INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

China has arrested more than 4,000 people for violating intellectual property rights since November and will enforce tougher punishments to combat the rampant problem, a senior government official said on Tuesday.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a record 219,614 patents in 2010, with IBM grossing the highest number of patents followed by Samsung and Microsoft.

Richmond, Va.-based law firm LeClairRyan has poached on at least 15 Nixon Peabody lawyers, including 5 partners, who will focus on expand upon the firm's capabilities in intellectual property, bankruptcy and commercial litigation practices in the newly established Rochester, N.Y. office.

King & Spalding has appointed Ross W. Nadel, a veteran Bay Area federal prosecutor, as a partner of its special matters and government investigations practice.

Microsoft co-founder and billionaire Paul Allen added details to the patent infringement lawsuit filed against Google, Apple, eBay, Facebook, Netflix, AOL, Yahoo!, Office Depot, OfficeMax and Staples in August.

McAfee expects Apple’s iPhone, geolocation services such as Foursquare, and mobile devices to be the target of malware attacks in 2011. The computer security company also predicts attackers targeting shortened URL services and internet TV platforms as well as a rise in politically motivated hacktivisim, as more groups are expected to repeat the WikiLeaks example.

Hoping for some monetary damages, Hopewell Culture & Design have sued Apple and Android makers for the infringement of double-click patent.

Unlikely cronies Apple, EMC and Oracle are part of the Microsoft-led consortium CPTN Holdings, which acquired 882 Novell patents as part of Attachmate's $2.2 billion acquisition of Novell.

The U.S. can expect greater legal software sales in China, the top U.S. trade official said Wednesday.

Nokia has filed fresh patent infringement claims against Apple in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, alleging that Apple infringed its patents in many of its products sold in these countries, including iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues has called for enhanced federal oversight in the emerging field of synthetic biology. The panel's approach recognized the great potential of this burgeoning field of science, including life saving medicines, and the still distant risks posed by the field.

A U.S. Federal Judge in Washington state has put the kibosh on Paul Allen's sue the Internet patent lawsuit, at least for now.

India and the European Union announced a breakthrough in their free trade talks on Friday. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the free trade agreement (FTA) could be signed in 2011, after a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the 11th EU-India summit in Brussels.

Patent collecting company Intellectual Ventures, which was started by former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold, has filed patent lawsuits against nine companies.

China on Thursday expressed its support for Russia’s bid to become a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Global trade protectionism will accelerate in the years ahead and the tussle between the U.S. and China over trade and other issues will escalate to crisis levels as early as in 2012, according to an analyst.

Viacom is taking the fight over copyrights to the U.S. Court of Appeals of the Second Circuit, appealing the decision that spared YouTube - and its parent company, Google - from a hefty judgment.

A federal judge in California Court has ordered the destruction of genetically engineered sugar beets after finding that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) had likely violated federal law by allowing the plantation of the stecklings without analyzing the potential environmental impact.

Estate executors or administrators in Oklahama have the power to access, administer or terminate the online social media accounts of the deceased, according to a new state law.

A U.S. district court jury has returned a verdict that business software maker SAP AG has stolen software from rival Oracle Corp. and must pay the latter $1.3 billion in damages.

As US Supreme Court agreed yesterday to give Microsoft a hearing related to a 2009 court order that required it to pay $290 million to i4i for patent infringement related to its high-profile product Microsoft Word, Microsoft itself has been on a buying spree collecting patents that cover a range of its products.