Life Technologies v Promega: the long tentacles of infringement

After hearing three patent cases in its last term, the US Supreme Court agreed in June to take on another: Life Technologies et al v Promega et al. The Supreme Court’s focus will be on the meaning of a particular phrase—“substantial portion”—that appears in 35 USC §271(f)(1). This section of the patent statute governs infringement in circumstances where components from the US are shipped abroad for inclusion in a combination that would have infringed a patent had the combination been manufactured in the US.