January 24, 2014 - The U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in Medtronic, Inc. v. Mirowski Family Ventures, reversing a ruling by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC), which hears appeals in patent lawsuits.
The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in favor of Medtronic, agreeing with Medtronic's assertion that the owner of a patent bears the burden of proving infringement - even if a license is already in place between the patent owner and the product manufacturer and the licensee is in good standing. In Medtronic, the licensee filed a declaratory judgment action against Mirowski, asserting that its products weren't covered by the patent and that it therefore owed no damages for infringement - even though Medtronic was paying royalties into an escrow account.
The case will now be remanded to the CAFC for further review of other issues in Mirowski's appeal.