Of note for those of us that regularly deal with university inventions, and inventors, a Chemistry professor has filed a lawsuit against the University of Pennsylvania alleging that it deprived him of profits from technology he developed. Professor Michael Therien accuses the University of failing to live up to its obligation to commercialize his technology, which led to 10 patents in fields ranging from telecommunications to medical imaging and diagnostics. The suit alleges that Therien suffered lost profits and damages to his reputation exceeding $100,000.
The University has filed a motion to dismiss the case, which is currently pending in the Pennsylvania Eastern District Court. In a response filed with the court, University officials said Therien has "no right" to the technology and the University has "discretion" over whatever technology its employees develop.
Since I was previously the Interim Director of a tech transfer office, I will be particularly interested in seeing how this plays out. See the entire article here.
