Plaintiff Inventor sued Defendant State University in the Western District of Michigan for breach of contract and patent infringement. Defendant filed a motion to dismiss asserting Eleventh Amendment immunity. The District Court denied the University's motion to dismiss, ruling that any immunity was waived through a specific provision in the patent license agreement. The Federal Circuit affirmed. 
| Plaintiff Inventor sued Defendant State University in the Western District of Michigan for breach of contract and patent infringement. Defendant filed a motion to dismiss asserting Eleventh Amendment immunity. The District Court denied the University's motion to dismiss, ruling that any immunity was waived through a specific provision in the patent license agreement. The Federal Circuit affirmed. The District Court applied the Supreme Court standard, most recently reaffirmed in College Savings Bank v. Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Education Expense Bd, 527 U.S. 666 (1999), which holds that a state waives its immunity when it clearly declares its intention to sumbit to federal jurisdiction if the intention is "unequivocally expressed." Id. at 676. The District Court held, and the Federal Circuit affirmed, that the terms of the contract/patent license agreement were clear, and that the University agreed to submit to the jurisdiction of a federal court in Michigan as to disputes arising from the contract. |