Stanford University v. Roche Molecular Systems, Inc.
| Stanford v. Roche | |
|---|---|
| Argued February 28, 2011 Decided June 6, 2011 | |
| Full case name | Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University, Petitioner v. Roche Molecular Systems, Inc., et al. |
| Docket no. | 09-1159 |
| Citations | 563 U.S. 776 (more) 131 S. Ct. 2188; 180 L. Ed. 2d 1; 2011 U.S. LEXIS 4183; 79 U.S.L.W. 4407; 98 U.S.P.Q.2d (BNA) 1761; 68 A.L.R. Fed. 2d 617; 22 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 1069 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | 487 F. Supp. 2d 1099 (N.D. Cal. 2007); 563 F. Supp. 2d 1016 (N.D. Cal. 2008); affirmed in part, vacated in part, 583 F.3d 832 (Fed. Cir. 2009); cert. granted, 562 U.S. 1001 (2010). |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Roberts, joined by Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, Alito, Sotomayor, Kagan |
| Concurrence | Sotomayor |
| Dissent | Breyer, joined by Ginsburg |
| Laws applied | |
| Bayh–Dole Act, 35 U.S.C. §§ 200–212 | |
Stanford University v. Roche Molecular Systems, Inc., 563 U.S. 776 (2011), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that title in a patented invention vests first in the inventor, even if the inventor is a researcher at a federally funded lab subject to the 1980 Bayh–Dole Act. The judges affirmed the common understanding of U.S. constitutional law that inventors originally own inventions they make, and contractual obligations to assign those rights to third parties are secondary.