High Court Rejects Microsoft Appeal in i4i Patent Case

In an 8-0 decision, the Supreme Court denied Microsoft’s request to lower the long-standing clear and convincing standard of validity for patents in favor of Finnegan client i4i. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, writing for the court, rejected Microsoft's contention that a defendant need only persuade a jury of a patent's invalidity by a preponderance of the evidence, stating that "Congress specified the applicable standard of proof in 1952 when it codified the common-law presumption of patent validity…Since then, it has allowed the Federal Circuit’s correct interpretation of [the law] to stand. Any recalibration of the standard of proof remains in its hands."