… all the lawsuits in the world are not going to stop things.

http://nypost.com/2015/03/13/tv-ratings-see-double-digit-declines-for-fifth-straight-month/

… then here’s a link that provides a list of some of the most notable intellectual property disputes between universities and their faculty – and students!

http://www.ipadvocate.org/forum/dispute.cfm?Type=Disputes

Here’s a well-known case involving the University of Pennsylvania, which sued Professor Albert Kligman, who invented Retin-A. Penn claimed that he violated the university’s patent policy.

http://www.leagle.com/decision/19911974762FSupp1212_11790.xml/UNIVERSITY%20PATENTS,%20INC.%20v.%20KLIGMAN

Dr. Kligman was already somewhat notorious for experiments he had conducted on prisoners. Here’s a Wikipedia entry about him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Kligman

If you all remember, during the last class before spring break, I mentioned a case in which a university had been sued under the False Claims Act for fraudulent submissions to the NIH. The case is U.S. ex rel Zissler v University of Minnesota.  (Zissler sued as a qui tam relator, and the U.S. intervened and took over the action.)

Here’s the Eighth Circuit opinion: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-8th-circuit/1349506.html

And the University of Minnesota eventually settled the case with the U.S. government for $32M!!! Here’s a link from the DOJ about the settlement: http://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/1998/November/549civ.htm 

And another one:

http://www.ober.com/publications/1820-federal-research-grant-recipients-face-false-claims-lawsuit

Here’s a link to a law firm that does a lot of work in health care law:

 http://www.mintz.com/newsletter/2014/Newsletters/4011-0513-NAT-HL/index.html

 

(photo credit: New York Post)

More disruption. Notwithstanding the Aereo case, propping up a failing business model will not change customer demands or customer behavior.

http://nypost.com/2015/02/16/millenials-ditching-their-tv-sets-at-a-record-rate/

Here’s a fairly recent article from the World Bank. These are amazing statistics. The fact that we have come this far suggests that the continued improvement we need is possible.

And here is another article from the Brookings Institution that accompanies this graph: http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/02/poverty-in-numbers-changing-state-of.html

I’ve met Arthur Brooks, and really admire his work. But I think our friend David Pozen would have a field day with this one!

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/14/opinion/arthur-c-brooks-taking-risks-in-love.html

This is a much longer piece by USAID that examines land ownership issues in Ethiopia. I am posting it in case anyone is interested.

 

http://usaidlandtenure.net/sites/default/files/country-profiles/full-reports/USAID_Land_Tenure_Ethiopia_Profile.pdf