from yesterday's Nikkei

企業年金　運用利回り　一段と悪化　昨年４－１１月マイナス１６％　金融危機が直撃　日立、株式投資を凍結

Amid the turmoil in the world's stock markets hard-hit by the financial crisis,the managements of the corporate employees' pension scheme funds have been worsening. The yields of such fund investments on average in the period from April through November last year declined to a minus 16 percent. If the stock market stagnation continues like this, the yield in the whole fiscal 2008 would log the worst-ever record.In these circumstances, Hitachi,Ltd. has decided not to invest the fund money in the stock.Against the background of this,how to manage the pension fund will become one of the most important management problems for each company.

from today's Nikkei

特許ソフトも保護対象　大幅な法改正で明確に　技術革新後押し　開放のルール整備
Japan Patent Office likely will start to deliberate on greatly revising the current Patent Law.The objects of the law have long been mainly things like tangible equipment.But,the patent office intends to include intangible assets like software as the objects protected by the new regulation.Another strategy the patent office is going to seek to progress is that the environment where many participants are able to reciprocally make use of patents others have created will be made by establishing a necessary rule for making public the patents of corporations and universities for the purpose of encouraging technological innovation.