» Boston Scientific to Pay $1.7 Billion to Settle Patent Suits The agreement with Johnson and Johnson to settle three disputes involving heart stents is one of 17 that have been settled as Boston Scientific tries to clear up pending litigation.

» Antitrust Questions for Monsanto The government wants to know whether the Roundup Ready soybean seed will be available to competitors when the patent expires.

» Alarmingly Bright Futures The stories of television and Day-Glo paint, and a pop-up book that explains the origins of dozens of household objects.

» As Patent Ends, a Seed’s Use Will Survive The first patent to expire on a widely used bioengineered crop since gene-splicing became a mainstay of crop science.

» At Home of ‘As Seen on TV,’ a Chance for Inventors At TeleBrands headquarters, entrepreneurs try to get their products a starring role on late-night infomercials.

» Inventing a Better Patent System Congress should add five amendments to existing statutes that would improve patent processing, reduce lawsuits and speed up the arrival of innovations on the market.

» Apple Wouldn’t Risk Its Cool Over a Gimmick, Would It? In a patent application, a new way to make consumers acknowledge a pop-up ad.

» Justices Hear Patent Case on Protecting the Abstract The Supreme Court expressed skepticism about giving protection to abstract business innovations in a case that may reshape what can and cannot be patented.

» Quick, Patent It! A method for hedging financial risk in energy trading is a type of abstraction that should not qualify for a patent.

» Robert Rines, Inventor and Monster Hunter, Dies at 87 Mr. Rines will be mainly remembered not for holding more than 800 patents, starting a law school or writing music for the stage, but for his pursuit of the Loch Ness monster.

» Everybody in the Pool of Green Innovation Several major corporations are taking a hint from the open-source software movement and pooling their green innovations.

» In Lawsuit, Nokia Says iPhone Infringes Its Patents A Nokia executive says the Finnish cellphone maker sued Apple after failing to reach a licensing deal.

» Patent Auctions Offer Protections to Inventors Instead of spending millions in protracted legal battles, some inventors are turning to firms that will auction their rights to the highest bidders.

» Award Is Overturned in a Patent Case Microsoft won an appeals court ruling that overturns a $358 million patent award won by Alcatel-Lucent.

» 400 Years of Modern Astronomy A leather tube and two glass lenses began a revolution that continues to this day.