Kimble v. Marvel Enterprises, Inc.

Decided June 22, 2015. Elena Kagan delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 13-720 · 576 U.S. 466 (2015) · Cited 298 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–3.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Brulotte v. Thys Co. · 379 U.S. 29 (1964)
• Illinois Tool Works Inc. v. Independent Ink, Inc. · 547 U.S. 28 (2006)
• Payne v. Tennessee · 501 U.S. 808 (1991)
• Patterson v. McLean Credit Union · 491 U.S. 164 (1989)
• Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc. · 551 U.S. 877 (2007)
• Scott Paper Co. v. Marcalus Manufacturing Co. · 326 U.S. 249 (1945)
• Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Stiffel Co. · 376 U.S. 225 (1964)
• Pearson v. Callahan · 555 U.S. 223 (2009)
• Business Electronics Corp. v. Sharp Electronics Corp. · 485 U.S. 717 (1988)
• Girouard v. United States · 328 U.S. 61 (1946)
• Zenith Radio Corp. v. Hazeltine Research, Inc. · 395 U.S. 100 (1969)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Chadha · 462 U.S. 919 (1983)
• Central Bank of Denver, N. A. v. First Interstate Bank of Denver, N. A. · 511 U.S. 164 (1994)
• Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation v. LTV Corp. · 496 U.S. 633 (1990)
• Burnet v. Coronado Oil & Gas Co. · 285 U.S. 393 (1932)
• Clinton v. City of New York · 524 U.S. 417 (1998)
• Bonito Boats, Inc. v. Thunder Craft Boats, Inc. · 489 U.S. 141 (1989)
• Bilski v. Kappos · 561 U.S. 593 (2010)
• Lear, Inc. v. Adkins · 395 U.S. 653 (1969)
• Arizona v. Maricopa County Medical Society · 457 U.S. 332 (1982)
• Compco Corp. v. Day-Brite Lighting, Inc. · 376 U.S. 234 (1964)
• Washington v. W. C. Dawson & Co. · 264 U.S. 219 (1924)
• Watson v. United States · 552 U.S. 74 (2007)
• John R. Sand & Gravel Co. v. United States · 552 U.S. 130 (2008)
• Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Community · 572 U.S. 782 (2014)
• John R. Sand & Gravel Co. v. United States · 552 U.S. 130 (2008)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Knick v. Township of Scott · 588 U.S. 180 (2019)
• Georgia v. Public Resource.Org, Inc. · 590 U.S. 255 (2020)
• Minerva Surgical, Inc. v. Hologic, Inc. · 594 U.S. 559 (2021)
• Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization · 597 U.S. 215 (2022)
• Thryv, Inc. v. Click-To-Call Technologies, LP · 590 U.S. 45 (2020)
• Kisor v. Wilkie · 588 U.S. 558 (2019)
• Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal. v. Hyatt · 587 U.S. 230 (2019)
• Ramos v. Louisiana · 590 U.S. 83 (2020)
• Allen v. Cooper · 589 U.S. 248 (2020)
• New Prime Inc. v. Oliveira · 586 U.S. 105 (2019)
• Groff v. DeJoy · 600 U.S. 447 (2023)
• Gamble v. United States · 587 U.S. 678 (2019)
• Jam v. International Finance Corp. · 586 U.S. 199 (2019)
• Allen v. Milligan · 599 U.S. 1 (2023)
• Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo · 603 U.S. 369 (2024)
• Shinn v. Martinez Ramirez · 596 U.S. 366 (2022)
• Jones v. Mississippi · 593 U.S. 98 (2021)
• Wilkinson v. Garland · 601 U.S. 209 (2024)
• Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College · 600 U.S. 181 (2023)
• Edwards v. Vannoy · 593 U.S. 255 (2021)
• United States v. Skrmetti · 605 U.S. 495 (2025)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Elena Kagan’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).