Report Bee - An interesting approach

Well, I came up knowing an interesting Indian venture named "Report Bee". It is a recent start up, about six months old with an interesting concept line. It certainly grabbed my attention. As the name suggests, "Report Bee" is an alternative solution to physical report cards. It provides you with a smart report card alternative to gauge students and  teachers performance, without any practical changes in the school's evaluation process. Report bee has built in features like authorized employee access, separate access details for parents(available in later versions), and many others user friendly features. 

The working methodology involves filling online forms to enter relevant data like student's marks, subjects, classes schedule etc. They have an interesting blog where you can have a complete know-how of their working methodology and  recent accomplishments. All in all an interesting concept based venture which can revolutionize the educational set up.Keep buzzing report bee!

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Manual of IPO practice and procedure published

The much awaited new manual Of Indian Patent Office Practice and Procedure has finally been published. It is available in both html and pdf formats.You can access it from here.With 21 main chapters , sub- contents and annexures stating the forms and fee for patent applications, it gives a complete structure of standard patent procedures at the IPO.

(Image by Katia Grimmer-Laversanne)

The world's greatest investor lands in India

You must be wondering who am I talking about isn't. I generally cover IP related articles and issues but this time let me add a new flavor to the conversation. The king of Investment Warren Buffet and tech giant Bill Gates visited Indian territory last week. Both happened to be promoting a great cause of philanthropy  and the art of giving, ironically, a few indian billionaires turned up for the cause, but that doesn't diminish the spirit of this great personality. Warren Buffet is not just a name but a brand in himself. I am so amazed  by the strength and perseverance of this great personality.I was particularly interested in watching the interaction of Mr Buffet and the business school students. The session was great as expected but what made this session even more interesting to watch was certainly the wit and wisdom of Mr Buffet. One can never be tired listening to him, because this man comes with an exquisite sense of humor and at the same time, an astute business observation. The best part of the various sessions he addressed in India, was the fact that he kept mentioning the importance of giving in life. He gave simple,humorous yet impressive examples pertaining to investments, one of his famous being "If I had an IQ of 160, I'd sell 20 points". He also focused on the fact that India is the logical destination, from investment point of view.Well I can go on writing and writing  about him, but the fact is India witnessed a great week with such a legend who shared his views on business, investment and above all the pledge for philanthropy.

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Google to translate EU patents

Google has come up with an agreement with Munich based European patent authorities this Thursday,aiding in translating about 50 million patents.Well last year in November 2010, Google announced to take this project.Google is expected  to provide translations in 28 European languages. The entire process is estimated to be accomplished by 2014. Google Inc. will only provide the translations without altering the legal aspects associated with the patent documents.Along with the European languages, Google is also working towards providing translations in Russian,Chinese, Korean and Japanese. 

As the European continent enjoys plethora of  official languages, it becomes extremely important to provide a substantial linguistic communication method like translation. It will surely improve access to the patents and better understanding of the patent documents in one's own language. Google's online mechanized translation is expected to aid researchers ,inventors and applicants who will be benefitted with such a technology during filing of patents ,online search for patent documents,etc. All in all, a crisp and decent  move to ensure better regulation of Intellectual property.

( Image by Yaroslav B )

International Conference on Traditional Knowledge Utilization

On March 22, 2011, thirty five countries delegates arrived in New Delhi today for the International conference on utilization of "Traditional knowledge Digital library"; (TKDL) for the protection and conservation of traditional knowledge.The event was hosted by WIPO and CSIR,India (Counsil of Scientific and Industrial Research).The event is expected to deal with Intellectual property related issues in traditional knowledge. The conference was initiated by stating that TKDL is crucial for the conservation of Traditional knowledge in India as well as in combatting Biopiracy. Protection of Traditional knowledge has been immensely important in the ancient medicine systems like Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani ,which could be exploited in the absense of a well constructed Traditional knowledge database. 

TKDL project has been worked out in about ten years and it hosts information like ancient medical treatment and important medicinal plants. TKDL contains a whopping 34 million pages in five international languages.It gives access to 0.22 million medicinal formulations.Well in the recent past,India witnessed success in revoking patents issued by USPTO and European Patent Office, which were particularly based on Indian traditional knowledge on Turmeric and Neem medicinal properties respectively. I can gladly say that India is riding high with creation of such a substantial Traditional Knowledge Database. Certainly,it will prove to be a milestone for future advancements. 

(Image taken from here)

Google bagged the top slot at the Global brand index 2011

Google made it to the top slot at the global 500 list of world's top brands. Google wins the slot by acquiring $44.3 billion brand value. The greater and widespread use of internet and google's continuous efforts to launch new technologies all over these years, has enabled it to hit the top slot. Microsoft bagged the second slot with a valuation of about $42.8 billion. It's surprisingly true that the US  technology based companies acquired 13 positions in the Top 20 slot at the global brand index, 2011. Coca cola loses its position in the top 10 list of the world's top brands. This year Coca cola's brand value comes to about $25 billion, which recorded a sharp drop of $10 billion from the last year 2010, when the brand was estimated about $35 billion. 

Amongst the international phone brands, Apple registered itself in the top 10 list with a brand value of about $29.5 billion whereas Nokia witnessed a steep fall with a valuation of about $9.9 billion this year. To conclude, it is very obvious that this year many brands witnessed a steep fall and on the other hand many brands strike back by acquiring greater markets and  revenues, all in all, an interesting valuation.

(Image by Svilen Milev)

Bid at ICAP Ocean Tomo live IP auction

Wanna bid at the leading IP auction then you are at the right place, ICAP Ocean Tomo is up with its spring IP auction scheduled on March 30-31, 2011, details could be found here. ICAP Ocean Tomo offers various IP asset management services like IP brokerage, live IP auctions and other applications like listed portfolio companies, available IP portfolios,etc. Investors can bid in the upcoming spring auction, by paying a standard registration fee and registering here . Schedule and venue can be accessed here.

The auction list for spring IP auction has technologies like, One click barcode technology by Neomedia ,Keyword based searching platform by Johan Nicolas and Kristin Gross, Improved dry eye medication by Aqueous pharma limited, to name a few. Great portfolio of technologies on the auction this time. It can be inferred that this spring season auction will have interesting results and business statistics. So bidders be there!

( Image by marija jure.)