Some patent cases seem to turn the U.S. Supreme Court in knots. Life Technologies v. Promega, argued Tuesday, doesn’t sound like one of those cases.
The justices signaled a fairly resolute position that supplying a single component of a patented invention for assembly overseas cannot trigger the extraterritorial application of U.S. patent laws. If that’s where the court comes out, it will be a relief to U.S.-based electronics and medical component suppliers, while costing Wisconsin-based Promega Corp. a $52 million jury award.
