Assignees Need More Certainty Than Is Provided By The Doctrine Of Assignor Estoppel Under The Supreme Court’s Holding In Minerva Surgical, Inc. v. Hologic, Inc., Cytyc Surgical Products, LLC
The U.S. Supreme Court in Minerva Surgical, Inc. v. Hologic, Inc., Cytyc Surgical Products, LLC limited the scope of assignor estoppel, holding that it “should apply only when its underlying principle of fair dealing comes into play” and only when “an invalidity defense … conflicts with an explicit or implicit representation made in assigning patent rights.”