Bikkina

I.

INTRODUCTION

Appellant Jagan Mahadevan (Mahadevan) appeals from the denial of his special motion to strike pursuant to California’s anti-SLAPP statute (Code Civ. Proc., § 425.16) filed in response to respondent Prem Bikkina’s (Bikkina) complaint alleging that Mahadevan made false and libelous statements about Bikkina’s research. The trial court denied the motion, finding Mahadevan’s statements did not arise from protected activity. We agree with the trial court and further conclude that, even if the conduct arose from protected activity, the claims have sufficient merit to survive a motion to strike. Therefore, we affirm.

II.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Bikkina’s Complaint

We begin with the facts alleged in the complaint. In 2007, Bikkina entered a Ph.D. program at the McDougall School of Petroleum Engineering at the University of Tulsa (University). Mahadevan was his dissertation advisor and supervisor from 2007 to 2010. Bikkina complained that Mahadevan was repeatedly reassigning him to different projects and requested a new advisor, which he was given in May 2010. In March 2011, Bikkina published a scientific paper on carbon sequestration (Paper 1)…