The past few years have seen a notable increase in the number of legal disputes surrounding the licensure of standards-essential patents (SEPs). With more companies reaching an impasse on what constitutes fair and reasonable royalty rates, at least one judge has expressed a vision for taking a more proactive role in proceedings.

Patent pools have traditionally been promoted as a unique route for companies to gain affordable access to valuable intellectual assets by leveraging the current contents of their own portfolios. As this collaborative patent management strategy gains additional subscribers in increasingly complex industries, some are calling for a more thorough investigation of its impact on market innovation and consumer choice.

Digital rights advocates banded together earlier in the year to protest a Library of Congress decision that effectively made it illegal for cell phone owners to unlock and modify their device software to switch wireless carriers. After several bills were introduced and ultimately derided as half measures, a more comprehensive attempt at reform is currently being spearheaded by four representatives focused on core Digital Millennium Copyright Act issues.

With more cybercriminals now shifting their attention away from petty offenses and toward corporate intellectual property theft, executive priorities are beginning to evolve as well. According to the 13th annual Law and the Boardroom Study conducted by Corporate Board Member and FTI Consulting, data security and IT risk have joined regulatory changes as the top concerns held by business directors and general counsel.

The European Commission has been investigating Motorola Mobility's patent licensing practices for more than a year now following allegations of potential abuses of power. This week, the EU's regulatory body formally revealed its preliminary judgment that the company was likely out of line when demanding a sales ban on Apple products in Germany on account of an infringement dispute.

As NASA continues to face the specter of deep budget cuts, the agency is looking toward investment opportunities with predictable, multifaceted returns. With that said, NASA recently revealed the latest iteration of the Small Business Technology Transfer Program it sees as central to both public and private sector scientific progress and prosperity.

Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante has revealed an ambitious vision for a comprehensive overhaul of royalty management systems, but the U.S. National Research Council is calling for an increase in federal analytics initiatives before enlightened reforms can be drafted and enacted.

New York Senator Charles Schumer has continued his push toward patent system progress this week with a new bill intended to reduce frivolous lawsuits and thwart legal bully tactics that could curb small business innovation. Under the new legislation, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office would be asked to assume a more proactive role earlier in the dispute process.

In accordance with the Trade Act of 1974, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has released its annual Special 301 Report detailing the adequacy and efficacy of intellectual property protection and enforcement protocols among international trade partners. While several countries demonstrated incremental progress, government officials confirmed that a variety of threats ranging from the theft of trade secrets to the degradation of authorized royalty management agencies continue to stalk the global marketplace.

As domestic business strategies expand to include foreign markets, so too must the patent portfolios designed to protect them. In their fourth annual report of global intellectual property trends, researchers from inovia learned that 50 percent of American firms and universities filed the majority of their patent applications overseas in 2012. That figure represents an approximate 20 percent annual increase.