Cochlear Ltd., an Australian manufacturer of hearing implants, lost an infringement trial over patents related to Cochlear implant technology recently in Los Angeles, according to Bloomberg. The jury awarded $131.2 million in damages to the Alfred E. Mann Foundation for Scientific Research, a nonprofit medical research foundation.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Jan. 22 in favor of medical device manufacturer Medtronic Inc in the company's suit with privately owned Mirowski Family Ventures LLC, according to Reuters. Mirowski had alleged the larger company infringed its intellectual property in making certain pacemakers. Medtronic licensed the patents in question from Mirowski, but in 2007 Mirowski alleged Medtronic was developing new products that would also require royalty payments. Medtronic asked a judge to rule its pacemakers do not infringe on Mirowski's patented technology, which is licensed to Boston Scientific and Guidant Corp.

A company that manages intellectual property for twenty-five companies, including Apple, Amazon and Sony, has settled a lawsuit filed by Boston University alleging infringement of a professor's patent for producing blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs), according to university news source BU Today. The dollar amounts in the settlement were not disclosed. The settlement itself was negotiated with RPX, a firm that manages intellectual property for corporate entities through acquiring companies' patent rights. RPX will pay BU the undisclosed sum, and all members of RPX will be able to use the technology. Firms in litigation with BU that are not members of RPX will continue to be the subject of lawsuits.

Arizona State University received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to create the Pracademic Centre of Excellence in Technology Transfer. The PACE/T2, as it will be known, will be a collaboration between ASU's own tech transfer unit Arizona Enterprises, the university's Entrepreneurship and Innovation Group, Security and Defense Systems Initiative and the ASU W.P. Carey School of Business.

North Carolina State University's Office of Technology Transfer, which has commercialized more than 400 products to date, has decided to open an office suite at HQ Raleigh, which is a shared office space provider for entrepreneurs. NCSU's goal with this move is to create meaningful links between its students and staff and the local startup community. Members of HQ Raleigh will be able to access NCSU's advice on intellectual property technology transfers, as well as counsel on research and innovation generally.

Microsoft Corp. has made a $7.5 billion bid to take over Nokia Oyj's handset operations. Chinese mobile-phone makers Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. asked China's Ministry of Commerce to ensure Microsoft does not increase patent licensing fees on wireless technology, according to two government officials who asked not to be named. The ministry is now conducting an anti-monopoly review of the deal, according to Bloomberg.

A new report from the Brookings Institute by Walter D. Valdivia examines the standard operating procedure of technology transfers at research universities. Valdivia's research found most universities lose money on tech transfers using the common model of licensing intellectual property to the highest bidder. In 2012, the 5 percent of universities that make the most money from tech transfers made 50 percent of the total licensing income of all universities that do so. Current practices create a lopsided distribution of licensing income across research universities, where the same 37 universities consistently perform highly and the rest do not.

NASA recently opened a new online licensing tool to be used by businesses and individuals interested in the prospect of using the organization's research to develop new commercial products. The QuickLaunch licensing tool is a database of NASA technologies that are available for commercial nonexclusive licensing. In the interest of speeding the licensing process along, each available license has a set initial fee, annual royalty and standard terms.

The state of Maryland is partnering with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt to create a new partnership to attract tech companies to the state. More tech companies mean more talent for NASA to draw from as well as continued economic prosperity in Maryland.

Authentic Brands Group has purchased Elvis Presley's intellectual property and the right to operate Graceland, the performer's home and a current tourist attraction, from CORE Media Group, according to Memphis Commercial Appeal. CORE Media Group owned 85 percent interest in Elvis Presley Enterprises, based in Memphis. Lisa Marie Presley owns the remaining 15 percent of the company.