Materials to be Included in a Request for Amicus Support
Requests by a party in a case must include the following:
- A short paper (no more than three (3) pages) describing the underlying position of the litigants,
- Copies of relevant pleadings, motions, decisions, or other papers to reflect the nature of the controversy,
- The name and email addresses of lead counsel of all parties involved in the litigation, and
- The names of other organizations from which amicus support has also been requested.
THE PARTY REQUESTING AMICUS SUPPORT SHALL SEND A COPY OF THE REQUEST TO LEAD COUNSEL OF ALL OTHER PARTIES INVOLVED IN THE LITIGATION AND INFORM THEM THAT THEY ARE FREE TO MAKE SUBMISSIONS TO IPO WITHIN THREE (3) BUSINESS DAYS OF THE ORIGINAL REQUEST.
Requests by an IPO committee must include the following:
- A short paper (no more than three (3) pages) describing the underlying position of the litigants, the reasons for which the Committee believes IPO should participate as amicus and the position the Committee recommends IPO take in the case,
- Copies of relevant pleadings, motions, decisions, or other papers to reflect the nature of the controversy,
- The name and email addresses of lead counsel of all parties involved in the litigation, and
- If the case is not in a U.S. court, the request should include the name of the relevant court and due dates for amicus briefs.
NOTE: If IPO must be granted leave to intervene or otherwise participate in the case before filing the substantive brief, the Committee must provide the Amicus Brief Committee with a copy of the draft motion and an outline of the substantive brief.
Submitting Requests:
Please note that the committee needs at least 30 days to review the request and draft and print a brief; longer lead time is strongly encouraged. Requests submitted with less than 30 days to review will have a significantly decreased chance of being fulfilled.
IPO rarely files briefs in support of petitions for certiorari at the Supreme Court or en banc rehearing at the Federal Circuit.
Requests are to be submitted via email to the Chair of the Amicus Brief Committee, John Cheek, at amicus@ipo.org. For more information on procedures, contact Hannah Denny at hdenny@ipo.org. Also, for more information see the Amicus Brief Committee Procedures here.
Review and Notification
The Amicus Brief Committee will review completed requests. All requests will be acknowledged when received. If the committee favors the request it will be submitted to the IPO Board of Directors for a vote.
In matters where IPO must be granted leave to intervene before filing a brief, the IPO Board of Directors will vote on whether to intervene and on the outline of the substantive brief, delegating to the IPO Executive Committee final review of the brief before filing for consistency with the approved outline.
The requestor and opposing counsel will be notified of the action taken on the request.