News

Intellectual Property: Patents hit the auction block

A Chicago merchant bank will take a new twist on selling intellectual property next week when it holds a live auction to sell 400-plus patents from some of the most valued technology innovators in the world. Lori Valigra looks at the list.

Who is in the lead in the knowledge race?

There is much more to a nation's "brain power" than how much it spends on R&D and education. The OECD tries to assess the broader picture by looking at "Investment in knowledge".

Napatech gets $5M from VCs to buy Xyratex's network adapter unit

Napatech, a Danish company that specialised in raising the speed of Internet network appliances, said it has received $5 million from Ferd Venture, Northzone Ventures and existing shareholder DTU Innovation, a fund which is related to the Danish Technical University.

UK budgets for science

The latest budget for the UK continued the Chancellor's role as puppetmaster for science and technology.

What is the point of technology transfer?

Who should benefit from the transfer of technology from the academic world into the business arena? The university that cooked up the ideas, or the company that turned them into money? How about society as a whole? An American Prof warns against micro managing the process.