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The article focuses on the inception of the electric buses in London, England which has given the challenge to petrol-powered engine as electric engines are more clean, reliable and fumes free. Topics discussed include future of electric vehicles, demand of batteries and patent acquired by London Electrobus Co. for its electrobuses project.

The article focuses on the history of invention of telescopes which owes a lot to high-end tableware. Topics include the first mention of a device for seeing things far away as if they were nearby evident in a patent filed in 1608 by the optician Hans Lipperhey in1608, and for the invention of the telescope it is stated that it was advantageous that Middelburg, Netherlands had a Venetian glass factory, and glass-blowers stated to be the unsung heroes of telescope technology.

Reports on the proposed laws on software patents in Europe. Oppositions on the laws; Distinction between copyrights and patents; Arguments of software patent supporters.

Comments on the decision of Myriad Genetics to patent BRCA1 and BRCA2 DNA in Salt Lake City, Utah. Right of Myriad to conduct breast cancer experiments monopoly; Possibility of pharmaceutical patenting; Legislation passed in U.S. encouraging research results. INSET: BLURRING THE LINES..

The article presents letters to the editor in response to articles in previous issues and also offers news related to science published in other magazines, including the awarding of the first patent to an artificial intelligence by South Africa, an increase in land temperature in Great Britain and dog dirt in Tel Aviv in the July 24, 2021 issue.

The article reports on a study by Rembrand Koning at Harvard Business School and his colleagues, which examined why fewer women than men in the U.S. are named on biomedical patents using the more than 444,000 biomedical patents data filed in the U.S. between 1976 and 2010.

Presents issues and examples in the debate over whether life forms should be patentable. European Patent Office and Harvard University's application for intellectual property rights on a mouse designed for research; DuPont's license to sell the mouse; Draft directive of the European Commission; Fears of the directives opponents; California Supreme Court's decision regarding patients' property rights to tissue; John Moore's suit; More.

The article reports that India's drug companies are risking everything to stay afloat. For decades it has flourished under the country's unusual patent laws, under which patents can be taken out on the processes needed to make medicines, but not on the drugs themselves. So the industry prospered by inventing new methods of manufacturing the west's blockbuster drugs, and churning out cheap "generic" versions for sale in India and other developing countries. In the process, India has developed world-beating expertise in chemistry and spawned an estimated 9000 drug firms. The country is also the world's top supplier of "legitimate" generic drugs, copies of medicines whose patents have expired. INSETS: A matter of life and death.;Seeds of success..

Reports on the Kudriavy volcano on Iturup Island, Japan, which releases a rare element, rhenium. Research of Russian scientists from the Institute of Mineralogy, Geochemistry and Crystal Chemistry of Rare Elements in Moscow; Construction of a wooden pyramid that will trap the element rhenium; Use of rhenium in objects, including satellites and tactical missiles; Patent pending invention, which involves fitting a cap over a fumarole of the volcano.

Discusses ways in which regional agreements on intellectual property have revolutionized national patent efforts in Great Britain. Provisions of the Patent Cooperation Treaty; Comparison with the European Patent Convention; Need for the British patenting system to be centralized; Critics' argument that the European patent scheme is heavily biased in favor of society and industry. INSET: The decline and fall of a national heritage..

Letters are presented from readers responding to articles from prior issues including one by Sallie Davies from the April 5, 2014 issue about electronic cigarettes, another by Alan Larman about ultraviolet light from the March 15, 2014 issue, and a third by Katia Moskvitch from the March 22, 2014 issue about phytomining.

The article discusses technology, called Matchright, that allows parents to screen out genetic disorders via the creation of a virtual embryo. Topics include the company that markets the technology, GenePeeks, Matchright's patent, which includes a list of traits that aren't necessarily related to health, how Matchright works, and the ethical concerns of including non-medical traits in genetic screening.

The author discusses the question of whether mathematical formulas are invented or discovered, focusing on the implications of the answer on the patenting of algorithms in software and arguing that the money at stake for software developers will likely result in mathematics being identified as an invention, at least for patenting purposes. Topics include trolling, patent law, and the professor David Edwards.

The author offers insights on the announcement by Andrew Witty, chief executive officer (CEO) of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), that they will free up access to patents relating to neglected diseases and cut the price of medicines for poor countries. She notes that GSK wants other companies to help it create a pool of patented substances and processes which anyone can use to develop treatments for neglected tropical diseases. She says that companies will resist this. But she says that companies are beginning to accept this change in the patent system.

The article compares the English telephone invented by Thomas Edison and that invented by Alexander Graham Bell. Edison's telephone had one obvious advantage over the rival telephone invented by Bell: one could hear what the person on the other end of the line was saying. Privacy aside, the advantage of loudness was offset by two big drawbacks. To hear to the caller's voice, one had to keep turning a handle attached to the receiver. Both these inconveniences sprang from the same source: at the heart of Edison's telephone receiver was a thimble-sized piece of chalk that had to be kept turning. Technically, Edison's chalk receiver, was an unnecessary invention. A much less troublesome receiver existed already. Unfortunately for Edison, the Bell Telephone Co., owned the patent on it. Bell had been first to patent a working telephone in 1876 but his apparatus was poor, mainly because he used the same technology to transmit and receive sound. His set-up consisted of a diaphragm connected to a magnet with an electrical coil around it. When a voice caused the diaphragm to vibrate, the magnet moved and induced an electrical current in the wiring. Bell's problem was in transmitting sound; his device was fine as a receiver. So Edison concentrated on finding a better means of transmission.

The article presents news related to patents. In 1973, the U.S. Patent Office published details of a group of chemicals called O-alkyl S-dialkyl-phosphonothiolates, which had been filed by the British minister of supply a full 18 years earlier. Patents contain a wealth of technical detail, declassified filings can offer fascinating insights into the history of military secrets. More than 10,000 new patents are published each week in the English language alone. But now that the world's major patent offices in Europe and the U.S. have online databases, anyone with an Internet connection and a few practical tricks of the patent trade can play armchair spy.

The article reports that secrecy orders can be slapped on private inventions in 13 of the 26 member countries of NATO, as well as in Australia and New Zealand. In Great Britain, of the 30,000 patent applications sent to the Patent Office in Cardiff every year, 600 to 1500 are pulled aside for closer scrutiny by military experts. The U.S. Invention Secrecy Act of 1951 says that whenever the publication or disclosure of the invention by the granting of a patent would be detrimental to the national security, the Commissioner of Patents shall order that the invention be kept secret.

A team of doctors has entered the fray surrounding the existence or otherwise of nanobacteria. After four years' work, the team, based at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, has come up with some of the best evidence yet that they do exist. The paper by John Lieske and his team describes how they isolated minuscule cell-like structures from diseased human arteries. None of the Mayo researchers, by contrast, holds any patents related to nanobacteria. Researchers collected samples of calcified aneurysms, arterial plaques and heart valves.

Today's pharmaceutical representatives face challenges never imaged by their predecessors. Representatives used to spend years building close relationships with doctors. Now they are lucky to get 90 seconds for a pitch and computer software tracks their sales. Fewer new drugs are appearing on the market for them to sell and as drug companies face competition from generic manufacturers whenever a patent expires on their best sellers, there is pressure on representatives to boost sales. A study found that pharmaceutical companies plan to increase sales headcounts by an average of 22 percent in 2004. INSET: HOW TO BREAK IN.

The article presents letters written by readers of the magazine "New Scientist," on articles related to science published in the different issues of the magazine. Tests are being conducted to investigate the efficacy of cerium oxide nanoparticles as a catalytic additive to diesel fuel for increasing fuel efficiency and decreasing carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide emissions. Another additive was once widely used in fuels in order to increase the volumetric efficiency of internal combustion engines by preventing premature ignition, which is lead tetraethyl. The health and environmental impacts of lead in automobile exhaust were anything but benign. The article on the proposed European Union (EU) directive on software patents and Geraint Bevan's letter both perpetuate the myth that patents are not granted for software and that the proposed directive seeks to change the law in the EU. Patents have been and always will be granted for software in Europe.

Presents news briefs related to patents as of January 2003. Use of identification codes based on cellphone to establish identity over the internet; System to monitor activity of caged mice; Set up of dummy fields to save crops.

Reports the patent ownership of several SNP genetic markers by Genetic Technologies in Melbourne, Victoria. Demand of licensing fees from researchers sequencing the human genome; Amount paid by Sequenom; Citation of loose regulation regarding patents of non-coding sequences.

Focuses on drug patents implemented in various countries. Details on the conflicts caused by drug patents; Prices of drugs implemented by pharmaceutical companies in Africa; How governments address the issue of globalization.

Presents science-related news items and updates as of May 5, 2001. Establishment of a petition by planetary scientists and astronomers to persuade United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Report published by the Institute of Medicine in Washington D.C. on the link between measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and autism in children; Protest of environmentalist on a patent acquired by Monsanto.

Criticizes private companies' initiatives to patent DNA sequences. Implications of such a trend for medical research; Efforts of the Human Genome Project to fight private patenting of DNA; Need for providing DNA information freely; Differences of the genome from other products of value.

The article presents reader feedback regarding articles from previous issues and other journals. Topics include the use of crystals in healing as described in the book "Crystal Energy," the use of suspended collections of food waste to attract seagulls to create piles of guano that naturally reflect solar energy in an effort to mitigate climate change, and the U.S. government's classification scheme for tracking subjects of patents.

The author discusses science news briefs and topics. Topics include the technology company Google and its U.S. patent for personalities in robots, the conviction of Michael Overd by district judge Shamim Ahmed Qureshi for publicly referring to the Bible verse Leviticus chapter 20, verse 13, and the French Revolution decimal calendar.

Points out problems arising from the spreading trend of patenting mathematical formulas. Impact of the United States Court of Appeals' upholding of the patent filed by Signature Financial Group for a software that updates clients' investments; Pressure on researchers' to stop sharing the results of their studies; Competitors' capacity to imitate pioneering software.

Focuses on how the battles over intellectual property rights have become a threat to the Internet. How software patents do not cover software; Comments of Gregory Aharonian, publisher of the Internet Patent News Service; Opinion that the patent office in the United States is incompetent when if comes to software; Internet law.

Reports that mice were cloned by Ryuzo Yanagimachi et al of the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. Why mice are difficult to clone; Research by Yanagimachi creating mice from freeze-dried sperm; Patent rights to cloning technology. INSET: From little seeds....

Presents the findings of a survey published in June 1995 on patenting activity in British universities, commissioned by the Economic and Social Research Council. Stand of the government; Problems of patents.

Presents the author's comments on the patent awarded in March, 1995 in the US which deals with the commercial development of life-saving gene therapies. Details.

Investigates the problems with human gene patents. Protection of the inventions of the biotechnology industry; Moral and ethical issues; Disruption of biomedical research; Drawbacks of keeping developments secret.

Reports on the developments in television technology. Patent filed by the BBC's research department at Kingswwog Warreen in Surrey which covers the cylindrical processing technique; Ability of the technique to broadcast wide screen programs without geometrical distortion on 16:9 widescreen or 4:3 sets; JVC company in Japan's filing of patent for similar technology.

Reports on the approval in the European Parliament of a law on biotechnology patents. Harmonization of patent laws in member countries; Permission for the patenting of genetically manipulated material isolated from humans and other organisms; Rationalization of royalty payments for conventional and altered crop varieties; Lack of coordination among parliament members in pursuing stringent amendments.

Reports on the University of Pennsylvania's application to patent a technique for human germ-line therapy. Reactions of the researchers working in the field of gene therapy; Estimated number of gene therapy in nonreproductive cells approved in the United States; Concern about eugenics in altering genes in the reproductive cells; Ways the technique might be used to eradicate genetic defects hat cause disease.

Reports on the settlement of a dispute between the United States and Great Britain over patents on fragments of human DNA. Withdrawal of patent applications; US National Institutes of Health (NIH); British Medical Research Council (MRC); Threat to the Human Genome Project; Rejection of NIH's application by US Patent and Trademark Office; Ethical issue.

Reports on Ernest Nagy's decision to sell the patent rights of his invention, a technology for coating a surface with thin film of diamonds. Lack of financial support; Alleged negotiation between Bristol University and a South African based conglomerate for the use of the technique; Bristol's response to Nagy's allegation; Usefulness of the invention; Main financial backer's reaction to the decision.

Investigates how officials in the European Community are wrestling with the legal and moral issues of whether companies should have the rights to patent life. Arguments from both sides; Plant patenting and casualties from their widespread use; Directives from the European Patent Office.

Offers comments on various developments in Britain including the patenting of computer software and animals, the disposal of nuclear waste and the exchange of information on soil research.

Reveals that on January 13th, 1998, the applications made by Agriculture Western Australia and the Grains Research and Development Corporation for patents on two species of chickpeas, were withdrawn. Details on the issue; Where the original chickpea seeds were obtained; Criticism of the request made by the two agencies; Objective of the application for patent.

The article offers world news briefs as of June 29, 2013. Hongli Zhu and colleagues at the University of Maryland in College Park have developed sodium-tin storage battery using wood. Bedford, Massachusetts-based company iRobot applied for a U.S. patent for an inflatable arm for its PackBot military robots. Guha Balakrishnan and colleagues of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston developed a system that measures heart rate by analyzing head movements.

The article looks at a report published in "Reproductive BioMedicine Online" by researcher Jacques Cohen regarding the awarding of a U.S. patent to Stanford University and fertility institute Auxogyn for their identification of embryonic cell division timing related to in vitro fertilization (IVF).

The article looks at potential legal issues related to patenting of specific gestures for use in three-dimensional (3D) gesture interfaces, noting previous legal disputes over 2D touchscreen gesture patents among technology firms including Apple Inc, Google, and Samsung. Patents for 3D gestures are held by technology company Microsoft for its Kinect gaming device, while intellectual property firm Intellectual Ventures filed for patents for television control gestures.

The article presents feedback from "New Scientist" readers on miscellaneous subjects. Topics include instructions on how to use a snorkel by manufacturer of swimwear and swim-related accessories Speedo, a report in the January 7, 2012 issue on a patent filed by instrument supplier Anton Paar, and the use of the acronym PUNT (Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Technology) in a press release from the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration.

The article explores how patent citations could help predict the future of technology. The author notes the importance for companies of being able to anticipate new technologies in order to remain competitive. An overview of a data-mining technique developed by Péter Érdi and colleagues at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest that analyzes the frequency with which patents are cited by other patents and its use by futurists to predict new technologies is presented.

The article reports on the postponement of field tests for the Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering (SPICE) geoengineering project led by Matthew Watson at the University of Bristol, England, as a result of patent issues on the technology.

A letter to the editor is presented in response to an article on innovation and patent applications in Switzerland in the November 6, 2010 Great Britain edition.

The article focuses on an international pact to prevent lengthy patent disputes concerning induced pluripotent stem cells, with patents owned by Kyoto University in Japan and biopharmaceutical company iPierian being pooled to avoid disputes that would hinder the creation of medical treatments using the process.

The article reports on a brief issued in 2010 by the U.S. Department of Justice and which was concerned with whether genes should be patented. In the brief the agency said that genes that are identical to those found in the human body should not be patented but that if the genes had been altered to make them different from anything found in nature they should be patented. The impact the brief may have on a legal case about patenting that is being considered by a U.S. appeals court is discussed.