On April 27, 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order declining to review an appeals court decision that invalidated an immensely valuable pharmaceutical patent on the ground that, when applying for the patent 15-20 years ago, the applicant omitted dosage information regarding previously discovered drugs. The appeals court held that the omission constituted “inequitable conduct” that warranted a ruling that the patent be deemed unenforceable. The decision was a setback for WLF, which filed a brief urging that review be granted. WLF argued that the appeals court’s decision invalidating the patent has the potential to undermine public confidence in our nation’s patent system. WLF noted that the Federal Circuit has so broadly interpreted the inequitable conduct doctrine that such defenses are now raised in the great majority of all patent infringement suits, and that some Federal Circuit judges refer to such defenses as a “plague.”