intellectual property

Researchers find ways to modernize time-intensive process that plagues many academics

Silicon carbide (SiC) power devices can be used to more efficiently regulate power in technologies that use electronics

Apple products that benefited from the technology include processors found in recent iPhone models and several versions of the iPad

Ohio State plays key role in launch of I-Corps@Ohio.

It has been over 40 months since President Obama signed the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) into law in September 2011, climaxing years of feverish legislative wrangling. AIA was heralded as a game-changer, the dawning of an equitable intellectual property (IP) regimen that rewarded research scientists and innovators beset by ineffectual patent processes and procedures.

Likely the most successful company to result from university research innovation was Google. But, when such a startup comes out of a university, which party owns the intellectual property (IP) rights?

According to a recent article by Jeff John Roberts of Gigaom, a 1997 patent held by Boston University (BU) could actually be detrimental to public research.

Sandia National Laboratories is building a portfolio of intellectual property (IP) that can be licensed by businesses in as little as an hour.

To appreciate the significance—or the ubiquity— of commercial tamper protection, one needn’t go any farther than the local grocery store. You, and many other consumers, probably wouldn't use a product with a broken seal. If grocery store patrons have a low tolerance for uncertainty, imagine the burden of proof facing scientific intellectual property owners in a court of law.

“Intellectual property has the shelf life of a banana,” commented Microsoft’s Bill Gates. So why should laboratory managers worry about keeping intellectual property confidential? Gates’ statement may be true for computers and information technology. However, in many other business areas, intellectual property can have a much longer shelf life and needs to remain confidential for many years.