University of Wisconsin Ordered to Pay Ex-Partner $32 Million
- Licensing deal with Abbott Labs spurred 5-year-old lawsuit
- Colleges in St. Louis, Madison had collaborated on research
Photographer: Christopher A. Jones/Moment Open via Getty Images
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The University of Wisconsin’s patent-licensing arm must pay Washington University in St. Louis, its former partner in medical research, $31.6 million for breaching a royalties contract related to the sale of an AbbVie Inc. kidney-disease drug.
The judgment, issued Monday alongside a sealed opinion in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, marks the culmination of a rare legal fight involving two universities that had formed a patent-licensing deal with a corporation.