The University has asked that its dispute with the state-appointed managers of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care be moved from state to federal court, Harvard officials said yesterday.
A lawsuit was filed late last month by the state on behalf of Harvard Pilgrim after Provost Harvey V. Fineberg '67 sent Mass. Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly a letter arguing that the University has a right to decide whether the debt-ridden health maintenance organization (HMO) can use the Harvard name.
The state took control of the HMO earlier this year, following losses of nearly $200 million in 1999.
"Harvard University asserts its rights to use of its name by Harvard Pilgrim or by any successor," the letter read.
In a letter to Reilly yesterday, Fineberg wrote that "facing a court deadline, we removed the case to federal court, which has exclusive jurisdiction over trademark disputes in interstate commerce."
Brian Heffron, Reilly's press secretary, said the attorney general's office is reviewing the matter.
"We are surprised and disappointed that the University did not feel it could receive a fair hearing on this issue in front of our state's highest court," Heffron said.
The University and the health care company have no official ties, although Robert H. Ebert, then-dean of Harvard Medical School, persuaded the University to lend its name to Harvard Pilgrim when it was created in 1969.
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