U.S. 535 (1980) United States v. Mitchell No. 78-1756 Argued December 3, 1979 Decided April 15, 1980 445 U.S. 535 CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF CLAIMS Syllabus Section 1 of the Indian General Allotment Act of 1877 authorizes the President to allot to each Indian residing on a reservation specified acreage of agricultural and grazing land within the reservation; 2 provides that all such allotments shall be selected by the Indians so as to include improvements made by them; and 5 provides that the United States shall retain title to such allotted lands in trust for the benefit of the allottees. Pursuant to the Act, the Government allotted all of the Quinault Reservation's land in trust to individual Indians. Respondents, individual allottees of land in that Reservation, the Quinault Tribe, which now holds some allotments, and an association of allottees, brought actio...
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Decided on : Jun-30-1980
Harris v. McRae - 448 U.S. 297 (1980) U.S. Supreme Court Harris v. McRae, 448 U.S. 297 (1980) Harris v. McRae No. 79-1268 Argued April 21, 1980 Decided June 30, 1980 448 U.S. 297 APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK Syllabus Title XIX of the Social Security Act established the Medicaid program in 1965 to provide federal financial assistance to States that choose to reimburse certain costs of medical treatment for needy persons. Since 1976, versions of the so-called Hyde Amendment have severely limited the use of any federal funds to reimburse the cost of abortions under the Medicaid program. Actions were brought in Federal District Court by appellees (including indigent pregnant women, who sued on behalf of all women similarly situated, the New York City Health and Hospitals Corp., which operates hospitals providing abortion services, officers of the Women's Division of the Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Churc...
Tag this Judgment!Court : US Supreme Court
Decided on : Dec-15-1980
United States v. Will - 449 U.S. 200 (1980) U.S. Supreme Court United States v. Will, 449 U.S. 200 (1980) United States v. Will No. 79-983 Argued October 13, 1980 Decided December 15, 1980 * 449 U.S. 200 APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS Syllabus An interlocking network of federal statutes fixes the compensation of high-level federal officials, including federal judges, and provides for annual cost-of-living adjustments in salary determined in the same way as those for federal employees generally. In four consecutive fiscal years (hereafter Years 1, 2, 3, and 4), Congress, with respect to these high-level officials, enacted statutes to stop or reduce previously authorized cost-of-living increases initially intended to be automatically operative under that statutory scheme. In Years 2 and 3, the statutes became law before the start of the fiscal year, and in Years 1 and 4 became law on or after the first day of the fiscal yea...
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