米国 ミズーリ大学が知的財産に関し教官を提訴

ミズーリ大学がそこに勤務するGalen Suppes教授（化学）を、ミズーリ大学研究室においてした発明の権利を大学に引き渡さなかったとして1月26日（月）カンサス連邦地裁へ提訴したとのことです。
権利取得までは何の興味も示さなかった大学事務局が、教授がロイヤルティーを得たとたん権利を主張しだしたということが発端らしいです。。。

UPDATE: UM System sues professor over patents
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 10:44 p.m. CST
BY ALAN SCHER ZAGIER/The Associated PressCOLUMBIA

— A long-running dispute between MU and one of its professors over intellectual property is headed to federal court.
The UM System filed a lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City against chemical engineering professor Galen Suppes. The system claims Suppes won't release the rights to more than 30 inventions and 11 potential patents it says were developed in his UM labs.
＜中略＞
Suppes said he believes it's that pursuit of royalties, not any allegiance to its researchers, that drives the university's decisions.
"The only time they showed interest is when I informed them that royalties had been paid," he said.
He cited numerous e-mails, disclosure forms and other updates he offered to campus patent lawyers and technology administrators that went unheeded until the money started flowing. The lawsuit charges Suppes and Sutterlin with filing "multiple patent applications" without telling the university, as required under campus rules...(more)