Month: January 2019

In Helsinn Healthcare S.A. v Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc., 586 U. S. ____ (2019), the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that a commercial sale to a third party who is required to keep the invention confidential may place the invention “on sale�...

In Murdock v Pennsylvania, 319 U.S. 105 (1943), the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a municipal ordinance that taxed the door-to-door sale of religious merchandise. According to the divided Court, such a tax violated the First Amendment’s Free Exer...

In Stokeling v United States, 586 U.S. ____ (2019), the U.S. Supreme Court held by a vote of 5-4 that the Armed Career Criminal Act’s (ACCA) elements clause encompasses a robbery offense that, like Florida’s law, requires the criminal to overcom...

In Cohen v California, 403 U.S. 15 (1971), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the First Amendment prohibits states from criminalizing the public display of a single four-letter expletive, without a more specific and compelling reason th...

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg missed oral arguments this week as she recovers from surgery to remove cancerous growths from her lungs. She will, however, still participate in the cases by reading the briefs and transcripts of oral arguments. The re...

In Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15 (1971), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the First Amendment prohibits states from criminalizing the public display of a single four-letter expletive, without a more specific and compelling reason t...

The U.S. Supreme Court had a busy first week of the year as the justices returned to the bench to kick off 2019. The week’s oral arguments included two high-profile copyright cases. Below is a brief summary of issues before the Court last week:...