In a dispute over patents, the University of Waterloo recently took legal action against an on-campus startup trying to commercialize a battery that could store power longer and more safely than standard lithium-ion batteries.

The university seeks a declaration that it owns patents which the students claim as theirs. The students invented the technology in a lab partly funded by an agreement between UW and an industry partner which gave UW ownership of the intellectual property generated from that funding. For their part, the students obtained the patents with help from the university’s campus incubator. In other words, UW, through its incubator system, helped its students patent an invention that it simultaneously claims to own. An e-mail from UW’s director of research partnerships, referenced in a Globe and Mail story about the dispute, describes “a hole in our process.”

Starting a business is exciting, yet daunting. You have the vision and strategy, but do you have the capital and protection to move forward with your plans? According to a recent study, only 40 percent of new entrepreneurs are women. While this percentage is the highest it has been since 1996, the statistic implies many women remain hesitant to embark on their entrepreneurial journeys.

Image: Kenawell-Hoffecker

One of the world’s most perfect stretches of sand, lies at Manele Bay. The resort there overlooks the bay, a designated marine preserve filled with colorful fish where you can snorkel and dive.

Image: https://thedailyknow.com

The latest estimate from the World Bank puts global GDP at roughly $80 trillion in nominal terms for 2017.

Today’s chart from HowMuch.net uses this data to show all major economies in a visualization called a Voronoi diagram – let’s dive into the stats to learn more.

The world's top 10 economies

Here are the world’s top 10 economies, which together combine for a whopping two-thirds of global GDP.

"If I had an hour to solve a problem," explained Albert Einstein, "I'd spend the first 55 minutes thinking about the problem, and the last five solving it."

Translation? One of the secrets to having a big breakthrough is immersion -- "the state of being deeply engaged, involved, or absorbed."

Immersion is the ocean in which our fabulous insights, ideas, and illuminations are swimming. That's why Yogis seek out caves, embryos gestate, and writers go on retreat.

Of all the things that I look for in people when hiring–for the matter in anyone I choose to build a relationship with–there is one that is without doubt the most important. It is the rock solid foundation on which all trust is built and the superglue that ties together people and organizations, or, in its absence, destroys them. I am going to share it with you, but first let’s play a little mind game to set the stage.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. and BOCA RATON, Fla., Oct. 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Institute for Commercialization of Florida Technology (the Institute) announced today results of a new study conducted by The Washington Economics Group, Inc.® (WEG), a boutique economic consulting firm led by nationally recognized business economist Dr. J. Antonio (Tony) Villamil. The study measured economic impacts of the Institute during FY 2017-18 to update prior years' studies, and concluded that the organization's impact increased significantly as more companies continued to raise investment capital, create jobs, and bring innovative products to market.

In business, and in your personal life, the ability to anticipate and overcome criticism is one of the biggest differentiators between leaders, who make things happen, and followers, who may have great ideas but never seem to get things to go their way. In fact, leaders are not remembered for their dreams, aspirations, or intentions – they are remembered because they achieved results.

I consider myself lucky for many reasons. Among them is the chance I’ve had to serve as a board member, trustee, advisor and/or investor with a number of companies and charities. Their focus has ranged from the spirits industry and other consumer products to civic, educational and charitable institutions.

Forbes' Paul Noglows moderates a discussion between Beth Bechdol of AgriNovus Indiana, John Hartnett of SVG Partners, Bruce Taylor of Taylor Farms, Carter Williams of iSelect Fund at the 2018 Forbes AgTech Indiana Summit.

Being an entrepreneur is a lot like living life inside a theme park.

You already know about the entrepreneur roller coaster, but what most people struggle with is that there isn't just one. You'll spend the rest of your life moving from one roller coaster to the next. 

In 1533 a noblewoman in Calais presented a visiting grandee with a peculiar gift: her personal toothpick, which, she was eager to point out, she had used for seven years. Whether it pleased her guest is not known, according to Hazel Forsyth, a curator at the Museum of London. But the story amused Ms Forsyth’s audience at last month’s “Festival of Maintenance”, a conference dedicated to keeping things in good nick.

In an effort to strengthen ties to the Rhode Island community and promote dynamic economic growth, the University partnered with the government, industry and other universities to launch the Brown and the Innovation Economy initiative June 28. Through this program, the University will work with state actors to fulfill goals outlined in the strategic plan, such as talent development and retention, industry engagement, building the capacity for innovation, fostering entrepreneurship and building regional networks.

Image: PIA MILEAF-PATEL / HERALD

If you want to be successful in the digital economy, you’ll need to invent more than cutting-edge AI, smart grids, digitized supply chains, or quantum computing. You’ll need to focus on people.

This was the big takeaway from the Honorable Navdeep Bains, minister of innovation, science and economic development for the government of Canada, speaking at a breakfast roundtable at Fortune’s Global Forum in Toronto on Wednesday.

Fifty people transforming health care in 2018

Image: http://time.com

If you're looking for the best place to build a business, you may not have to look far.

The United States was ranked No. 1 in "business dynamism" in the World Economic Forum's 2018 global competitiveness report on Tuesday, scoring a global high of 86.5 points out of 100 in the category.

Image: The United States, where Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in 1994, is ranked No. 1. Ted S. Warren/AP

Innovation in the industrial world is opaque to most of the billions of people who depend on energy, mining, forestry and manufacturing companies for many aspects of their daily life. I’d like to take you behind the scenes of industrial innovation.

The way Silicon Valley startups pump out mobile apps is nothing like the complex, capital-intensive innovation process in the industrial world. How resource-intensive industries innovate – or not – affects whether our societies can address systemic global problems like inequality, public health, biodiversity and carbon emissions.

Since 2003, JumpStart has been working to grow an entrepreneurial ecosystem in Northeast Ohio. Its mission is to promote economic transformation by unlocking entrepreneurs' full potential.

Jeff St. Clair sits down with Ray Leach, CEO of JumpStart, to discuss entrepreneurism in Northeast Ohio.

Image: Ray Leach, CEO of Jumpstart, says businesses aren't actually moving out of Ohio -- they're staying and growing. JEFF ST. CLAIR / WKSU

A mere half a degree could spell the difference between the Arctic being ice-free once a decade and once a century; between coral reefs being almost entirely wiped out and up to 30 percent hanging on; and between a third of the world’s population being exposed to extreme heat waves and a tenth.

Columbia Senior Fellow for Entrepreneurship Steve Blank is a serial entrepreneur-turned-bestselling author and educator who has changed the way startups are built, how entrepreneurship is taught, and how big companies and the U.S. government innovate.

A defining voice in modern entrepreneurship, Steve will be honored in January with an award for entrepreneurial achievement by the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE). We caught up with Steve to congratulate him and dig in to how the startup landscape has changed over the years, how to judge a piece of advice, and the role that education can play in the future of entrepreneurship.