From our private database of 37,200+ case briefs...

SAS Institute, Inc. v. Iancu

United States Supreme Court

138 S. Ct. 1348 (2018)

Facts

SAS Institute, Inc. (SAS) (plaintiff) sought an inter partes review of a software patent owned by ComplementSoft. SAS alleged that all 13 of the patent’s claims were unpatentable. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (the board) (defendant) instituted review on only some claims and denied review on the rest. The board argued that it had the authority to conduct a partial review based on a regulation enacted by the Patent Office. The board claimed that although it may have had to decide every claim challenged by SAS, the board was not required to bring every claim into the review process. The board argued that because the statutory language required it to evaluate claims individually, it was also entitled to institute review on a claim-by-claim basis. SAS sought review in the Federal Circuit, arguing that 35 U.S.C. § 318(a) required the board to decide the patentability of every claim SAS challenged in its petition. The Federal Circuit rejected SAS’s argument. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.

Rule of Law

The rule of law is the black letter law upon which the court rested its decision. To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

Issue

The issue section includes the dispositive legal issue in the case phrased as a question. To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

Holding and Reasoning (Gorsuch, J.)

The holding and reasoning section includes:

A "yes" or "no" answer to the question framed in the issue section;
A summary of the majority or plurality opinion, using the CREAC method; and
The procedural disposition (e.g., reversed and remanded, affirmed, etc.).

To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

What to do next…

Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.
You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 630,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.
Unlock this case brief Read our student testimonials
Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.
Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.
Learn about our approach Read more about Quimbee

Here's why 630,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 37,200 briefs, keyed to 984 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Here's why 630,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
37,200 briefs - keyed to 984 casebooks
Uniform format for every case brief
Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
Top-notch customer support