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8 April 2022Influential Women in IPMuireann Bolger

Judge Jackson: a ‘welcome addition’ to SCOTUS IP cases

In a landmark development, Ketanji Brown Jackson will become the first African-American woman to serve on the US Supreme Court in its 233-year history.

In February, President Joe Biden nominated her to become the 116th Associate Justice of the court.

Yesterday, on April 7, the US Senate confirmed Judge Jackson's appointment in a majority vote of 53 to 47.

This comes after weeks of high-profile hearings, notable for their tense exchanges regarding Brown’s judicial legacy and race relations in the US.

Her appointment was secured when three Republican senators, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney, sided with Democrats in favour of her appointment.

Earlier this year, President Biden’s nomination of Judge Jackson had been welcomed as a key milestone in US judicial history by several US-based IP lawyers.

Views on IP

Commenting on this week’s confirmation, Blair Jacobs, principal at McKool Smith, noted that Judge Jackson has been guarded to date in expressing her views on IP. However, he struck an optimistic note regarding her likely stance.

“She appears to support a strong patent system, so her voice on the Supreme Court will be welcome in that regard,” he explained.

During the confirmation process in response to questions from Senator John Tillis, Judge Jackson noted that: “patents play an important role in ensuring technological progress by pairing public disclosure of important innovations with protections for inventors' incentives to innovate”.

A helpful framework

“This recognition of the quid pro quo between public disclosure and the right to monetise inventions gives Judge Jackson a helpful framework for analysing patent issues before the court,” added Jacobs.

Noting that while her experience with patent cases appears limited to date, he emphasised that: “She is a brilliant jurist who typically abides by congressional intent, and so is a welcome addition to the court when it comes to IP issues.”

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