No. 17-1594October Term 2018Decided Jun 10, 2019
Docket 17-1594October Term 2018 (2018–2019)
Return Mail, Inc. v. Postal Service
Return Mail sued the U.S.
Case status
- Current stage
- Decided
- Latest event
- Decision released Jun 10, 2019
Case Accepted
Arguments
Decision ReleasedJun 10, 2019
- What it's about
Return Mail sued the U.S. Postal Service for patent infringement, prompting the USPS to petition for a patent review. The Supreme Court decided that the federal government is not considered a "person" capable of instituting patent review proceedings under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act.
Question presented
Whether the government is a "person" who may petition to institute review proceedings under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act.
- Case path
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit / Decision released Jun 10, 2019
- Area
Decided Supreme Court case
Timing
Decided June 10, 2019
The Court released its decision on June 10, 2019 without hearing oral argument.
Related cases
Grounding
- Grounding
- Primary-source trail available.
- Note
- Plain-English explainer. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.
- Checked
- Jun 1, 2026
- Method
- Methodology