State universities are big players in technology who often aggressively license research breakthroughs in fields such as biotechnology to companies, sometimes reaping millions in royalties. This complex intersection of public and private interests is rife with disputes over patent rights and inventions. And experts argue that a June ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that citizens and companies can't sue states in federal court over intellectual property could give the universities a decided edge in such legal battles.

The decision has already had an impact on at least one highprofile patent dispute.According to Martin Simpson, counsel for the University of California (UC), the ruling "obliterated"a lawsuit against the school by Genentech, a San Francisco biotech company. Genentech had been trying to void a UC patent the university
says covers recombinant human growth hormone, a drug that racked up $214 million in sales for Genentech last year. John Kidd, Genentech's lead litigator and a partner in the New York law firm of Rogers & Wells, says firms who want to sue a state will now have to take their case to state court, where there's no established forum for patent law."I've got no place to sue,"laments Kidd.