March will be a pivotal month for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) as companies mark their calendars with a number of key dates and deadlines surrounding its new generic top-level domain (gTLD) program. However, market research conducted by domain name marketplace operator Sedo suggests that a surprising proportion of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are still unaware of such developments.

Digital media producers hold two crucial - and at times competing - priorities in the modern marketplace: Delivering rewarding experiences to legitimate customers and defending protected works against would-be pirates. The complicated relationship between these two objectives was on display earlier this week as video game developer Electronic Arts (EA) weathered a considerable consumer backlash as a result of its digital rights management (DRM) strategy.

The macroeconomic significance of a revitalized American manufacturing sector has been one of the few concepts capable of generating bipartisan accord from legislators. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office took a decisive step in the right direction this week by unveiling a new business community outreach initiative centered in Detroit.

Digital rights activists have already enjoyed a strong start to 2013 and are only looking to build on that momentum in the coming months. After engineering a grassroots lobbying effort, which ultimately convinced White House and Federal Communications Commission officials to reconsider the ban on cell phone unlocking, open source software entrepreneur Sina Khanifar is seeking broader changes to Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) provisions.

Pfizer scored a small but significant victory this week after being granted a reissue patent that will afford the company 18 additional months of market exclusivity for its blockbuster painkiller Celebrex.

The Cascadia Cup was established in 2004 to cement an ongoing informal rivalry between three professional soccer teams from the Pacific Northwest cities of Portland, Seattle and Vancouver. Now that each squad has been officially incorporated into Major League Soccer, league organizers are struggling to decide what role they should adopt in trademark management and branding strategies.

As 3D printing continues to attract interest, investment and participation from a wide variety of stakeholders, attorneys are attempting to sort out the short- and long-term legal implications of this emerging technology's rapid growth. Although the current industry landscape remains a bit unsettled for innovators, it's clear to most that issues of copyright management will soon rise to the fore.

The U.K. Intellectual Property Office (IPO) took proactive steps toward preserving Britain's reputation as a life sciences innovator this week by employing a series of changes to the nation's Patents Act. By reducing administrative burdens, officials hope to foster a safer space for pharmaceutical companies to conduct research and development tasks with minimal fear of being sued for patent infringement.

The Saving High-tech Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes (SHIELD) Act was officially introduced in Congress this week. Sponsored by Oregon Representative Peter DeFazio and Utah Representative Jason Chaffetz, the legislation would force plaintiffs to pay defendants' attorneys fees in cases where their patent infringement lawsuits ultimately prove baseless.

Financial realities have recently prompted the University of Toledo to cut millions of dollars from its operating budget, raise tuition prices, limit class offerings and increase class size. Despite these hardships, the school is defending its decision to maintain current funding levels for its technology transfer office, insisting that such investments will yield significant commercial and societal returns.