Gensetix case with U Texas shows need to consider enforcement terms in license agreement

摘要

A case involving the University of Texas is yielding lessons about the proper way to construct contracts - particularly with regard to rights to enforcement - as well as the role of sovereign immunity when a licensee seeks to force a state university to join an infringement suit. Unfortunately, it raises as many questions as it answers. The case revolves around a UT licensee, which wanted to sue Baylor College of Medicine for infringement on a valuable patent. But UT was not interested and refused to join the suit as a necessary party. The licensee pushed for the university to join the lawsuit, and ultimately the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit determined that UT could not be dragged into litigation against its will because it has sovereign immunity.