Biotechnology discoveries – like the method for creating synthetic life forms – are at risk of being unduly hindered or taken hostage by private corporations unless patent systems are brought into the 21st century, an expert from The Australian National University argues.

IBM and World Business Council for Sustainable Development Team with Nokia, Pitney Bowes, and Sony to Establish Eco-Patent Common

Nokia announced it has filed a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) alleging that Qualcomm has engaged in unfair trade practices through infringing 5 Nokia patents in its CDMA and WCDMA/GSM chipsets.

QUALCOMM Incorporated, a leading developer and innovator of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA ) and other advanced wireless technologies, announced that a federal judge in San Diego has ruled that QUALCOMM waived its rights to enforce certain patents related to the H.264 video compression standard used in some high definition products. The court held that QUALCOMM had deliberately concealed U.S.

Time Warner Inc. and IBM today announced that the companies have entered into a long-term patent cross-license agreement. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Patent cross-licenses support one of the basic reasons for granting patents - sharing information about new inventions - and give companies greater freedom to innovate.

Acer Inc. has filed a counterclaim on July 19, 2007 with the reason of patent infringement against Hewlett-Packard Development Co. (HP) before the U.S. Eastern District of Texas Court.

... Involved in Implementing 150+ Software Standards

Toshiba Corporation announced on July 5th that the Company filed a lawsuit in Germany against a German disc replicator of DVD discs on July 4, 2007.

In 2006, the European Patent Office (EPO) received a record total of around 207 300 patent applications, 5% up on the previous year (2005: 197 400). There was also a rise of 5%, from 128 000 to 135 200, in the number of new grant proceedings instituted before the EPO. The proportion of filings originating from the 32 member states of the European Patent Organisation fell by over 1%, from 49.6% to 48.5%.

Illumina, Inc. announced today that a federal jury in Wilmington, Delaware found that Illumina infringed the five patents asserted by Affymetrix and ordered Illumina to pay approximately $16.7 million in damages to Affymetrix for sales by Illumina through the end of 2005