When high-tech patent portfolios appear in the news, it is often as the product of an ongoing legal battle between competing firms. Yet according to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), fewer than 2 percent of all tech-centric IP agreements lead to such formal dispute proceedings. What's more, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods that keep the two sides out of the courtroom often yield outcomes that are less expensive and more productive than those derived from traditional litigation.

University of Richmond researchers recently sparked vigorous debate within the patent community with a comprehensive analysis of the USPTO's application approval history over the past 17 years. While some have attributed the rising allowance rate seen under the Kappos administration to improved administrative efficiency, others are concerned that it may connote a drop in quality control standards.

Launched in late 2011, ReDigi is an online marketplace where customers can upload and share digital music. What set the company apart from standard online file sharing platforms, however, was its ability to verify that sellers had originally acquired the content through legitimate means prior to putting it up for auction. Unfortunately, this unique approach has not satisfied music industry opponents who insist that the business model should not be covered by the first-sale doctrine and thus constitutes pervasive copyright infringement.

Since its commercial debut in early 2012, New York City startup Aereo has been drawing the ire of big name broadcasters by enabling subscribers to watch and record live television programming via internet-enabled devices. The young company scored an important legal victory this week as the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the assertion that Aereo's services infringe upon broadcaster copyrights.

Mobile technology and patent management intersected many times in 2012 as names like Apple, Google, Research In Motion, Samsung and Motorola all had the legitimacy of their portfolios called into question at various times throughout the year. Although it remains to be seen what innovations and conversations lie ahead for the industry, it seems as though companies on all sides have taken the importance of diligent asset management to heart in planning their 2013 strategies.

Swiss pharmaceuticals manufacturer Novartis was denied patent protection for a promising cancer treatment, Glivec, after India's Supreme Court ruled that the latest generation of the medicine failed to meet the nation's comparatively high threshold for novelty. As a result, both biomedical corporations and affordable healthcare advocates are weighing the global implications of this decision.

Open source software has been at the heart of several of the most significant innovations related to cloud computing, smart devices and data analytics. Google recently recognized this fact by pledging its commitment not to file suit over its open source technology patents unless first provoked by a separate entity.

The Associated Press (AP) filed suit against news aggregation agency Meltwater in early 2012, asserting that the firm's business model was based on the illicit redistribution of protected AP content. This week, a federal district judge ruled in the AP's favor with a verdict that could set important precedents for how digital media is collected and shared.

Life science research has advanced to such a state that biological patents can now cover the sequencing, chemical composition and process of manipulating human genes. However, the rapid growth of genetic patent portfolios among for-profit biomedical organizations could pose a considerable threat to an individual's "genomic liberty" in certain scenarios.

The so-called safe harbor clauses associated with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) have come under increased scrutiny in recent years as new forms of content creation and distribution have strained the 20th century legislation. A recent ruling in an ongoing dispute between record label UMG and now-defunct online video platform Veoh may have confirmed and set several significant precedents on how copyright liability will be interpreted.