Three Silicon Valley lawmakers have introduced an intriguing proposal that would effectively exempt the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from across-the-board government budget cuts and allow the agency to proceed with several economically stimulating initiatives.

The moment when an entrepreneur first conjures the idea he or she believes can launch or transform a business is an exciting time, but it must be handled with careful discretion. Although many will be eager to get their product or process out to the masses as soon as possible, several key questions must inform invention disclosure strategies.

Popular discussions at the intersection of copyright and profitability traditionally center on lost sales triggered by the scourge of piracy, but technology law expert Jonathan Band recently examined the issues with a broader perspective on overall business health. In a unique longitudinal study, Band discovered that firms within copyright-intensive industries still maintain noticeably stronger financial indicators than those posted by their mass market counterparts.

At a patent and antitrust seminar held in New York last week, Federal Trade Commission chairwoman Edith Ramirez announced that her agency would be launching a comprehensive investigation into the recent spike in patent litigation rates in an effort to gather much-needed practical evidence concerning the commercial consequences of such activity.

BuzzFeed's rise to social content supremacy is largely attributable to the engaging photos and videos that populate its posts, but this popularity has attracted new questions as to how the website sources some of the visual media it publishes. Most notably, BuzzFeed is facing a $3.6 million copyright infringement suit from an independent photographer claiming images were lifted from his online portfolio without consent and repurposed by the news site.

There were plenty of indications that 2012 could be a defining year for the U.S. patent system, not the least of which was the ongoing implementation of America Invents Act (AIA) provisions. Looking back from a distance, researchers are now suggesting that the precedents set and transformations observed may well have been more significant and diverse than originally suspected.

Leading video game developer and distributor Electronic Arts is having its royalty management protocols called into question after a former employee came forward to demand significant financial damages for alleged misappropriation of programming code.

After obtaining patents to cover a new prescription medication, several large pharmaceutical companies have recently pursued so-called pay-for-delay, or reverse payment, strategies that effectively compensate generic drugmakers for their promise not to challenge the patents held by the larger firm or introduce competitive offerings to the marketplace for a set period of time. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has decried these potentially anti-competitive practices for several years, but this week the agency received its strongest show of support yet from the highest court in the land.

As the literary world makes the jump from hardcovers and paperbacks to tablet computers and dedicated eReaders, authors are encountering an entirely new slate of risks and rewards. As they strive to expand their audience and without deflating content value, writers will need a keen knowledge of emerging royalty management realities.

The covered business method (CBM) patent review program instituted by the America Invents Act completed its first practical application this month as tech giant SAP was able to disprove the patentability of proprietary processes formerly claimed by Versata Software. As a result of the patent review board decision, SAP may have new leverage in an infringement dispute that the two parties have taken to federal appeals court.

The U.S. Supreme Court handed down a unanimous decision this week which may fundamentally shift the trajectory of biomedical research. In a polarizing case concerning molecular diagnostics innovator Myriad Genetics, the court invalidated the entirety of the company's patents associated with naturally occurring human DNA.

Silicon Valley played host to delegates from the world's five largest intellectual property offices (IP5) last week, continuing the conversation toward greater harmonization of international patent management mechanisms.

Recorded TV innovator TiVo has decided to settle its outstanding litigation with Google and Cisco centered on their distribution of infringing digital video recorder (DVR) technologies to Time Warner Cable to include in its set-top boxes. As part of the deal, Google's Motorola Mobility unit and Cisco will enter into a patent licensing deal with TiVo after paying a collective settlement fee of $490 million.

This past week, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) held its fourth biennial World Creators Summit in Washington, D.C., to discuss some of the most pressing royalty management issues facing artists today. Attendance from key content creation, distribution and regulation authorities should prove useful as consensus was that greater collaboration across sides will be required to identify and address copyright dilemmas.

President Obama has consistently underscored the link between homegrown innovation and economic recovery, and now The White House is shining a light on the exploitative entities standing in the way of American inventors. This week the administration released a set of five executive actions and seven legislative recommendations designed to root out frivolous litigation and promote higher standards of patent quality.

A long-standing infringement dispute between Apple and Samsung took one step closer to resolution this week following a ruling from the U.S. International Trade Commission. The exclusion order calls for a limited sales ban on Apple mobile devices supported by AT&T networks across the country.

Ditto Technologies is a Silicon Valley startup which allows customers to upload images of their faces and conduct virtual fitting sessions prior to purchasing designer eyewear. The fate of the business could be in jeopardy, however, after potentially negligent invention disclosure management practices have left it open to multiple infringement suits.