Duo that used legal threats to force scientists to pay for a tool face off in court

Steven Trubow and Donald Morisky made a small fortune through a controversial company that licensed, often at what researchers thought were exorbitant rates, a tool to scientists, wielding the cudgel of costly legal action if they balked at payment. 

Now, in what critics of the pair will doubtless find a delicious irony, the pair is embroiled in a lawsuit over … licensing of the licensing business. 

Morisky, of UCLA, is the developer of the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS), a proprietary research instrument he rents out to scholars and institutions — often at fees that have, in some cases, exceeded $100,000. Many researchers who don’t obtain permission have been forced to pay up or retract their work.

Trubow is — or was — Morisky’s enforcer, the person who contacted researchers who had used the MMAS, in its various iterations, and threatened them with legal action if they didn’t comply. (Many users have complained that Trubow and Morisky ignore repeated attempts to obtain a pre-publication license, then send threatening notices demanding money or immediate retraction of the work once it appears in print.)

Now, Trubow is suing Morisky, accusing his former partner of using their company as a personal piggy bank and taking steps to starve the business of clients and funnel money to his family. 

The suit, initially filed in state court in Washington, then moved to Federal court, and now back in state court, alleged that:

On or about November 21, 2018, Defendant Donald Morisky paid himself $80,000 from MMAS Research’s banking account without prior disclosure to Plaintiff w or obtaining member approval. No legitimate business purpose for such payment has been disclosed to date. 

Trubow also accused Morisky of establishing a Nevada-based corporation to serve effectively as a family business to enrich his wife and sons: 

On or about January 22, 2019, Defendants Donald Morisky, Susan Morisky, Phillip Morisky and Marty Morisky formed a limited liability company in Nevada called the Morisky Medication Adherence Research, LLC (“Morisky Medication Adherence Research”). Defendants Donald and Susan Morisky never disclosed to Plaintiff w their intentions to form this LLC or the existence of this Nevada LLC. MMAS Research’s attorney later discovered the existence of this new entity registered by Defendant Donald Morisky. Plaintiffs then discovered certain legal and other expenses for Morisky Medication Adherence Research were being paid through MMAS Research’s banking account.

Several months later, according to the suit, Morisky told Trubow that he was abandoning the original business — effectively jettisoning his former partner and starving the company of revenue:

On information and belief, Defendants have intentionally induced or caused the termination of certain licensees, customer confusion as to the authority and property licensing for MMAS Research’s Morisky Widget and related intellectual property, and/or diversion of existing and potential licensees away from MMAS Research.

The complaint cites emails Morisky sent in early July 2019 telling users of his scale that he was the sole owner of the instrument and that MMAS Research was no longer in control of the rights to the tool. 

Meanwhile, the suit alleges that Morisky racked up significant debt through the original firm: 

Defendant Donald Morisky, as a former member, has certain ongoing debts, obligations and/or liabilities to MMAS Research and/or Trubow that have not been satisfied or otherwise discharged, including: signing settlement agreements, repayment of amounts owed to MMAS Research and/or taken without Trubow’s consent, the formal transfer of certain ownership rights for certain intellectual property rights to MMAS Research, and continuing licensing obligations to MMAS Research’s licensees.

In a response to the suit — filed in federal court in Las Vegas, because copyright actions are federal concerns and cannot be raised in state courts — Morisky admitted to taking the money, but claimed that it was owed him. It states: 

This case arises from the malicious efforts by Plaintiff Steven Trubow directly and through his control of Plaintiff MMAS Research, LLC, to wrongfully deprive Dr. Donald E. Morisky of his intellectual property rights in and licensing fees from Dr. Morisky’s life’s work in developing, authoring, and perfecting what is known world-wide as the life-saving “Morisky Medication Adherence Scale.” …

Dr. Morisky’s life work has been to provide successful, proven and scientifically replicable protocols that literally extend and save the lives of patients with terminal and chronic illnesses by promptly identifying potential compliance issues and pre-emptively providing timely, scaled, and tailored intervention protocols.

Morisky’s federal suit says he is seeking:

All Intellectual Property (Copyrights, Trademarks, Patents, Trade Secrets, and Derivatives of the Same) Associated with or Derived from the MMAS-4 and MMAS-8 Scales.

We emailed Trubow for comment but have not heard back. Morisky told us by email: 

It is a terrible litigation as [Trubow] sued my entire family and me in a very costly litigation.

Morisky’s attorney, F. Christopher Austin, of Weide & Miller, a boutique firm in Las Vegas specializing in intellectual property issues, said his client and  Trubow are now engaged in “amicable” and “good faith” settlement talks that could be resolved by the end of the month.

Austin declined to disclose the amount of the proposed settlement.

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