In this issue:

. Note from the Editors

. Maximizing Patent Opportunities and Funding in Clean and Green-Tech Start-Ups

. Protecting Inventions involving Biofuel Feedstock

. Reexamination v. Litigation: Which Controls?

. Utility Models – A useful Alternative to Patents

. eBay Scorecard

. Printed Publications in the Computer Age: The Federal Circuit Addresses FTP Servers in SRI

. IP Practice News

. Multi-Media: Look. Listen. Learn.

Note from the Editors

In this issue of Morrison & Foerster’s Intellectual Property Quarterly Newsletter, we focus on important issues

related to innovation by “clean and green-tech” companies. We discuss what clean and green-tech companies can do to protect their technology, and how they can use their IP to attract and maximize investment dollars. A companion article discusses rapid advances in biofuels and strategies for protecting biofuel feedstock inventions.

We also address two interesting legal issues that arise in a world where innovation occurs rapidly and where information is often disseminated via the internet. We discuss some benefits of pursuing “utility model” protection rather than patent protection, and we analyze a recent Federal Circuit decision that assessed whether a paper posted on an FTP server constitutes a “printed publication” for prior art purposes.

We also provide our recurring features, the eBay Scorecard and news and Notes on Patent Reexaminations. In the Reexamination article, we examine two recent Federal Circuit decisions that address contradictory

validity determinations by a district court and the PTO.

We hope you find Morrison & Foerster’s Intellectual Property Quarterly Newsletter useful in following recent

developments in intellectual property law.