Don't Diss Patents As An After-Thought
One often hears that European mentality does not regard patents as important as folks in the US. One of the signifiers: patent and copyrights laws in any European country are much less extensive than those in America. While this might seem trivial, this fact is relevant for technology start-ups. We talked with Richard Allan Horning, one of the most highly regarded Silicon Valley attorneys, about patents and why they are important. Richard has been representing technology companies since 1970. His clients vary from early-stage start-ups to Fortune 500 multi-nationals. Today Richard spends a significant part of his time helping Northern European companies expand to US.
Apple Agrees To Pay Nokia For Licensing
Apple and Nokia have settled their licensing disputes, the companies have stated. According to the agreement, Apple will pay Nokia a one-time payment as well as on going licensing fees. "We are very pleased to have Apple join the growing number of Nokia licensees," said Stephen Elop. "This settlement demonstrates Nokia's industry leading patent portfolio and enables us to focus on further licensing opportunities in the mobile communications market."
Investors As The Cause Of A Patent Frenzy Among Tech Startups?
Editorial note: This is a guest post by Teemu Lang from Papula Nevinpat, a company focusing on industrial property rights - patents, trademarks and designs.
I have now worked for about a decade with high-tech startups that are heavily dependent on protecting their core technology with the tools provided by the global Intellectual Property system. I must say that I am more and more intrigued about the eagerness of some companies to file a great number of patent applications in proportion to their revenue at the outset. Admittedly, the companies in question are operating in such special fields of high technology where patenting is key to the company’s survival. I cannot nevertheless help thinking that this filing frenzy may be more related to the fact that the company is at a startup phase than to the field in which the company operates.
Finnish Startups Know Their IPR-Issues Poorly
This morning the results of perhaps the largest survey in the area of immaterial property rights, conducted in Finland, were released. The findings are based on a sample size of 709 companies, so it can be said to be a notable population. In total, the questionnaire was sent to about 17 000 companies founded after the year 2000. In short, the study suggests that only a third of the companies have understanding of IPR-issues while others have not protected nor even understood to cover their work in any way.
To understand and go about something, the first step is usually the understanding of the different terms related to an issue. With regard to IPR-issues, most companies understood terms such as domain names, patents and copyrights and how these are related to your business. However, the umbrella term immaterial property rights (IPR) was only known by 20% of the companies and how it affects their business.
Don’t Go To Sleep Yet Policy Makers, Cleantech Innovation Needs You
COP 15 was a disappointment to many and there is now certainly a risk that policymakers leave the building, metaphorically speaking, leaving markets to take over and solve the environmental problems the best they can. Can they and should they?
Cleantech Scandinavia recently attempted to analyze Nordic cleantech patent application levels. The European Patent Office and OECD’s environmental directorate did a similar attempt analyzing cleantech patent application levels worldwide.
OECD carried out statistical analysis for basically all energy generation technologies showing a marked increase in wind, solar and hydro after the Kyoto agreement was signed. Their analysis also found that cleantech patent activity was dominated by Japan, US, Germany, Korea, Great Britain and France. (87% of solar photovoltaic patents were for instance handed in by Japan, US, Germany, Korea and France).
