Hostess, the soon-to-be-defunct maker of Wonder Bread, Twinkies and dozens of other baked good varieties, has received court approval to beginning selling off its assets and eliminating approximately 18,000 jobs. While this news came as some surprise to customers, according to the New York Times, it seems likely that several beloved brands under the Hostess umbrella could make a market return as the company's intellectual property portfolio is divided and distributed among eager bidders.

The rapid rate of digitization observed within the past decade has introduced several novel questions for copyright owners and attorneys, affecting everything from the royalty management terms signed by musical artists to library lending policies. As media producers, consumers and regulators across the United States struggle to interpret and respond to these developments, European lawmakers seem to be building a path to progress.

In an effort to bring environmentally-friendly innovations to market faster, intellectual property offices around the world have been instituting policies and practices that encouraged the streamlined processing of so-called "green" patents. According to the latest research commissioned by the International Center for Trade and Sustainable Development, early returns from these "fast-tracking" frameworks suggest that legislation is having the desired result.

Many of today's entrepreneurs have grown accustomed to a rather frenetic pace of business, but this can set them up for a fall when venturing into the world of intellectual property management for the first time.

Swiss telecommunications equipment giant Ericsson has filed suit against leading mobile device manufacturer Samsung, alleging 24 separate instances of hardware and software patent infringement. Ericsson executives labeled it an action of "last resort," in an interview with The New York Times, suggesting that licensing negotiations regarding wireless industry-standard patents had reached an impasse.

The road toward a unified European Union patent system has been defined by a series of fits and starts in recent years, but the process seems to be gaining critical momentum this month. According to EuropeanVoice, diplomats are now scheduled to endorse revised draft legislation in a December 10th meeting.

Provisional patent application (PPA) filings have consistently risen in all but one of the past 15 years, according to the latest analysis from PatentlyO. However, the popularity of this tactic does not always correlate with patent pursuit or award.

David Kappos will leave his post as USPTO director early next year, calling an end to an impressive three-and-a-half year tenure.

Universities across the United States have seen patent licensing revenue climb in recent years as both school officials and private firms take a greater interest in commercializing classroom innovation. However, these numbers hold discouraging news for a few universities, underscoring the diligence required to craft a patent strategy that is both lucrative and sustainable.

USPTO officials have long accepted industry feedback as a welcome and necessary ingredient for patent system progress, but a string of disapproving statements coming out of the software sector has changed the tone of the conversation. To keep both sides moving forward toward smarter solutions, USPTO director David Kappos recently preached patience and encouraged critics to take a more careful view of the facts.