IU files lawsuit against Merck

IU and its Advanced Research and Technology Institute filed a lawsuit Friday seeking credit for an IU scientist on patents owned by pharmaceutical giant Merck. \nThe complaint, filed in federal court in Indianapolis, seeks to name Dr. Darron Brown, an IU School of Medicine scientist, as an inventor along with Merck scientists on several patents registered by Merck & Co., Inc. and Merck & Co., Ltd.\nARTI President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Long said in a statement that Dr. Brown deserves recognition on the patents.\n"On this issue, we believe we must take this action to protect the interests of the University, ARTI and Dr. Brown," Long said. "Dr. Brown made valuable contributions to the invention being patented by Merck, and he should be recognized for those contributions."\nThe patents are all for vaccines created against the human papilloma virus, which causes a number of serious diseases, according to a press release.\nThe lawsuit is a result of six months of negotiation with Merck and its refusal to resolve the issue "to the satisfaction of IU and Merck," the press release reported.\nMerck is a global research-driven pharmaceutical company which develops and markets products to improve human and animal health.\nMedia relations representatives from Merck did not return phone messages by press time Sunday.