In Dickinson v. Zurko, the Supreme Court

Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...

 was asked by the United States Patent and Trademark Office

United States Patent and Trademark Office

The United States Patent and Trademark Office is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that issues patents to inventors and businesses for their inventions, and trademark registration for product and intellectual property identification.The USPTO is based in Alexandria, Virginia,...

 to decide whether the Office's reviewing court, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, should review the agency's factual determinations for whether the Office's decisions were supported with substantial evidence (under the Administrative Procedures Act), or whether the evidence was clearly erroneous (such as how a lower court would be reviewed). Agreeing with the PTO, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the Office need only have substantial evidence.
External links=

• Supreme Court opinion, 527 U.S. 150 (1999)
• Final Court of Appeals opinion after Supreme Court review, In re Zurko et al, 258 F.3d 1379 (Fed. Cir. 2001)
• Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit opinion II, reversed by Supreme Court, 142 F.3d 1447 (Fed. Cir. 1998) (en banc)
• Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit panel opinion, vacated by rehearing en banc, 111 F.3d 887 (Fed. Cir. 1997)
• Appendix to Dickinson brief before the Supreme Court (includes opinion of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences) (pp. 35a-45a)
• Application status available through Public PAIR (search for application 07/479,666 or patent 6,507,909)