The UK Intellectual Property Office is born

The UK Patent Office has announced that it plans to change its name to the UK Intellectual Property Office, in line with the recommendation of the Government's Gowers Review of Intellectual Property. The new name is designed to reflect the Office's wider role, encompassing copyright and trademarks as well as patents. 'The [Gowers] report's main recommendations will help us to enforce intellectual property rights, and support British businesses both at home and abroad,' said Ron Marchant, the Office's chief executive. ...more

Olympus launches world's smallest D-SLR

Olympus today annouced a new edition to its E-System range and what it claims to be the world's smallest and lightest D-SLR camera. The new Olympus E-400 boasts a 10.0 million pixel CCD, 2. ...more

Experts demand research into nano risks

More research is needed to identify any health and environmental hazards of nanotechnology so that public confidence is maintained in the fast-growing industry, experts said on Wednesday. Nanotechnology, which involves manipulating materials on an ultra-small scale, has the potential to make better products in fields from computing to cosmetics to fuel additives. But nanoparticles tens of thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair could be dangerous if they interact with the human body or the environment in unexpected ways. ...more

Federation Against Software Theft reclaims a record ?1.4m

The Federation Against Software Theft reclaimed a record ?1.4 million in July, the most that it has collected in a single month on behalf of UK software developers. John Lovelock, director general of FAST, said that companies and organisations are increasingly aware of the legal implications of using unlicensed software, but added that he does not expect to see the practice end any time soon. ...more

A NeuStar on the horizon, a new domain on the Net

NeuStar is the Registrar that has won the right to manage the newly available .us chunk of Internet real estate. The Washington-based company has now announced its intent to accept registrations from the general public on 24 April. ...more