Patents rarely make headlines, but they did last month when Nortel Networks Corp., the defunct Canadian telecommunications giant, auctioned off its patent portfolio and drew an astonishing winning bid of $4.5 billion from a group of companies that includes Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. The sale marks a watershed in the maturity of intellectual property markets and a dramatic shift in strategy for technology companies. Suddenly, these companies are acknowledging that patents are a strategic asset worth billions.

BY NATHAN MYHRVOLD - BLOOMBERG NEWS COLUMNIST

The earthquake and tsunami occurred on March 11, 2011 is a severe disaster for socio-economic life of Japanese people in general and Japanese applicants of IPRs in particular. With a view to providing relief to those applicants affected by the disaster, the Director General of the National Office of Intellectual Property of Viet Nam has issued Notification No. 1691/TB-SHTT dated 31 March 2011 on bail-out measures for applicants affected by the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan.

The People's Court of Dak Lak Province just adjudicated the first case of patent infringement in the province that has been lasted over 8 years. The brick extruder, technically improved with an axial rake and knife by Mr. Hoang Thinh in Trap village, Krong Bana district - the author and owner of a utility solution, was granted Patent for Utility Solution No. 319 by the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam in 2002.