American University Intellectual Property Brief » SCOTUS Sets “Willful Blindness” Standard in Patent Infringement Cases

On May 31, the Supreme Court of the United States set a new standard to prove allegations of inducing patent infringement. The Court issued an 8-1 decision in Global-Tech Appliances, Inc. v. SEB S.A., holding that liability for 35 U.S.C. §271(b) requires knowledge by the defendant that their acts induced patent infringement. The Court further held that in absence of actual knowledge of patent infringement, a defendant can be found liable if they were “willfully blind” to the infringement.