Today, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its opinion in Global-Tech Appliances, Inc. v. SEB S.A. The Court ruled that induced infringement under 35 U.S.C. §271(b) requires knowledge that the induced acts constitute patent infringement, but also held that knowledge could be established under the doctrine of “willful blindness.”

The Supreme Court granted certiorari in Global-Tech Appliances, Inc. v. SEB S.A. to determine the standard of intent necessary to establish liability for actively inducing patent infringement under 35 U.S.C. § 271(b).1 This case is on appeal from the Federal Circuit, which held Global-Tech liable for inducing patent infringement.