In the inaugural edition of the report, published in 2010, the scope of the analysis was restricted to content takedown requests submitted by government regulators. This year, the document has been expanded to discuss the involvement of private companies as well.

"These days it's not unusual for us to receive more than 250,000 requests each week, which is more than what copyright owners asked us to remove in all of 2009," Google senior copyright counsel Fred von Lohmann wrote in a related company blog post. "Fighting online piracy is very important, and we don't want our search results to direct people to materials that violate copyright laws."

According to the Washington Post, Microsoft has become a surprising benefactor of its rival firm's aggressive copyright enforcement. The software manufacturer has submitted more content removal requests than any other intellectual property owner, according to the report, with NBC Universal and the Recording Industry Association of America following closely behind.

IP-intensive companies gained their distinction as a factor of research and development spending, scientist and engineer staffing and total quality and scope of intellectual property portfolios.

"Intellectual property's economic contributions are evident across all states, large and small," said GIPC executive vice president Mark Elliot. "For instance, nearly 90 percent of Delaware's exports originate from IP-intensive companies as do half of Iowa's private sector jobs. In Kansas, IP-intensive companies produce $51.1 billion in output."

With this study, Elliot added that his team has completed an important task in revealing the value of intellectual assets in a context beyond commercial supply chains. As the country continues its march back from recession, the figures also underscore the role of IP-intensive companies in putting Americans back to work in sustainable careers.

The University of New Hampshire library joins a network of fewer than 100 such institutions capable of providing specialized resources and advice to everyone from students and sole inventors to established business professionals and patent attorneys.

"PTRCs serve as the face of the USPTO on a local level and promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship that ensures that potential filers have the resources necessary to draw on for support as they begin their quest for commercial success with their intellectual property," USPTO director David Kappos said.

This particular location will retain a strong focus on expanding availability and streamlining delivery of free electronic resources and services to reach an even broader audience within the state. However, the staff of USPTO-trained librarians will also be leading a variety of in-person workshops and seminars.

In a recent update to Congress, Kappos reported that the vast majority of America Invents Act implementation efforts have arrived on schedule. According to CIO.com, he also made it clear that his office interprets the current technology "patent wars" as nothing less than a ringing endorsement of the culture of innovation that the AIA was intended to create.

"With adoption of the AIA, Congress has enabled the USPTO to promote a new vision of an IP world in which national and regional patent systems are coordinated to create an optimal environment for technological innovation globally," Kappos explained in his testimony. "Passage of the AIA has provided an opportunity to restart long-stalled discussions with our foreign counterparts toward substantive harmonization that will help U.S. businesses succeed in a global environment."

Kappos also candidly discussed some of the progress yet to be made. According to Law.com, the USPTO director revealed that the average patent resolution timetable has been condensed from 34 months to 16 months, but a lingering backlog demands that his team continues to build on this achievement as opposed to resting on its laurels.

"I appreciate the reasons for filing your own trademark applications, particularly in this economy," Malek wrote. "Nevertheless, there is significant long-term damage that can be caused by filing your own trademark, or relying on a one-size-fits-all service provided by non-attorneys."

In his practice, Malek suggested that a number of the revisions that have to be made to trademark applications after they have been rejected often cost more than hiring a qualified attorney would have during the initial procedure. Aside from the perils of failed applications and expensive infringement defenses, sole inventors could also be restricting their strategic capabilities.

According to Winthrop & Weinstine attorney Stephen Baird, extending the strength and scope of a trademark is often one of the best ways for a company to diversify its offerings and develop competitive advantage. Citing recent research from marketing industry experts, the perceived quality of a brand is now more important than the link between a company's original product and the brand extension.

His hypothetical example suggested that Nike's high brand quality could allow it to market and sell its own line of deodorant better than a generic pharmaceutical or cosmetics company. Essentially, strong trademark management from day one can help a company leverage the strength of its brand for unexpected business possibilities in the future.

The latest example of the firm defending the value of its good name came earlier in the week as Google reclaimed more than 750 fraudulent website domain names that were attempting to profit off its brand equity. But although cybersquatting awareness has been on the rise in recent months, this was by no means and open and shut case.

According to Marketing Land, the defendant argued that the company name could not be guarded by traditional trademark protection now that the word "google" has become a generic verb associated with the act of performing a web search. But while this initially seemed like a valid line of reasoning, the National Arbitration Forum ultimately decided that the domain names in question fit the accepted criteria for cybersquatting.

Despite the final judgment, according to the Register, the defendant has gone on to file a separate motion with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office seeking the cancelation of Google's trademark on the grounds that the name has become a commonly accepted part of speech.

This issue was recently presented at an industry meeting attended by James Daunt, current managing director of British bookstore chain Waterstones. According to Bookseller columnist Lisa Campbell, Daunt voiced concern that eBook lending programs throughout U.K. libraries could be the next threat to author copyright protections – and profits.

Industry colleagues from the Society of Authors would seem to agree.

"The failure to [compensate eBook authors] means that the government and libraries are actually infringing the author's copyright every time they make an eBook loan, and authors would be entitled to sue for the losses caused by that infringement," Society of Authors spokeswoman Nicola Solomon told the Guardian.

According to the news outlet, a long-standing government program that pays print authors a nominal dividend each time their materials are loaned out through U.K. libraries could form the key legal precedent in this discussion. With authors seeing little distinction between print and digital formatting, they are calling for legislators to extend the initiative to provide eBook writers with similar opportunities to monetize their content.

As IP Watchdog founder Gene Quinn recently suggested, upstart tech firms that believe they may have already outgrown the patent system would be wise to review their history books. Considering the fact that virtually no tech companies remain dominant for more than a generation, it is important to note that renowned patent managers like Apple and IBM are the ones who represent the exception to the rule.

Quinn did not sugarcoat his advice, however, acknowledging there are no shortcuts to success and monetization requires vigilant, long-term strategy.

"Patents are fragile because if you obtain a patent I could obtain a patent on an improvement, thereby blocking you – the original patent owner -  from making, using and selling the improved version of your own invention. That is why when Apple finds a hit in the marketplace they patent the innovation from every angle and from broad to ultra-specific," Quinn wrote.

Retired federal circuit court judge Paul Michel shared similar sentiments in a recent interview with Ars Technica. While he conceded that the current patent systems may be of more use to some industries than others, he noted that simply abandoning the framework would be a "bad solution" for any company to follow. Instead, IP community stakeholders from all sides should contribute their concerns and ideas to a thoughtful discussion of how the patent system can evolve its fundamental ideals to serve all in the modern marketplace.

This week, the International Trademark Association (INTA) unveiled a new initiative meant to teach teens about the value of trademarks and the dangers of counterfeiting. The Unreal campaign will leverage social media, traditional media and special events to integrate a series of public service announcements that are both engaging and educational.

"Teens' purchasing power will only increase over time, and they will soon be the next generation of consumers," INTA executive director Alan Drewsen explained. "With that in mind, we see a tremendous opportunity for INTA to arm teens with as much information about the economic, social and health risks involved with counterfeiting as possible."

Aside from informing consumer purchasing habits, INTA officials are also viewing the campaign as an important tool to promote trademark management as a profession. According to a recent report commissioned by the Economics and Statistics Administration and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, trademark-intensive industries provided 22.6 million American jobs in 2010.

By reducing the rate at which RCEs are filed with the patent office, officials contend that they may able to generate a marked reduction in the examination timetable.

"The one point on which all voices of the intellectual property community agree is that the most important thing USPTO can do to help is to get their new inventions to the marketplace faster and more efficiently, in turn enabling them to create new jobs and opportunity," USPTO director David Kappos explained. "The Quick Path IDS pilot is another example of USPTO's commitment to eliminating delays and increasing efficiency for our stakeholders."

In the new process, the patent review board will consider IDS submissions before deciding whether or not to reopen a case. If nothing of note is found in the newly provisioned materials, the prosecution will remain closed and the patent issue will go into effect once again without the hassles and delays that could have come as a result of RCE processing.