April 27, 2010 - Dr. Renee Kaswan, the founder of IP Advocate and an opponent of the patent reform legislation currently before Congress, announced in a press release that she has settled her seven-year lawsuit with the University of Georgia Research Foundation (UGARF). Dr. Kaswan is a former University of Georgia Veterinary Ophthalmology professor and founder of Georgia Veterinary Specialists.
The lawsuit, which settled for $20.2 million, was over UGARF's negotiation of a secret contract with Allergan to produce an opthalmic formula that the company marketed as Restasis. After structuring a lucrative licensing deal for UGARF with Allergan, Dr. Kaswan was excluded from renegotiations over the licensing of her patents.
"I am glad to be out of court so I can focus my attention on the advocacy and policy work we've started at IP Advocate," said Dr. Kaswan in the press release, adding, "There is much to be done, and we have some exciting things on the horizon to improve the process of translating academic inventions into public use."
Dr. Kaswan released a second press release on April 21 titled "Frivolous Lawsuits Slow Innovation, as University Researchers with Big Ideas Make Lucrative Targets, Says IP Advocate Founder." In this second release, she explains why her experience with UGARF and Allergan prompted her to become an advocate for academic researchers and student and faculty inventors.