Patent disputes are not the easiest cases for non-IP lawyers and the public to get their heads around, and most U.S. Supreme Court justices don’t count themselves as IP experts. They are generalists.

So they depend on clear and understandable briefing by the parties. They apparently got all that and more from Goodwin Procter partner William Jay and Kannon Shanmugam of Williams & Connolly in the case Helsinn Healthcare v. Teva Pharmaceuticals.