Professor Mark Lemley comments on the lack of patent cases on the upcoming Supreme Court docket for The Recorder.

So far the high court has not put a single patent case—or trademark or copyright, for that matter—on its 2015-16 docket. Some patent law experts believe the court is taking a break from patent law after a period of exceptional activity, including a record six decisions in 2013-14.

“I don’t think we’ll see six” this term, said Emory University School of Law professor Timothy Holbrook. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw none.”

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Both were hot issues just last year, but many patent practitioners say they doubt the Supreme Court wants to wade into Section 101 again so soon. “I think they would be happy if they never saw another Section 101 case in their lives,” said Stanford law professor Mark Lemley, who is also a partner at Durie Tangri.

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Stanford’s Lemley said he doesn’t expect any of the IP cases on the Sept. 28 conference to go up. He and many others interviewed for this story were more sanguine about the prospects for the laches case, SCA Hygiene Products v. First Quality Baby Products.