Europe is a continent of outstanding inventors and inventions. For
this reason, the European Patent Office (EPO) and the European Commission,
since 2006, honour individuals whose work has made an impact on our lives and
the economy through the European Inventor of the Year award. This year's
winners include Eric de Clercq of the University of Leuven in Belgium for
landmark contributions to antiviral treatment including the development of a
drug cocktail for AIDS, and a team from Scotland's SME Optos for developing a
new laser scanning technology which allows powerful but pain-free examination
of the retina. ...
On 10 April, the European Commission adopted a Recommendation on the
management of intellectual property in knowledge transfer activities along with
a Code of Practice in the field for universities and other public research
organisations (hereinafter PROs)...
The EU-China Project on the Protection of Intellectual Property
Rights – ‘IPR2’ for short – is a partnership
project between the European Commission and the People’s Republic of
China. Launched towards the end of 2007 in Beijing, this substantial
co-operation initiative targets the
reliability, efficiency and accessibility of the...
In February 2008, the European Commission imposed a new penalty on
Microsoft for the infringement of antitrust rules. This time, the penalty was €899 million and
was due to non-compliance with the obligations the Commission imposed on
Microsoft in its decision of March 2004 within the time limit set up by this
decision...
Joseph-Armand Bombardier was born in Valcourt (Québec, Canada) in
1907. As a young boy, he demonstrated a remarkable aptitude with everything
mechanical, disassembling and reassembling all mechanisms that he got his hands
on. He manufactured his own operational toys, such as models of locomotives,
boats or cannons mounted on wheels...
Wind energy, as its name indicates, is highly dependent on the
presence of wind. If one wants a windmill to be a permanent source of
electricity, some kind storage system buffering energy is needed. One type of
storage could be compressed air produced using wind energy generated during
wind peaks. The compressed air can then be used...
The IPR and patent businesses involve highly specialised staff
combining legal and technical skills. So far, this business has only been
slightly affected by the outsourcing wave that has hit the IT field. Will this
change soon? This module provides you with some relevant material to enable you
to come up with your own opinion. This...
