	Introduction

While Section 271(a) of the Patent Act creates strict liability for someone who directly infringes a patent, Section 271(b) of the Patent Act provides indirect infringement liability for "[w]hoever actively induces infringement of a patent." On May 31, 2011, the Supreme Court ruled by a vote of 8-1 that induced infringement under Section 271(b) requires actual knowledge that the induced acts constitute patent infringement. Although the "willful blindness" doctrine is widely used by lower federal courts in criminal cases, this is the first time that the Supreme Court has applied it to a civil patent infringement case. It is also the first time that the Court has held that proof of willful blindness can satisfy a statutory requirement of knowing or willful conduct, thus establishing a standard not only for patent infringement cases brought under Section 271(b), but also for all federal criminal cases involving knowledge. Legal Analysis of Global-Tech, Inc. v. SEB S.A. In 1991, SEB S.A. obtained a U.S. patent, No. Pentalpha appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. However, the Court rejected the Federal Circuit's "deliberate indifference" standard for proving intent under Section 271(b) in the absence of proof of actual knowledge of the existence of a patent; instead, the Court adopted a higher standard, borrowing the concept of "willful blindness" from criminal law. Section 271(b) must know that the induced acts constitute patent infringement. Next, the Court ruled that the Federal Circuit was erroneous in holding that a "deliberate indifference to a known risk that a patent exists" would satisfy this knowledge requirement. The defendant must subjectively believe that there is a high probability that a fact exists. The defendant must take deliberate actions to avoid learning of that fact.
While Section 271(a) of the Patent Act (35 U.S.C. § 271(a)) creates liability for someone who directly infringes a patent (by the unauthorized use of a patented invention), Section 271(b) of the act provides indirect infringement liability for someone who "actively induces" another party to engage in infringing activities. "Inducement" is a theory of indirect patent infringement, in which a party causes, encourages, influences, or aids and abets another's direct infringement of a patent. In Global-Tech Appliances, Inc. v. SEB S.A., the question was the legal standard for the mental state necessary for a defendant to be liable for actively inducing infringement under Section 271(b). The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit had ruled that a plaintiff may hold a defendant liable for induced patent infringement by showing that the defendant had a "deliberate indifference of a known risk" that the induced acts may violate an existing patent.
On May 31, 2011, the Supreme Court rejected the Federal Circuit's "deliberate indifference" standard. By a vote of 8-1, the Court ruled that induced infringement under Section 271(b) requires actual knowledge that the induced acts constitute patent infringement. However, in a somewhat surprising step, the Court declared that this statutory knowledge requirement could be satisfied by proof of the accused inducer's "willful blindness" (that is, the defendant subjectively believes there is a high probability that a patent exists and takes deliberate actions to avoid learning of that fact). This is the first time that the Supreme Court has applied "willful blindness," a criminal law doctrine, to a civil patent infringement case. It is also the first time that the Court has held that proof of willful blindness can substitute for actual knowledge, thus establishing a standard not only for patent infringement cases brought under Section 271(b), but also potentially for all federal criminal cases involving knowledge.