Following a study released this week by the U.S. International Trade Commission outlining the growing problem of piracy and intellectual property theft in China, several critics, including a number of U.S. Senators, have begun speaking out against the country's failure to adopt effective anti-counterfeiting regulations.

A Kalamazoo, Michigan-based molecular diagnostics company has won the top prize in the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition, receiving a $500,000 cash prize and the esteem of taking the top spot in what has been referred to as the world's largest business plan competition.

If anything contextualizes the impact of a globalized economy, it is the financial collapse of 2008 - a catastrophic economic breakdown that rippled across the globe eliminating jobs and impeding growth in sectors from financial consulting to automobile sales to high-tech manufacturing.

At its annual SmartCamp World Finals in Dublin, Ireland, this week, IBM announced Streetline Inc. as the 2010 Global Entrepreneur of the Year. The firm was among more than 600 worldwide tech-focused startups to participate in the competition.

To add to the intensifying battle between U.S. phone manufacturers for control of the smartphone market, Motorola is counter-suing Microsoft, alleging the tech company's personal computer, server, mobile phone and Xbox products infringe on 16 different Motorola patents.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced Wednesday it is extending a green technology incentive program aimed at spurring continued innovation in the renewable energy industry.

An ongoing dispute between Fox and Cablevision has heated up following allegations that Cablevision has been promoting illegal online viewing of copyrighted Fox television broadcasts to its subscribers.

The Canadian pharmaceutical giant Apotex has been ordered to pay more than $422 million to Sanofi-Aventis in a patent infringement case over the blood-thinning drug Plavix - the second-highest-selling pharmaceutical drug in the world.

The UK government is facing a "real and credible" security threat on its massive expanse of private information and intellectual property. Speaking to the International Institute for Strategic Studies Wednesday, GCHQ director Iain Lobban declared that malicious software, email and other digital mediums have already significantly disrupted government systems.

The first spark of an idea may be the easiest stage in developing the concept into a successful business model. Before anything can be done, a business plan must be written. And before you can market and sell an invention, you must patent your creation. Likewise, before you can sell a software program, service or even work of literature, you must acquire a copyright.