Max Planck, Alnylam Sue Whitehead, MIT, UMass for Breach of Contract in RNAi Patent Filings

According to court documents, the defendants have allegedly misappropriated and misrepresented as their own inventions solely owned by Max Planck and exclusively licensed by Alnylam.

Fate Therapeutics Licenses Stem-Cell Modulators for Bone Regeneration from UCLA

UCLA becomes at least the eighth university or research institution from which Fate licensed IP to bolster its portfolio of stem cell modulators — small molecules and biologics to modulate cells for therapeutic purposes.

Smiths Detection to Offer LATE PCR 'Toolkit' Based on Brandeis, UMDNJ Technologies

The UK-based company will offer the toolkit through a single license that combines IP it licensed from Brandeis University and PHRI Properties, the tech-transfer arm of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

MIT Alumni Taris Biomedical Nabs $15M VC Investment to Develop Drug-Delivery Tech

Taris is the latest MIT spinout to attract significant VC cash after receiving early-stage proof-of-concept funding from the school's Deshpande Center, further highlighting the center's ability to speed commercialization of MIT biomedical research.

Ohio Awards Public-Private Stem-Cell Consortium $5M to Help Market Its Discoveries

The Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, which comprises researchers from Ohio academic institutions, research hospitals, and the private sector, will use the grant to fund nine new research projects this year and at least eight in coming years.

Stanford Professor Settles with ABL in HIV Database Legal Spat; Pursues Patent Reexams

The agreement comes approximately three months after ABL and Stanford reached their own settlement in the suit, in which ABL accused the university and professor of breaching a patent immunity contract regarding Stanford's HIV Drug Resistance Database.

University of Iowa Sues Abbott Claiming Humira Manufacture Infringes CMV Promoter IP

The suit, filed by the UI Research Foundation, claims that Abbott has infringed one or more claims of the patents by manufacturing its billion-dollar blockbuster monoclonal antibody Humira, which is used to treat a variety of autoimmune diseases.

Pfizer-QB3 Drug-Discovery Pact Moving Forward Despite Minor Snags

Approximately one year after Pfizer and the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences inked a three-year, $9.5 million drug-discovery pact, the alliance is now overseeing seven projects combining scientists from various Pfizer sites and QB3-affiliated researchers at UC-San Francisco.

UC Dublin's NovaUCD Reports Rise in Invention Disclosures, Patent Apps Over Three Years

About 60 percent of NovaUCD's tech-transfer activity last year was in the life sciences. The program has also benefitted from a portion of a €30 million initiative launched by the Irish government in 2007 to boost tech transfer at the country's research institutions.

People Transfer

President Obama to name David Kappos as USPTO director; WIPO endorses James Pooley as deputy director general for patents; Indiana U tech-transfer office lures Marie Kerbeshian from UVA Patent Foundation as Miette Michie takes her place, and more …

Stanford Grad Adds Plagiarism to Gene-Modification IP Suit Against School, Professor

The former PhD student this week filed an amended complaint claiming his faculty advisor plagiarized his PhD dissertation and lab notebooks to support additional patent applications for a gene-modification technique he helped invent.

Bill Sponsor Says Prospects 'Pretty Good' for Patent-Reform Legislation to Pass This Year

PhRMA has also backed the bill after language was added giving more power to Federal judges to calculate patent-infringement damages by taking into account the various IP components supporting the product at the heart of the case.

NC Nanobiotech Center to Use $2.5M Grant to Commercialize Research from State Universities

The North Carolina Biotechnology Center yesterday approved a four-year grant for the Center of Innovation in Nanobiotechnology, which will use it to become a standalone entity and help commercialize nanobiotech research from the state's universities.