Category: Business/Technology

With action heating up in Congress on the biggest overhaul of patent laws in half a century, universities are joining the chorus of companies and organizations pushing for changes in the proposed legislation. And, separately, the presidents of the Big Ten universities are adding their voices to the choir.

Without some adjustments, the institutions and companies argue, the new laws will undermine the value of patents and “hinder innovation across the diverse sectors of the American economy we represent.” One issue that unites universities and industry is their concern over a proposal to establish a new system for challenging patents after they are granted. Universities and companies say they fear such a system, as now designed in the legislation, would allow third parties to “harass the patent holder” and create too much uncertainty about the value of an issued patent.

NimbleGen incorporated in 1999 after being spun out of technology developed by four researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and after a license agreement with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.

Additional delays are likely as criticism mounts on a plan, in the works since last fall, to freeze the number of bars in downtown Madison.

The city’s Alcohol License Review Committee was to consider the proposal, known as the Alcohol Beverage License Density Plan, at its meeting Wednesday night.

But council President Mike Verveer, one of the sponsors of the ordinance, now predicts that, due to proposed changes and concerns, the committee won’t take action on it until July.

CINCINNATI (AP) – Federal investigators overstepped constitutional bounds by searching e-mails without a warrant during a fraud investigation related to an herbal supplement company known for its “Smiling Bob” ads, a federal appeals court ruled Monday.

….”The district court correctly determined that e-mail users maintain a reasonable expectation of privacy in the content of their e-mails,” Judge Boyce Martin said in a case closely watched by civil-liberties advocates in the still-emerging field of Internet privacy.

TomoTherapy is teaming up with the prestigious Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California to develop a more powerful type of cancer radiation therapy device.

Lawmakers should direct the center to be located in metropolitan Madison, where it could capitalize on the UW-Madison research that is the source of many business ideas and where it would be near the growing community of high-tech entrepreneurs in Dane County.

….Sun Microsystems has just named a 1980s Madison West grad, Jeff Kesselman, as one of the company’s “contrarian minds of 2007.” Kesselman also graduated UW-Madison in 1987. He serves as chief architect on Project Darkstar, a server platform for massive-scale online games, a new arena for Sun.

American Transmission Company is sponsoring three public information sessions starting tonight to discuss the idea of burying at least part of a controversial 345-kilovolt power line stretching from Rockdale to west of Middleton. But an activist group questions why the sessions are being held when ATC has already proclaimed underground construction as unfeasible.

Annita Wozniak, co-chair of Citizens for Responsible Energy, told The Capital Times today the three open houses tonight, Tuesday and Wednesday night are “just another opportunity for ATC to promote their own motives” on the need for the new line.

The UW System Board of Regents today approved new rules designed to eliminate ties between private lenders and campus financial aid officials.

Among other things, the rules bar campuses from accepting payments from companies offering student loans. They also prohibit UW employees from receiving compensation for serving on company advisory boards.

The regents approved the rules with no discussion today during their meeting at UW-Milwaukee.

The Internet world is overflowing with entrepreneurs these days but few local start-ups have made a quicker splash than Anthony David Adams.

Armed with little more than a laptop computer and a concept, Adams has created a national buzz over his Madison-based company CreditCovers.

Devon Disrude and Erik Tomter work in the small Madison office of Chicago-based Navteq, a publicly traded company that compiles the nuts-and-bolts data that power online mapping services like MapQuest, Google Maps and the navigation systems for BMW.

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz wants an independent study of the feasibility of burying a portion of a controversial power line that could run along the Beltline.

American Transmission Co. on Wednesday announced preliminary results of its study of the issue, calling it “impractical” because part of the line would have to run through city neighborhoods and because of the huge costs of underground vs. overhead lines.

….Opponents of running the line overhead along the Beltline are concerned about impacts on the UW Arboretum, local businesses and neighborhoods. The line also has opposition from those who say it isn’t needed.

Constructing a portion of a controversial power line underground along the Beltline Highway is “impractical” and will not be recommended, American Transmission Co. said today in announcing results of an undergrounding study.

Running part of the proposed Rockdale-West Middleton line along the Beltline is part of one of three potential routes for the controversial 345-kilovolt line, which ATC says is needed to meet growing electrical demand in the area.

….Part of the problem with undergrounding is that the locations identified as the most feasible include routes off the Beltline on city streets and frontage roads, rather than directly adjacent to the highway, ATC said.

Kevin Price, 34, has a doctorate in political science from UW-Madison and worked a couple years for Merrill Lynch.

MADISON, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin School of Business takes top honors again.

The school made the Financial Times annual list of the world’s top executive education providers for the third straight year.

The UW ranked no. 13 in the U.S. and no. 26 in the world in the publication’s overall ranking.

MADISON, Wis. — College graduation is just around the corner and that means the job search is on.

This year, some experts said that there are some good job prospects for graduates in a relatively new sector of the business world called sustainable business, WISC-TV reported.

Sustainable business is a growing area and nonprofit organizations are finding ways to become more environmentally and socially responsible.

University of Wisconsin senior Julia Glad and others like her are signing on with companies committed to helping others. Glad is currently working for Envest, a local financial company that she’s helping launch. She will eventually provide loans to poor individuals in developing nations like Nicaragua, WISC-TV reported.

“Often they are small families or moms who are looking for ways to send their children to school,” said Glad. “With these small loans, individuals have the opportunity to pursue other jobs or careers beyond things like slash and burn farming, which have a really negative effect on the environment.”

UW business professor Tom Eggert said that companies like Envest are part of a growing trend.