Spevack v. Strauss

Background

A patent applicant (called the petitioner in the opinion) faced a deadline to pay the United States patent fee by May 25, 1959, and the Court noted the patent would issue shortly after payment. Earlier proceedings involved restraining orders entered by The Chief Justice and litigation in two lower courts. The Supreme Court addressed how the district court should proceed now that issuance is imminent.

Reasoning

The Court sent the case back to the District Court with two clear instructions tied to the May 25 deadline. If the applicant has paid the fee by that date and has not sought a suspension or has withdrawn any such request, the district court must continue the case and the existing restraining orders until the patent issues and then dismiss the complaint as moot. If the fee has not been paid or delay remains requested, then on May 25 the district court must dismiss the complaint because granting an extraordinary injunction at that stage would not be warranted. The opinion frames these steps as procedural directions based on the patent’s imminent issuance and the narrow request for equitable relief.

Real world impact

The ruling creates a clear, time‑bound path: paying the fee and not delaying issuance preserves the temporary relief until the patent issues, after which the lawsuit is dismissed as moot; failing to pay leads to dismissal on May 25. Upon the fulfillment of either condition, the Court ordered that the earlier proceedings in the two lower courts be vacated, removing those prior rulings. This decision resolves these procedural questions and does not decide the underlying merits of the dispute.