IDEAS AND OWNERSHIP: The concept of protecting ideas and innovation by legal means dates back to antiquity. But in the age of the internet and multinational business models, many of the existing laws are…
Software patenting was a fringe activity for the first 20 years of the software industry.
opensourceway
What would the software industry look like without patents? It’s a question worth asking in the context of Apple’s recent body blow to Samsung, which will see Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 kept off Australian…
Feeding the world’s poor may not really be the main concern of companies that take out gene patents on crops.
AAP
Michael Gilbert’s article starts with a title that poses a question - Will patenting crops help feed the hungry? Fair enough, except he then proceeds to provide an answer, which as the posted comments…
Patent acquisition is a delicate game of balance and counterbalance.
Rolf Vennenbernd/EPA
The patent wars took a bizarre turn this week. Samsung, currently defending itself against a legal move by Apple to have four Samsung smartphones and tablets banned from America due to alleged patent infringement…
It can be hard to know where the next bit of hypercharged rhetoric will come from.
fotoforlizzie
If you believe the hype, the “patent wars” are well and truly underway. Google announced last week it will buy Motorola Mobility to get access to 15,000 of the handset manufacturer’s patents and HTC, Apple…
A US court has recognised Myriad Genetics’ patent for an isolated gene, which plays a role in breast cancer.
Mel Rowling
The recent US Federal Court of Appeals decision relates to the patent law status of inventions based on the discovery that particular mutations in BRCA genes predispose women to breast and ovarian cancer…
Federal governments should fund pharmaceutical research and development.
AAP
Over the last couple of decades, the pharmaceutical industry has come under attack for its perceived shortcomings amid claims that it’s greedy, profiteering nature has caused significant harm. However…