| No. 17-1594 | |
| Title: | Return Mail, Inc., Petitioner v. United States Postal Service, et al. |
| Docketed: | May 24, 2018 |
| Linked with 17A879 | |
| Lower Ct: | United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit |
| Case Numbers: | (2016-1502) |
| Decision Date: | August 28, 2017 |
| Rehearing Denied: | December 15, 2017 |
| Questions Presented | |
| Date | Proceedings and Orders |
| Feb 16 2018 | Application (17A879) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from March 15, 2018 to May 14, 2018, submitted to The Chief Justice. |
| Main DocumentProof of ServiceOtherLower Court Orders/Opinions | |
| Feb 28 2018 | Application (17A879) granted by The Chief Justice extending the time to file until May 14, 2018. |
| May 14 2018 | Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due June 25, 2018) |
| PetitionAppendixCertificate of Word CountProof of Service | |
| Jun 12 2018 | Blanket Consent filed by Petitioner, Return Mail, Inc.. |
| Blanket Consent | |
| Jun 22 2018 | Motion to extend the time to file a response from June 25, 2018 to July 25, 2018, submitted to The Clerk. |
| Main Document | |
| Jun 22 2018 | Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including July 25, 2018. |
| Jun 25 2018 | Brief amicus curiae of Kenneth O. Simon filed. |
| Main DocumentProof of ServiceCertificate of Word Count | |
| Jun 25 2018 | Brief amici curiae of 15 Law Professors filed. |
| Main DocumentCertificate of Word CountProof of Service | |
| Jul 17 2018 | Motion to extend the time to file a response from July 25, 2018 to August 24, 2018, submitted to The Clerk. |
| Main Document | |
| Jul 18 2018 | Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including August 24, 2018. |
| Aug 13 2018 | Motion to extend the time to file a response from August 24, 2018 to September 7, 2018, submitted to The Clerk. |
| Main Document | |
| Aug 13 2018 | Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including September 7, 2018. |
| Sep 07 2018 | Brief of respondents United States Postal Service, et al. in opposition filed. |
| Proof of ServiceMain Document | |
| Sep 21 2018 | Reply of petitioner Return Mail, Inc. filed. |
| Main DocumentCertificate of Word CountProof of Service | |
| Sep 26 2018 | DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/12/2018. |
| Oct 22 2018 | DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/26/2018. |
| Oct 26 2018 | Petition GRANTED limited to Question 1 presented by the petition. |
| Nov 26 2018 | Motion to dispense with printing the joint appendix filed by petitioner Return Mail, Inc. |
| Main DocumentProof of Service | |
| Dec 10 2018 | Motion to dispense with printing the joint appendix filed by petitioner GRANTED. |
| Dec 10 2018 | Brief of petitioner Return Mail, Inc. filed. |
| Main DocumentCertificate of Word CountProof of Service | |
| Dec 17 2018 | Brief amicus curiae of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America filed. |
| Main DocumentCertificate of Word CountProof of Service | |
| Dec 17 2018 | Brief amici curiae of The Cato Institute and Professor Gregory Dolin filed. |
| Main DocumentCertificate of Word CountProof of Service | |
| Dec 17 2018 | Brief amicus curiae of Intellectual Property Owners Association in support of neither party filed. |
| Main DocumentCertificate of Word CountProof of Service | |
| Dec 17 2018 | Brief amicus curiae of New York Intellectual Property Law Association in support of neither party filed. |
| Main DocumentProof of ServiceCertificate of Word Count | |
| Dec 17 2018 | Brief amicus curiae of American Intellectual Property Law Association in support of neither party filed. |
| Main DocumentCertificate of Word CountProof of Service | |
| Dec 17 2018 | Brief amici curiae of Seven Law Professors filed. |
| Main DocumentCertificate of Word CountProof of Service | |
| Dec 17 2018 | Brief amicus curiae of Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America filed. |
| Main DocumentCertificate of Word CountProof of Service | |
| Dec 21 2018 | SET FOR ARGUMENT on Wednesday, February 20, 2019. |
| Jan 09 2019 | Brief of respondents United States Postal Service, et al. filed. |
| Proof of ServiceMain Document | |
| Jan 11 2019 | Record requested from the U.S.C.A. Federal Circuit. |
| Jan 15 2019 | CIRCULATED |
| Jan 15 2019 | Brief amicus curiae of R Street Institute filed. (Distributed) |
| Main DocumentCertificate of Word CountProof of Service | |
| Jan 15 2019 | Record from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is located on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office web site. Instructions to access the record is electronic. The record is complete. |
| Jan 16 2019 | Brief amicus curiae of Professor Tejas N. Narechania filed. (Distributed) |
| Main DocumentCertificate of Word CountProof of Service | |
| Jan 16 2019 | Motion for leave to file amicus brief filed by Electronic Frontier Foundation. |
| Main DocumentProof of ServiceCertificate of Word Count | |
| Jan 23 2019 | RESCHEDULED FOR ARGUMENT ON Tuesday, February 19, 2019. |
| Jan 23 2019 | Record from the U.S.C.A. Federal Circuit is electronic and located on PACER. The record is complete. |
| Feb 08 2019 | Reply of petitioner Return Mail, Inc. filed. (Distributed) |
| Main DocumentCertificate of Word CountProof of Service | |
| Feb 19 2019 | Motion for leave to file amicus brief filed by Electronic Frontier Foundation GRANTED. |
| Feb 19 2019 | Argued. For petitioner: Beth S. Brinkmann, Washington, D. C. For respondents: Malcolm L. Stewart, Deputy Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C. |
| Jun 10 2019 | Judgment REVERSED and case REMANDED. Sotomayor, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Roberts, C. J., and Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh, JJ., joined. Breyer, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Ginsburg and Kagan, JJ., joined. |
| Jul 12 2019 | JUDGMENT ISSUED. |
| NAME | ADDRESS | PHONE |
| Attorneys for Petitioner | ||
| Richard L. Rainey Counsel of Record | Covington and Burling LLP One City Center 850 Tenth Street NW Washington, DC 20001-4956 rrainey@cov.com | 202-662-6000 |
| Party name: Return Mail, Inc. | ||
| Attorneys for Respondents | ||
| Noel J. Francisco Counsel of Record | Solicitor General United States Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530-0001 SupremeCtBriefs@USDOJ.gov | 202-514-2217 |
| Party name: United States Postal Service, et al. | ||
| Other | ||
| Gregory Andrew Castanias Counsel of Record | Jones Day 51 Louisiana Ave., NW Washington, DC 20001 gcastanias@jonesday.com | 202-879-3639 |
| Party name: The Cato Institute and Professor Gregory Dolin | ||
| Jonathan Goldman Cedarbaum Counsel of Record | WilmerHale 1875 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20006 jonathan.cedarbaum@wilmerhale.com | (202) 663-6315 |
| Party name: Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America | ||
| Lauren A. Degnan Counsel of Record | Fish & Richardson, P.C. 1000 Maine Ave. Suite 1000 Washington, DC 20024 degnan@fr.com | 2027835070 |
| Party name: Intellectual Property Owners Association | ||
| Matthew James Dowd Counsel of Record | Dowd Scheffel PLLC 1717 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Suite 1025 Washington, DC 20006 mjdowd@dowdpllc.com | (202) 559-9175 |
| Party name: 15 Law Professors | ||
| Matthew James Dowd Counsel of Record | Dowd PLLC 1717 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Suite 1025 Washington, DC 20006 mdowd@dowdscheffel.com | 202-573-3853 |
| Party name: Seven Law Professors | ||
| Charles Robert Macedo Counsel of Record | Amster, Rothstein & Ebenstein LLP 90 Park Avenue New York, NY 10016 cmacedo@arelaw.com | 212-336-8074 |
| Party name: NEW YORK INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW ASSOCIATION | ||
| Ralph Stanley Morris Counsel of Record | Cartee & Morris LLC 2325 HENRY ST. Guntersville, AL 35976 stan@carteemorris.com | (256) 582-9500 |
| Party name: Kenneth O. Simon | ||
| Pratik Arvind Shah Counsel of Record | Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP 1333 New Hampshire Ave., NW Washington, DC 02109 pshah@akingump.com | 202-887-4210 |
| Party name: Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America | ||
| Blair Alexander Silver Counsel of Record | Banner & Witcoff, Ltd. 1100 13th Street NW Suite 1200 Washington, DC 20005-4051 bsilver@bannerwitcoff.com | 202-824-3000 |
| Party name: American Intellectual Property Law Association | ||
| Sarah Gardner Boyce Counsel of Record | Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP 1155 F Street NW 7th Floor Washington, DC 20004 sarah.boyce@mto.com | 202.220.1100 |
| Party name: PROFESSOR TEJAS N. NARECHANIA | ||
| Charles Duan Counsel of Record | R Street Institute 1212 New York Ave NW Suite 900 Washington, DC 20005 supremecourt.gov@cduan.com | 202-525-5717 |
| Party name: R Street Institute | ||
| Alexandra Helen Moss Counsel of Record | Electronic Frontier Foundation 815 Eddy Street San Francisco, CA 94109 alex@eff.org | 4154369333 |
| Party name: ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION | ||