Although the Supreme Court did not issue decisions in Grokster or Brand X today, it did agree to hear a patent tying case (SCOTUS Blog | Court Turns Aside Booker Sequel).

One case, Illinois Tool Works v. Independent Ink (04-1329) tests whether a company that has a patent on a product, and ties the sales of another unpatented product to it, is to be determined to have market power sufficient to restrain trade under antitrust law.

Basically, the case involves tying a patented ink jet printing device to unpatented ink. The question is whether there is market power sufficient to meet an antitrust claim. The district court said there had been no showing of market power and issued a summary judgement in favor of the patent holder. The Federal Circuit reversed, holding that there is a rebuttable presumption of market power when tying occurs.

The Federal Circuit's decision is based on a number of Supreme Court precedents (including a copyright tying case) that have been heavily criticized by academics. I would assume the Supreme Court is taking this case to reinforce or more likely, overturn, the precedents. However, I don't know enough about the issues here to really understand why the Supreme Court has taken the case.

UPDATE 0835PT
Patently Obvious has more: Supreme Court to Reexamine the Interplay Between Patents and Unlawful Tying Agreements.