The US Supreme Court [official website] granted certiorari [order list, PDF] Friday in four cases. In Bullard v. Hyde Park Savings Bank [docket; cert. petition, PDF] the court will decide whether an order denying confirmation of a bankruptcy plan is appealable. The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit dismissed the appeal [opinion, PDF] for lack of jurisdiction.

In Kimble v. Marvel Enterprises, Inc. [docket; cert. petition, PDF] the court will decide whether to overrule Brulotte v. Thys Co. (1964) [opinion], which held that “a patentee’s use of a royalty agreement that projects beyond the expiration date of the patent is unlawful per se.” The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed [opinion, PDF] the district court’s order of summary judgment in favor of Marvel Enterprises, holding that royalties had to end when the patent expired for the Web Blaster, a Spider-Man toy.

In Harris v. Viegelahn [docket; cert. petition, PDF] the court will determine whether, when a debtor in good faith converts a bankruptcy case to Chapter 7 after confirmation of a Chapter 13 plan, undistributed funds held by the Chapter 13 trustee are refunded to the debtor or distributed to creditors. The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reached the latter conclusion [opinion, PDF], but there is a circuit split on the issue.

Finally, in Toca v. Louisiana [docket; cert. petition, PDF] the court will decide whether Miller v. Alabama [JURIST report] should apply retroactively in this case. The court ruled in 2012 that mandatory life sentences for juveniles violate the Eighth Amendment [text] prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. George Toca was 17 when he was sentenced in 1984 to life in prison for killing his friend. The Louisiana Supreme Court has ruled [opinion, PDF] that Miller is not retroactive in Louisiana.