February 25, 2005

Patent Disputes With Professors Lead to Judgment for Yale U., Lawsuit by UMass

By DAVID GLENN and GOLDIE BLUMENSTYK

In the latest skirmish in a long-running patent dispute, a federal district judge ruled this month that John B. Fenn, a Nobel laureate who taught chemistry at Yale University for many years, must pay Yale at least $1-million in damages.

The ruling, by Judge Christopher F. Droney of the U.S. District Court in Hartford, Conn., found that Mr. Fenn had privately profited from a patent that, under the terms of his contract with Yale, he was required to assign to the university. The court