The U.S. and Japan have resolved disputes over intellectual property in an agreement whereby Japan pledges to process patent applications by American companies and inventors faster. Also, Japan will end its practice of letting third parties challenge a competitor's patent prior to being granted. In return, the U.S. will publish pending patent applications 18 months after they are filed, thereby protecting Japanese companies from "submarine patents" which remain secret until after a competitor goes forward with similar development plans. U.S. changes will require congressional approval.
On the copyright front, the U.S. government has released a report, "Intellectual Property and the National Information Infrastructure," which proposes changes to the copyright law to accommodate online information. Specifically, the report recommends that electronic distribution of information fall within the exclusive distribution rights of the copyright owner, thereby paving the way for pay-per-use access schemes.
Got the midnight munchies and need a pizza fix? If so, you can order a pizza over the Internet, at least if you live in the Santa Cruz, California area. By logging onto PizzaNet on the World Wide Web at http://www.pizzahut.com/, your order is sent to Pizza Hut's Wichita headquarters for confirmation, then routed to Santa Cruz for fulfillment.