Agilent Labs reckons that it still supports "the values that have made Dave Packard and Bill Hewlett’s company a success". At least they have a stab at telling us what they do.

An academic finds that basic research comes in various shades of purity, and that scientists can change their use of the term in mid sentence.

If you think it’s hard to do a biotech start up, try doing it in Poland. You’ll face international condescension, local incredulity and the mysteries of Polish law, says Charles Goldfinger.

Acrobot Ltd., a spin-out from Imperial College London, is currently fund raising and is seeking partnerships and licence agreements.

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.

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

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

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.