General Dynamics Corp. v. United States

This action for patent infringement requires us to decide whether an unappealed decision of the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (the board) against the Government on the existence of a license to use a patent under the standard Patent Rights clause of a Government contract now precludes the Government from raising the license as a defense to the alleged infringement. The Government says that the decision does not preclude it, arguing that the board’s ruling was purely advisory and therefore not binding on it under S&E Contractors, Inc. v. United States, 406 U.S. 1 (1972). We conclude…