Noted earlier that the philanthropic organisation Telluriad Foundation from Colorado, USA (or actually Brazilian collecting society ECAD), has made trademark infringement claims against the Brazilian Olympic Games hosts for having designed a logo that is, apparently, in its symbolisation of friendly handshakes and camaraderie too similar to the distinctive traits of the foundation's own logo.

After yet another successful implementation of the Indian Patent Act Section 3(d) my thoughts are invariably drawn to innovation and charity, perhaps best represented by the largest private foundation in the world: The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This philanthropic endeavour pushes loads of money into research projects that in the end, hopefully, benefits the less fortunate*, perhaps in the shape of AIDS drugs, research in forgotten diseases and better (or more) food.

A less known part of the foundation's activities is probably its CEOs explicit acknowledgement of intellectual property rights as an important and productive consequence of the research results promoted by the foundation (quote: “Microsoft is all about intellectual property and so is the Gates Foundation.”). In a less inspired moment a realistic friend of mine also decided to share that the real reason IT millionaires seem to be the most charitable group of entrepreneurs in the world is because they're good at taking advantage of the tax cuts available for people with foundations.

* We have in Swedish a word that alludes specifically to the concept of not having money, rather than describing a state of being out of luck (less fortunate). Is there an equivalent English expression?