SSTI Digest

Can patent insurance protect innovations from predators? Yes, particularly if innovators insure their innovation before rivals enter the market, according to Financing and the Protection of Innovators, a discussion paper by Gerard Llobet and Javier Suarez from the Centre for Economic Policy Research. According to Llobet and Suarez, patents offer limited protection if the innovators cannot demonstrate a willingness and ability to litigate patent predation. Competitors appear to avoid preying upon innovations from large companies that have litigated past patent infractions. However, rivals may view innovators without a history of legal action as easy prey unless they can demonstrate additional protection for their intellectual property. Using game theory, Llobet and Suarez examine the likely behavior of innovators and rivals using internal financing, securing external financing via patent litigation insurance, and securing a loan to cover litigation costs. The authors test the effect of insuring before and after a rival enters the market. The authors also explore the impact of insurance…

Ronnie Bryant, president and chief operating officer for the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, is leaving to become president and CEO of the 16-county Charlotte Regional Partnership in North Carolina. Albert Clough is the new Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development, following the resignation of Edgar Blatchford last week. Pat Dillon has taken a position with the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Network, an initiative to support high tech, high growth companies in Wisconsin. The new chairman for the Georgia Medical Center Authority is former State Senator Randy Hall. Carrie Hines, presently with the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, will serve as the first executive director of the American Small Manufacturing Coalition. The U.S. Senate has confirmed William Alan Jeffrey as the new director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the U.S. Department of Commerce. The new head of the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City is Jeffrey Kaczmarek,…

Ronnie Bryant, president and chief operating officer for the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, is leaving to become president and CEO of the 16-county Charlotte Regional Partnership in North Carolina.

Albert Clough is the new Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development, following the resignation of Edgar Blatchford last week.

Pat Dillon has taken a position with the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Network, an initiative to support high tech, high growth companies in Wisconsin.

The new chairman for the Georgia Medical Center Authority is former State Senator Randy Hall.

Carrie Hines, presently with the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, will serve as the first executive director of the American Small Manufacturing Coalition.

The U.S. Senate has confirmed William Alan Jeffrey as the new director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The new head of the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City is Jeffrey Kaczmarek, effective Sept. 6. Kaczmarek currently is senior vice president for community development with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

Former Massachusetts State Senator Peter Larkin is the senior vice president and chief operating officer for the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council.

Chris Marschner is the new president of the Maryland Business Incubation Association (MBIA).

Homeland security R&D, high-end computing, the National Nanotechnology Initiative, and the President's Hydrogen Fuel Initiative are among the interagency R&D priorities that will receive a special focus in agency budget requests, according to a memorandum outlining the Administration's R&D budget priorities for 2007. Released earlier this month, the memo from John Marburger, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and Joshua Bolten, director of the Office of Management and Budget, provides general guidance for setting priorities among R&D programs and an overview of R&D investment criteria for agencies. Under the general R&D program guidance section, the memo states that agencies must "vigorously evaluate existing programs and, wherever possible, consider them for modification, redirection, reduction or termination, in keeping with national needs and priorities." Two areas requiring special agency attention and focus through the National Science and Technology Council are federal scientific collections and R&D assets, the memo…