Effective June 8, 1995, new patent laws resulting from the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) will become effective. Some would protect researcher rights to intellectual property. Others may make it harder for institutions to commercialize on faculty and graduate student research due to shortened patent terms. (MSE)

In search of increased support for graduate students in plant science and upgraded laboratories, the College of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California Berkeley, offered the college's expertise in exchange for major financial backing from the single company making the best offer. The resulting five-year, $25-million alliance with one…

A Michigan court has ruled that a Wayne State University (Michigan) chemistry professor appropriated a trade secret from a Massachusetts chemist for whom he was consulting and incorporated it into his own patent application, violating a written agreement. The university contends its pursuit of the patent was not improper. (MSE)