Clean-tech Start Up to Produce Next-Gen Ethanol by Year’s End September 28th, 2010Clean Tech/Green Energy Highlights: Range Fuels plans to begin making cellulosic ethanol by the end of the year. Read article. Read More
New M&A Holdback Escrow Study September 27th, 2010M & A J.P. Morgan’s trust group issued its annual study on escrow holdbacks in M&A transactions. The study provides useful statistical information on escrows, including size, duration and claims made. [gview file=”http://www.www.mmmtechlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/2010-MA-Holdback-Escrow-Report2.pdf-Adobe-Acrobat-Professional2.pdf”] Read More
USPTO Seeks to Incentivize Humanitarian Technologies September 24th, 2010Patents/IP Highlight: The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office recently announced that it is seeking public comments on proposals to incentivize the creation and distribution of technologies that address humanitarian needs. Under a proposed pilot program, patent holders who make their technologies available for humanitarian purposes would be eligible for a voucher entitling them to accelerated re-examination of their patent(s). Some proposed examples of such “humanitarian technologies” include diagnostic medical tools, treatments for sanitation or water purification/cleansing, crops with higher yields or better nutritional value, etc. Participants could qualify for the proposed pilot program by either making their patented technologies available to impoverished nations, or by making Read More
Valuations Rise for Web Start-Ups September 23rd, 2010Venture Capital Valuation Highlights: Consumer Web start-ups are experiencing a rapid growth in valuations, echoing the dot-com boom of the 90s. Read article. Guest Editor: Jason Cummings Read More
VCs Discuss the Growing Angel Influence September 23rd, 2010Venture Capital Highlights: Five NYC venture capitalists discuss the growing angel investor phenomenon and the tension it has brought to the venture industry. Read Article. Guest Editor: Jason Cummings Read More
QuantiSense: Retailing with Insight September 23rd, 2010Industry Spotlight QuantiSense CEO Jeff Buck discusses his company’s analytic IT solutions and services for customers in the specialty hard goods, soft goods, department store and general merchandise retailing markets. [cincopa 10765861] For more information visit www.QuantiSense.com Read More
Practical Pointers on the New Restrictive Covenants Act September 22nd, 2010MMM Tech Perspectives Yates Perspectives: The New Georgia Restrictive Covenants Act – PRACTICAL POINTERS On November 2nd, Georgia voters will be electing a new Governor, Lieutenant Governor and other key officials – and, in effect, voting on approval of the Georgia Restrictive Covenants Act. The Act will become law if a Georgia Constitutional Amendment is approved by the voters. The likelihood of approval is high — the ballot language has been drafted in such a way that the legislature hopes that no law-abiding capitalist will vote against it. It’s also been placed as one of the first Constitutional Amendments on the ballot. If the Act is approved, Read More
NEW Duke Energy Joins Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative September 21st, 2010Clean Tech/Green Energy Highlights: Non-profit group focused on “next-generation energy infrastructure” gains six new members, including Duke Energy. Read article. Read More
Senate Urged to Bring Patent Reform Bill to Vote September 20th, 2010Patents/IP Legal news sources report that a group of 25 senators wrote a letter to Sen. Reid on September 15, 2010, asking him to bring the bill (S. 515) to a vote quickly. As we reported in the MMM IP NewsFlash last year (May 2009), patent reform has been unsuccessfully proposed about every two years for more than a decade. Passage of reform in the past has been difficult due to disagreements between two very different stakeholders: the pharmaceutical industry (with their strange bedfellows of small business and individual inventors) are pitted against the so-called “big IT” and other large companies, which Read More
NEW VC and the Unfolding U.S. Pension Crisis September 20th, 2010Venture Capital Comments: Underfunded pension plans are having a negative impact on investments into VC Funds, and are contributing to the contraction of funds and investments in companies. Read Article. Read More