National patent offices do not want to give up power and money.

ECONOMIST: Europe's unwieldy patent regime

Ever since Feldman founded National Patent in 1959, he has shown an almost comic flair for plucking failure from the jaws of success.

FORBES: Death Grip

The European Parliament approved on first reading a law that would harmonise national patent legislation on genetic engineering , and would allow continent-wide patents for genetic inventions.

ECONOMIST: Merger dirge

Europe's patent system is also in a mess in another regard: the quilt of national patent offices and languages means that the cost of obtaining a patent for the entire European Union is too high, a burden in particular on smaller firms and individual inventors.

ECONOMIST: Intellectual property

The competitive outlook on patents is also troubling, as China has set a national goal of two million patent filings in 2015, about four times as many as the latest number of annual U.S. filings.

FORBES: The U.S. Needs A White House Innovation Officer

In here are copies (the National Archives keeps the originals) of every patent and trademark ever awarded.

FORBES: The smother of invention

Until the government was able to agree on a reduced price of 95 cents a tablet for 100 million tablets, there was discussion about whether and how Congress could invalidate Bayer Pharmaceutical's patent on Cipro in the interest of national security.

CNN: graphic

By contrast, China has developed a National Intellectual Property Strategy, aggressively targeting 2 million Chinese patent applications annually by 2015, spurring initiative and innovation with cash rewards, houses and tax breaks.

FORBES: A Message To Congress: Keep Your Hands Off The Patent Office