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University of Kansas Wins Credit for NIH Cancer Research
As mentioned in: Bloomberg NewsApril 9, 2012
On April 6, 2012, Bloomberg reported that Pillsbury clients the University of Kansas (KU) and the University of Kansas Center for Research, Inc. (KUCR), a nonprofit corporation affiliated with KU, prevailed in a closely watched legal battle over cancer drug formulation patents, after an arbitration panel ruled in KUCR’s favor following years of litigation against the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).
KUCR "won the right to claim that two of its employees should be given credit on research conducted for the NIH that led to the cancer drug Velcade®," Bloomberg reported, noting "An arbitration panel agreed with the university's claim that a researcher and his assistant should have been included as inventors on two patents owned by NIH and licensed to Millennium Pharmaceuticals, now part of Japanese drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical Co." The story noted that Velcade®, used to treat blood cancers, generated $623 million in sales last year for Takeda.
"The university could have had ownership rights to the intellectual property," Atkins said. "When there is a university involved and a government employee claims co-inventorship, the law is not always clear who owns the property."
Read the full Bloomberg story here.
