Bilski Watch: Timing of Supreme Court Decisions

The US Patent world continues to await the Supreme Court’s decision in Bilski v. Kappos. The case was argued on November 9, 2009 — 204 days ago.  Professor Joe Miller (Lewis & Clark) looked at the timing of 18 other recent Supreme Court patent decisions and concludes: “if you feel like you’ve been waiting a long time to see the Bilski opinion, it’s because you *have* been waiting a longer time than usual.” 

The chart below is based on Prof. Miller’s data and reports the number of days elapsed from the oral argument to the release of the decision for each case.  The average delay is about 90 days (median of 77 days).  As seen in the chart, Bilski has the longest delay (and that delay continues to grow).  A decision in Bilski is expected by June 28, 2010.

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