Court affirms judgment of former MU professor

A former University of Missouri engineering professor lost his appeal on Tuesday after a jury ordered him to pay $600,000 to the university for breach of contract in September 2017.

Galen Suppes filed the appeal the same month he lost the original case, which was filed in 2009.

The suit claimed the university was damaged when Suppes violated his contract and university rules by filing 35 patent applications between September 2001 and January 2008 without the university’s knowledge. The lawsuit also claimed that Suppes conducted research for some of his inventions in university labs.

The jury ruled in favor of the university on two out of three verdicts, finding that Suppes breached his contract and duty of loyalty.

In the appeal, Suppes argued there was not enough evidence to show the contract had been breached and that $300,000 for each count was too high.

The original ruling was upheld in the appeal.

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