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I had an interesting meeting with a senior executive in charge of strategy and business development at one of the major European media groups last Friday.

On May 12, it was announced that that an "innovative", "homegrown" digital signal processor (DSP) chip, to be designed and manufactured in China, was a fraud. Even more interesting is that the announcement was made by not by a Western agency or international body, but by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU).

I recently had the opportunity to take part on an investor panel at the Total Telecom World Telecommunications Congress in Geneva. The panel featured both happy VCs behind new telecommunication technologies (VoIP, IP convergence etc…) and troubled telecom executives.

Nanochips will mess up the physics of electronics, so a bunch of universities will research ways to keep chips on the shrinking bandwagon.

Not only am I an ardent tracker of the IP landscape, but the opportunity to build a much-needed knowledge network with the leading European producers and consumers of IP is unique and irresistible.

The US Supreme Court has issued a long-awaited verdict in a patent suit between eBay and a small, Virginia-based company, MercExchange. The ruling was unanimous and favourable to eBay, reverting an earlier permanent injunction.

Every little bit helps if you are a start up looking for market opportunities. Launchpad Europe has a methodology and a proposition.

Cancer Research UK plans to rescue viable compounds stuck on the shelves of pharma and biotech companies.

The European Commission told universities to modernise and pull their weight in the EU’s plans to become the leading knowledge-based economy, as it released an action plan for change.

A new centre has opened in Manchester with a brief to develop new materials that will be used to construct lighter, more fuel-efficient aircraft.

A purpose built e-Science Research Institute was opened at Durham University earlier this month by the UK's chief scientific adviser, Sir David King.

Having our cake and eating it – Europe's food research strategy wants the most appetising food to be the healthy option, too.

The European Union has declared its pilot programme to promote the use of hydrogen-powered vehicles a success – and announced a further €105 million scheme.

After raising £910,000 from a Phase Ib/IIa study of its lead product, a treatment for multiple sclerosis, Apitope Technology Ltd is looking for first round funding of up to £7 million.

Tracking goods by Radio Frequency Identification is said to be the next big market for wireless communication. But some in the field doubt the technology is mature enough.

A nagging political question still hovers over the EU funding debate: should the roughly €54 billion be spent exclusively on Europe's established crème de la scientific crème?

AstraZeneca’s outrageously high bid for Cambridge Antibody Technology underscores the heat rising in the biotech market.

Greek scientists have developed a way of coating the films used to package foods and drugs, and are now looking for partnerships with companies.

Researchers who have invented a device that measures the amount of warping in stone-clad construction are now ready to share their know-how.

After years of failing to pay much attention to science, the UK Conservative Party has launched a new task force, headed by former science minister Ian Taylor.