Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane has floated the idea that government grants be linked to the number of patents a university registers, rather than the papers it gets published. The suggestion comes at…
Google, Canon and other information technology corporations last week announced they’re banding together in an attempt to fix an allegedly broken patent system and squash the wave of patent trolls and…
With not one but two truces on the table, does this spell the end of the patent wars?
[Magill]/Flickr
Apple and Google agreed last week to abandon mutual litigation over smartphone software and hardware patents. Yesterday the Korea Times reported that it appears likely Apple and Samsung will also reach…
Some drug manufacturing in India is global best practice. Other production is both shoddy and dangerous.
Shutterstock
Generic drugs are copies of brand-name drugs whose patent has expired, allowing consumers (and governments) to buy a replica drug at a fraction of the price. But a recent US investigation has found consumers…
There is an enormous gap between the effects and consequences of science, and how much scientists consider these consequences. This is dangerous, but there is something we can do about it. There is no…
Emerging economies like India are pushing ahead on innovation measures, while advanced economies see productivity declines.
World Bank/Flickr
The Conference Board’s latest productivity measure shows efficiency remains a problem for the global economy - and interestingly that innovation, despite occurring, may not be helping. The business research…
Grubby, mean and out for your ideas. Patent trolls are on the prowl.
kewl
For a country that has long been a staunch defender of intellectual property rights, the US has struggled in recent years to get to grips with the menace of a new breed of patent holders, pejoratively…
Samsung and Apple’s lawyers are primed and, as always, battle-ready.
Jayel Aheram
By now, we’re surely all aware of the ongoing tussle between Apple and Samsung over patents, given it makes global headlines on a regular basis. So what are we to make of it? The current flashpoint comes…
The new Apple operating system iOS 7 – still in its beta phase – has a radical new design and hundreds of new features. But with lawsuits erupting seemingly every other day, how do companies like Apple avoid breaching patents?
Javier Domínguez Ferreiro
Earlier this month, Apple announced iOS 7, the most recent incarnation of its operating system for mobile and portable devices. According to Apple: iOS 7 is completely redesigned with subtle motion, an…
Harder times ahead for Pfizer as Viagra patents end.
Flickr/kosare
Those for whom Viagra is indispensable might be a little surprised that the ubiquitous blue, diamond-shaped pill was a chance discovery by a group of research pharmaceutical chemists at Pfizer’s research…
Angelina Jolie has a double mastectomy after discovering she carried a mutation of the BRAC1 gene.
Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire
Millions of women in the US will have access to affordable genetic screening for cancer after the US Supreme Court ruled that a commercial company cannot patent human genes. The screening tests for mutations…
The US is attempting to combat litigious patent trolls - but is the problem with the patent system itself?
AAP
Patents may have once seemed like a good idea. At least it seemed that way to the Venetians, who in 1474 declared the publication and protection of the “works and devices” of “men of great genius” would…