News

134,073: the number of patents filed for via the Patent Cooperation Treaty in 2005, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization – a rise of 9.4 per cent over 2004.

French researchers have discovered that an anti-rejection drug could treat Huntington's disease. Intellectual Property based on the research is available for licence.

Researchers in Denmark have invented a bioplastic material made from dairy products that could replace traditional polymer-based packaging. The technology is currently available for licensing.

The climate for R&D-based start-ups in Central and Eastern Europe should be improving. But there’s still a way to go, writes Mary Lisbeth D’Amico.

It is one thing to recognise the need to manage intellectual property like any other strategic resource. But it is quite another to install the systems and devise the processes for doing it.

Helping UK universities turn their ideas into business has turned into a business of its own – with four IP management companies quoted on London’s Alternative Investment Market.

Are patents too easy to acquire – or too hard? The UK is trying to find out, writes Nuala Moran

Multinationals have a new weapon in the innovation race: technology scouts. These people scan the globe looking for the next big thing.

The Scotsman reports on a life sciences industry meeting in Edinburgh, and sparks off some thoughts about Qinetiq.