St. Jude smacked with breach of contract suit over valve tech royalty payments

St. Jude Medical is facing a lawsuit from the University of Michigan, claiming it wants to improperly reduce royalty payments for the company's use of technology in two of its cardiovascular valves. According to the MassDevice story, the university's breach of contract lawsuit alleges that St. Jude attempted to alter the terms of their deal in a June 2011 letter, stating it had overpaid $4.3 million in royalties between 2009 and 2011. As a result, the letter stated, St. Jude would credit the disputed money toward future royalty payments. University officials claim St. Jude altered its position on the royalties, blaming the change on a new manufacturing process for the valves that adjusted the scope of the patent use. Story