UF's sovereign immunity case bodes well for state schools, may offer a marketing advantage

摘要

The University of Florida's reliance on sovereign immunity to prevail in a patent challenge could represent a new defense for state schools, but the ruling isn't a get-out-of-jail-free card. There are limitations to its usefulness, and in some cases a university might have already forfeited its immunity. In the recently decided case (Covidien LP v. University of Florida Res. Found. Inc., IPR2016-01274, -01275, -01276), the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) found the sovereign immunity defense valid, dismissing three petitions challenging the claims of a patent owned by the University of Florida Research Foundation (UFRF). The PTAB ruled that because UFRF is an arm of the State of Florida by way of the University of Florida, the foundation is entitled to a sovereign immunity defense for an inter partes review of the challenged patent.