Many biotech ventures begin life as an invention conceived by a scientist/professor working in a laboratory at a federally-funded university or scientific institute. The intellectual property underlying such inventions is owned by the academic institution, a potentially valuable asset to be nurtured. Since enactment of the Bayh-Dole Act in 1980, academic institutions through their technology…

After several sporadic decisions issued by the Supreme Court impacting the US patent system and years of debate about how the system should be improved, Congress recently passed the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (HR 1249).  President Obama signed the Act into law on September 16, 2011.  The text of the Act can be found here. The…

Last week, Google announced its plans to acquire Motorola Mobility, effecting a vertical integration from the Android operating system into hardware.  Investors responded by shaving roughly 13% off Google’s value—roughly twice as much as the NASDAQ lost and three times as much as the Dow. A few days later, HP announced its plans to shed its PC…

Recently, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to give Twitter a 6 year break from the city’s 1.5% payroll tax – which also extends to stock options – to prevent them from leaving, losing their tax revenues, and to promote job creation in the city. Recently, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to…

Clean Tech is generally considered to include multiple advanced technologies in four economic sectors: energy, waste, materials, and transportation. These technologies break down in categories such as energy generation and storage, water and wastewater, air and environment, etc. There is no clear-cut definition for a “Clean-Tech” Company, but as shown by its name, a clean-tech…