Intel inside China

The world's largest semiconductor manufacturer is establishing a $200 million venture-capital fund to support emerging companies in China. Intel, which has already invested in dozens of small Chinese companies through an established international venture fund, said the new fund will support companies in hardware, software and computer services. The chip maker says it expects its investment to stimulate innovation in the region, and nurture potential suppliers and customers — as well as making money.

Advert averse

Television commercials and other advertisements aimed directly at patients are to be dropped by Bristol-Myers Squibb during a product's first year. The New York-based company also pledged to run all of its consumer advertisements past the US Food and Drug Administration for comment, with immediate effect. The announcement reflects growing unease in the drug industry about the cost of mass-market advertising — and its potential to hurt the industry's public image.

Patent change floated

A proposed reform to US patent law would give precedence to the first person to file for a patent, rather than the first to invent — bringing it in line with most of the rest of the world. The software industry favours the bill, which is sponsored by Lamar Smith (Republican, Texas), chair of the House subcommittee on intellectual property, and the US Patent Office supports parts of it. But other players, including universities and the biotechnology industry, are less enthusiastic. The bill is the opening shot in what could be a multi-year effort to get patent reform through Congress.