OPINION
This matter is before the Court on defendant’s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction pursuant to Rule *64 12(b)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. In its complaint, plaintiff Purdue Research Foundation (“PRF”) alleges that Sanofi-Synthelabo, S.A. (“SSBO France”) breached contracts with plaintiff by failing to make payments in connection with Cooperative Research Agreements between plaintiff and defendant’s predecessors-in-interest. Plaintiffs complaint asserts that the Court has personal jurisdiction over defendant under the federal patent long-arm statute, 35 U.S.C. § 293. Defendant seeks dismissal of the complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction on the ground that the case is not one “respecting the patent or rights thereunder” and therefore is outside the scope of 35 U.S.C. § 293. The Court will grant defendant’s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction.
I. BACKGROUND
A. Facts
From 1987 to 1992, plaintiff entered into three Cooperative Research Agreemеnts with Sterling Drug, Inc. (“Sterling Drug”) and its successors-in-interest for the purpose of developing certain antiviral drugs. See Complaint, Exhibits 3-5 (“1987 Cooperative Research Agreement,” “1990 Cooperative Research Agreement,” “1992 Cooperative Research Agreement”). 1 The 1987 Agreement stated that Purdue scientists had been cooperating with Sterling Drug scientists since January 1, 1986, and that their research had led to “increased understanding of the interactions of rhinovirus and other picornаviruses with certain antiviral agents invented at Sterling Drug.” 1987 Agreement at 2. The Agreement called for a continuation of the cooperation between Purdue scientists and Sterling Drug in order to further the development of antiviral agents of interest to Sterling Drug. See id. at 3. The Agreement obligated Sterling Drug to compensate plaintiff for product achievements made related to the sponsored research. See id. 2
During the period covered by these agreements, the parties collaborated on *65 the development of an anti-viral compound known as pleconaril. See Sanofi-Synthela-bo’s Memorandum in Support of its Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction (“Def.Mem.”) at 3. In 1994 and 1995, Sterling Winthrop, Inc., a successor to Sterling Drug, was awarded patents covering pleconaril. See id. In 1994, Sanofi, S.A., a French corporation, purchased intellectual property relating to Sterling Winthrop’s ethical pharmaceutical business, thus giving Sanоfi, S.A. title to intellectual property related to pleconaril and other products. See id. In 1999, Sanofi, S.A. merged with Synthelabo, S.A., a French corporation, thereby forming SSBO France, the defendant. See id.
In 2001, SSBO France granted ViroP-harma, Inc., a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Pennsylvania, an exclusive royalty-bearing license to develop, market, and sell pleconaril-containing products in the United States and Canada. See Def. Mеm. at 3. Plaintiff contends that the license, intellectual property rights, and other considerations constitute commercial benefits covered by the Agreements, and that plaintiff is “entitled to payment in connection with any and all such commercial benefits.” Complaint ¶ 13. Plaintiff also seeks declaratory relief in the form of a “declaration of the Court regarding Sanofi’s prospective obligations to PRF under [the] agreements.” Id. ¶ 19.
B. Procedural History
On December 20, 2001, plaintiff filed an action for breach of contract in the Superi- or Court for Tippecanoe County, Indiana.
See Purdue Research Found, v. Sanofi-Synthelabo, S.A.,
Plaintiff appealed the district court’s decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
See Purdue Research Found, v. Sanofi-Synthelabo, S.A.,
On September 16, 2003, plaintiff filed with this Court a breach of contract action alleging that plaintiff was “entitled to payment in connection with any and all ... commercial benefits” accruing from plaintiffs licensing agreement with ViroPhar-ma, Inc., as well as plaintiffs intellectual property rights and other considerations related to pleconaril. Complaint ¶ 13. Plaintiff alleged that defendant “and/or its predecessors in interest have breached their obligations to PRF under the Cooperative Research Agreements ... and caused damage to PRF by failing to perform payment obligations thereunder to PRF.” Id. ¶ 17. On December 22, 2003, defendant filed a motion to dismiss for lack *66 of personal jurisdiction, alleging that the Court does not have personal jurisdiction over defendant under either the District of Columbia long-arm statute, D.C.Code § 13-423, or the federal patent long-arm statute, 35 U.S.C. § 293.
II. DISCUSSION
In its opposition to defendant’s motion to dismiss, plaintiff concedes that this Court may not exercise personal jurisdiction over defendant under the District of Columbia long-arm statute, but argues that personal jurisdiction is appropriate under the federal patent long-arm statute. See Purdue Research Foundation’s Opposition to Sanofi-Synthelabo’s Motion to Dismiss For Lack of Personal Jurisdiction (“P1.0pp.”) at 3. In evaluating defendant’s motion to dismiss, the Court therefore will focus its analysis on the applicability of 35 U.S.C. § 293.
A Rule 12(b)(2) Standard of Review
Plaintiff bears the burden of establishing personal jurisdiction over defendant. In order to meet its burden, plaintiff must allege specific facts on which personal jurisdiction can be based; it cannot rely on conclusory allegations.
See GTE New Media Services, Inc. v. Ameritech Corp.,
B. The Federal Patent Long-Arm Statute
1. Case Law Construing 35 U.S.C. § 293
The federal patent long-arm statute confers on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia personal jurisdiction over patentees who do not rеside in the United States if the foreign patentee fails to designate in writing a person in the United States for receipt of process, or if that person cannot be found, and the claims at issue in the case respect the foreign patentee’s patent or rights thereunder. See 35 U.S.C. § 293. The statute reads:
Every patentee not residing in the United States may file in the Patent and Trademark Office a written designation stating the name and address of a person residing within the United States on whom may be servеd process or notice of proceedings affecting the patent or rights thereunder. If the person designated cannot be found at the address given in the last designation, or if no person has been designated, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia shall have jurisdiction and summons shall be served by publication or otherwise as the court directs. The court shall have the same jurisdiction to take any action respecting the patent or rights thereunder that it would have if the patentee were personally within the jurisdiction of the court.
35 U.S.C. § 293 (emphasis added). The only issue before the Court on this motion is whether plaintiffs claim for breach of contract and declaratory relief is an “ac *67 tion respecting the patent'or rights thereunder” such that the Court may assert personal jurisdiction over the defendant. Id. The Court concludes that it is not.
Since Congress enacted Section 293 in 1952, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and this Court have addressed the extent of personal jurisdiсtion accorded by Section 293 in only five reported decisions. First, in
North Branch Products, Inc. v. Fisher,
In
Neidhart v. Neidhart S.A.,
In
Riker Laboratories, Inc. v. Gistr-Bro-cades N.V.,
The most recent court of appeals decision interpreting the scope of Section 293,
National Patent Development Corp. v. T.J. Smith & Nephew, Ltd.,
This Court most recently considered the scope of Section 293 in
Park v. Amott,
Civil Action No. 89-3257,
2. Application of Case Law to Plaintiffs Claims
In support of its contention that this Court has personal jurisdiction over defendant in this case, plaintiff argues that National Patent and the court of appeals’ endorsement of the Neidhart dissent require the Court to exercise personal jurisdiction over defendant under Section 293. See PI. Opp. at 6 (“National Patent and Judge Leventhal’s analysis in Niedhart [sic] are controlling in this case.”). In making this argument, plaintiff asserts that, despite the absence in its complaint of any assertion that this case involves a dispute regarding patent ownership or pat *69 ent misuse, the dispute is within the scope of Section 293 because “the disputed provisions of the parties’ contracts specifically relate to PRF’s contribution to patented inventions” and because “Sanofi has exprеssly invoked the inventorship and claim provisions of its patents as justification for its refusal to perform the disputed contract terms.” Id. at 6-7. Plaintiff further contends that defendant’s reference to patented inventions in its filing means that “Sanofi acknowledges that this case concerns, among other things, a beneficial interest of PRF in the commercial proceeds of patented inventions to which Purdue researchers made a contribution.” Id. at 7. Plaintiff concludеs that, under the broadened interpretation of Section 293 articulated by Judge Leventhal dissenting in Neidhart and adopted by the D.C. Circuit in National Patent, this dispute respects the patents of defendant or the rights thereunder and that personal jurisdiction over defendant therefore is proper. See id. at 9.
The Court disagrees. Plaintiff has not demonstrated that even
National
Patent’s interpretation of Section 293 is broad enough to confer personal jurisdiction over defendant. The holding of
National Patent
was expressly limited to disputes over patent ownership.
See National Patent Development Corp. v. T.J. Smith
cfe
Nephew, Ltd.,
Moreover, because the subject matter of this dispute is distinguishable from the facts addressed by Judge Leventhal’s dissent in
Neidhart,
the court of appeals’ subsequent adoption of Judge Leventhal’s reasoning does not authorize the Court to exercise personal jurisdiction over defendant here. Judge Leventhal in
Neidhart
stated that Section 293 jurisdiction is appropriate in a dispute between a patent licensee and sublicensee,
i.e.,
an “action[] to determine license rights.”
Neidhart v. Neidhart S.A.,
While undeniably a broader interpretation of Section 293 than otherwise articulated by the court of appeals, the language of Judge Leventhal’s dissent in
Neidhart
does not describe the dispute presently before the Court. Plaintiff has not asked the Court to evaluate “the extent of rights granted by an exclusive license” or the “validity of the license” granted by defendant, but instead alleges that defendant breached its “obligations to PRF under the
Cooperative Research Agreements,”
and asks the Court to issue a “declaration ... regarding Sanofi’s prospective obligations to PRF under
those agreements.”
Complaint ¶ ¶ 17,19 (emphasis added). In other words, to resolve this dispute, the Court’s central inquiry would be the extent of rights and obligations of defendant under its
contracts
with plaintiff. This case therefore is analogous to the situation before Judge Lamberth in
Park v. Amott,
because this case “turns on the plaintiffs allegations of breach of contract ... and declaratory relief’ relating to the contracts, and is “only incidentally related to
*70
patents and rights thereunder.”
Park v. Amott,
Plaintiffs contention that Section 293 applies because “Sanofi has expressly invoked the inventorship and claim provisions of its patents as justification for its refusal to perform the disputed contract terms” has little force. PL Opp. at 7. Mere reference to provisions contained in defendant’s" patents does not transform what is essentially a contract dispute into a dispute affecting the rights under defendant’s patents. Significantly, plaintiff does not challenge the validity of defendant’s ownership of the patents to pleconaril, nor does it allege that defendant did not have the right to benefit commercially from the patents by entering into a license agreement with ViroPharma, Inc. Plaintiffs сontention is that, pursuant to its contracts, it is entitled to a share of the proceeds defendant enjoys as a result of the research performed jointly by plaintiff and defendant.
See
Complaint ¶ 13 (“Pursuant to the Cooperative Research Agreements, PRF is entitled to payment in connection with any and all such commercial benefits.”). That situation is distinguishable from that in
Neidhart,
where the plaintiff claimed it was owed payments pursuant to a licensing agreement with the defendant-patentee.
See Neidhart v. Neidhart, S.A.,
Plaintiff also argues that the policy underlying Section 293 should compel the Court to exercise personal jurisdiction over defendant. Plaintiff asserts that the dispute before the Court “exemplifies why Section 293 was enacted and why the National Patent court interpreted Section 293 broadly.” PI. Opp. at 6. Plaintiff argues that Seсtion 293
was intended to cope with the problem that nonresidents could obtain valuable United States patent rights, and yet stay beyond the reach of both state and Federal process as long as they were not present or “doing business” within the United States. Congress sought to assure Americans a forum in the United States for proceedings “affecting the patent or rights thereunder.”
Id.
(quoting
Neidhart v. Neidhart, S.A,
Even accepting plaintiffs interpretation of the congressional intent underlying Section 293, the instant matter is not one contemplated by the statute. As already discussed, the Court may exercise personal jurisdiction only if the dispute may be characterized as “respecting [the nonresident’s] patent or rights thereunder.” 35 U.S.C. § 293. The bare fact that defendant is a nonresident patеnt owner does not authorize the Court to assert personal jurisdiction over defendant under Section 293 for all matters. Moreover, plaintiffs contention that defendant is attempting to “duck” jurisdiction in United States courts, even if true, does not relieve plaintiff of its burden to establish personal jurisdiction over defendant.
See GTE New Media Services, Inc. v. Ameritech Corp.,
An Order consistent with this Opinion shall issue this same day.
SO ORDERED.
FINAL ORDER AND JUDGMENT
For the reasons stated in the Opinion issued this same day, it is hereby
ORDERED that defendant’s Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction [2] is GRANTED; it is
FURTHER ORDERED that this case is dismissed without prejudice from the docket of this Court. This is a final ap-pealable order. See Fed. R. App. P. 4(a).
SO ORDERED.
Notes
. The three agreements contain the same provisions relevant to this case аnd the parties make no effort to distinguish the 1987 Agreement from the later contracts. See Sanofi-Synthelabo's Memorandum in Support of its Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction (''Def.Mem.”) at 2 n. 1. For convenience, the Court therefore refers only to the 1987 Agreement.
. Plaintiff initially filed a breach of contract action in Indiana state court alleging that defendant failed to perform its obligations under this Agreement.
See Purdue Research Pound, v. Sanofi-Synthelabo,
S.A.,
The 1987 Agreement (and subsequent agreements) recognized that the collaborative research could lead to four types of product achievements: (1) joint inventions; (2) inventions made sоlely by Sterling Drug personnel; (3) inventions made solely by Purdue University personnel; and (4) inventions made jointly with third parties.
See
1987 Agreement ¶ 7. Although it is unclear from the filings in this suit which category is at issue, the Seventh Circuit concluded that it was the second category that was at issue in the parties' dispute.
See Purdue Research Found, v. Sanofi-Synthelabo, S.A.,
. The court of appeals rejected what it speculated may have been the "prime consideration” motivating the
Neidhart
majority — "its fear that a less restrictive reading of section 293 would 'abrogate the traditional separation of state court-federal court jurisdiction whenever a nonresident patentee is involved.' ”
National Patent Development Corp. v. T.J. Smith & Nephew, Ltd.,
