Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership

Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership, 564 U.S. 91 (2011), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States. Under 35 U.S.C. § 282, a patent is entitled to a presumption of validity in court. In "i4i", the Court held that when a court reviews the validity of a patent, the presumption may only be overcome based on clear and convincing evidence.
The case was a patent dispute between i4i Ltd. Partnership and Microsoft: i4i charged that Microsoft Word infringed on i4i's patent; Microsoft argued that the clear and convincing evidence standard applied by the Federal Circuit was inappropriate and that a preponderance of the evidence standard should be applied. The Court rejected Microsoft's position.