Title

Diamond v. Chakrabarty: Gauging Congress’ Response to Dynamic Statutory Interpretation by the Supreme Court

Abstract

In this article, I consider the 1980 Supreme Court decision, Diamond v. Chakrabarty, and Congress’ response to it in light of several contemporary views on statutory interpretation. I conclude that in science and technology-related cases in which delay could significantly hamper the advancement of the field, the Supreme Court should interpret federal statutes dynamically in response to a changing social context, but should also attempt to conform its interpretations to legislative preferences in order to avoid a legislative override.

Disciplines

Courts | Intellectual Property Law | Law and Politics | Legislation | Science and Technology Law

Date of this Version

June 2004