A COURT PATENTLY DIVIDED | Tomorrow Justices Debate Hot Line Bling Privacy | Major Ruling From Justices On Guns
November 28, 2017
A SUPERCUT OF US
|The justices appeared deeply divided yesterday when hearing a case that could completely change the patent review process in this country. The case has the corporate world split, pitting big pharma and biotech companies against big tech. The court has to determine whether the current patent review process is constitutional, with justices specifically examining procedures at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that help create a quicker and cheaper process for contesting the validity of patents instead of going to court. Most of the liberal justices (save for one) seemed okay with the current patent procedures, while the more conservative justices — including CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS and JUSTICE NEIL GORSUCH — indicated they see the non-judicial review system as unconstitutional.
YOU USED TO CALL ME ON MY CELL PHONE
|Supreme Court will confront the digital age and hear a case that promises to have major repercussions for law enforcement and personal privacy. The case stems from an armed robbery of a Radio Shack in Detroit, and subsequent armed robberies across Michigan and Ohio. The justices will have to decide whether the prosecutors who collected vast amounts of data from cell phone companies to catch the robbers violated the Fourth Amendment.
TOP-ED
|Is the right to discriminate in the Constitution? In The Sacramento Bee, Erwin Chemerinsky writes that the answer to that question is a piece of cake. Looking ahead to next month’s cake case — Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission — Chemerinsky asserts, “There is no constitutional right to refuse service to a person based on his race or sex or religion or sexual orientation.”
SHOT DOWN
|Yesterday, the Supreme Court let stand a Maryland law banning semiautomatic rifles as well as a Florida restriction on carrying guns openly. The Maryland law is the one of the strictest in the nation and it was passed in direct response to the Newtown shooting of 20 children and six adults. None of the justices recorded a public dissent in the court’s decision.
COULDN'T GET ANY MORE PERFECT
|TIME Magazine listed out its top ten podcasts of 2017, and making the list at #4 is the Supreme Court podcast, More Perfect. TIME notes, “Learning about the Supreme Court sounds a lot like civics class, but More Perfect is more engaging than any class you slept through in high school.” It’s true, learning about the Supreme Court doesn’t have to be a snooze and we’re stoked to see people are catching on to this fact. Bravo, More Perfect — well deserved.
SCOTUS VIEWS
Big Pharma Wins If A Speedy Patent-Challenge Process Dies
Bloomberg“The outcome of the Supreme Court case is far from certain; tech firms love the IPR process and its ability to banish patent trolls as much as pharma loathes it. But Monday’s arguments give pharma a spark of hope that the good old days of lengthier and more expensive patent fights may return.”
Listen Up Supreme Court: Warrantless Tracking Of Smartphones Violates Our Rights
USA Today“Requiring a warrant as demanded by the Fourth Amendment resolves this problem. It will prevent the government from claiming your smartphone’s location data as an end-run around the First Amendment. Let’s hope the Supreme Court keeps this in mind when deciding this vital case.”
Freedom Of Expression Is A Right The Supreme Court Must Uphold
The Hill“If the Court rules that Jack must abandon his artistic expression and conscience in order to pursue his craft, then we all will face a profound loss — the removal of freedom of expression and freedom of conscience from the public square. That possibility should chill us to the core.”