Can An Unenforceable Contract Still Be An Agreement?
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an ocular disease that is the predominant cause of vision loss in people over age fifty. Several researchers have investigated the use of photosensitive drugs to treat AMD. Researchers from the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI) met with executives of QLT Phototherapeutic Inc. to discuss the possibility of utilizing benzoporphin derivatives developed by QLT for the treatment of AMD. QLT agreed to provide these materials to MEEI for research trials. The patent attorney for QLT, Ms. Murashigi, prepared and filed a patent application (the ‘473 application) covering certain methods of therapy using QLT’s materials. The named inventors included only MEEI’s personnel, and thus the application was assigned to MEEI alone. QLT had no ownership interest in the ‘473 application. Subsequently, Murashigi proposed to MEEI that the ‘473 application could be improved upon by modifying the scope of the patent claims, arguing that it would strengthen the
