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29 June 2021AmericasMuireann Bolger

Breaking: SCOTUS says inventors can challenge their patents, but imposes limits

The  US Supreme Court has upheld the doctrine of assignor estoppel in a dispute between  Minerva and  Hologic but has narrowed its scope. SCOTUS handed down the decision today, June 29, in a fractured 5-4  opinion that effectively bars an inventor from challenging their own patents, and imposing new limits when the principle of assignor estoppel can be invoked.

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