Judge Roberts and IP

Kelly D. Talcott writes in today’s New York Law Journal (sub. req.):

What the record does appear to show is that, if confirmed, the Supreme Court’s newest justice will be one who has hands-on experience dealing with technology law issues including, thankfully, patent law issues.

Indeed, Judge Roberts includes both the TrafFixDevices and Litton Systems patent cases in his response to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s question asking for the 10 most significant litigated matters that he personally handled.

His several copyright law decisions share a rigorous statutory analysis, deference to precedent, and a general wariness to resort to legislative history where a statute is clear on its face.

Judge Roberts, who less than five years ago was litigating patent issues before the Supreme Court, will introduce a welcome hands-on technical perspective to a court that has not had a new member since Justice Stephen G. Breyer was appointed in 1994.

Judge Roberts is so well qualified even the ABA had to admit it. Boy, that Law Journal has a lot of interesting stuff.

Ron Coleman