On January 22, 2014, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Medtronic, Inc. v. Boston Scientific Corp. The question in this case was whether, when a declaratory judgment of non-infringement is sought by a patent licensee under the Court’s decision in MedImmune, Inc. v. Genentech, the burden of proof lies with the licensee to prove non-infringement or, as is traditional in patent litigation suits, with the patent owner, to prove infringement.

Justice Breyer delivered the opinion of a unanimous Court, which held that when a licensee seeks a declaratory judgment against a patentee to establish that there is no infringement, the burden of proving infringement remains with the patentee. The Federal Circuit’s ruling to the contrary was reversed and the case remanded.