The U.S. Supreme Court sent back several appeals to the federal circuit this week, including 1 relating to Johnson & Johnson‘s (NYSE:JNJ) stent patent fight with Medinol, in light of a recent vote regarding the use of laches in patent infringement cases.
Defendants use laches to declare that a plaintiff unreasonably delayed in bringing a claim against them. The Supreme Court previously ruled in Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that laches is not a defense against copyright infringement brought within the statutory limitation period.
The Supremes ruled 7-1 in SCA Hygiene Products AB v. First Quality Baby Products LLC, concluding that laches do not apply to patent infringement cases brought within the 6-year damages period.
