Solicitor General Office Admits It Misled Court in Patent Case

The US Solicitor General apologized for misleading the justices in a 2017 patent case, saying the US Patent and Trademark Office didn’t alert the federal government’s top Supreme Court lawyer about the mistake.

The admission came in a long-running patent dispute between athletic apparel giants Nike and Adidas but the misrepresentation occurred years earlier in an argument over the validity of so-called inter partes review, which allows the USPTO to reconsider already issued patents.

Had the solicitor general been aware of the circumstances it would have clarified the issue for the justices, the government said in a brief May 23. ...