High court to hear patent fight over adult diapers
Intellectual Property
The Supreme Court will resolve a patent dispute between companies that make adult diapers.
The justices said Monday they will hear an appeal from SCA Hygiene Products AB, which argues that it did not wait too long to file a patent infringement lawsuit against rival First Quality Baby Products LLC.
The divided U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled last year that SCA's six-year delay in bringing the lawsuit was unreasonable.
SCA is relying on a 2014 Supreme Court case that said unreasonable delay is not a defense against claims of copyright infringement. The company says the same reasoning applies to patent cases.
The court will hear arguments in the case when its new term begins in the fall.
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