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U.K. NHS, De Beers, Righthaven: Intellectual Property

(This is a daily report on global news about patents, trademarks, copyright and other intellectual property topics. Adds Coventry First LLC item in trademark section.) Aug. 8 (Bloomberg) -- The U.K.’s National Health Service considers patents for
BusinessWeek | August 8, 2011 | 11:52 am

AngloGold plans trial to tap $118 billion of 3-mile deep ore

AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (ANG), which owns the world’s deepest mine, will within two years trial new mining methods in South Africa to access almost $118 billion worth of gold lying more than three miles underground as it expects gold prices to keep rising from this year’s record. The world’s third-largest gold producer wants to gain access to an estimated 70 million ounces of gold more than 3.1 miles below the surface to extend the lives of its South African mines. The metal is worth $117.6 billion at current prices.
BusinessWeek | August 5, 2011 | 5:37 am
Escondida surprise lights fire under copper price

BHP’s Escondida workers strike as coal miners prepare for action

Workers at BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP)’s Escondida copper mine, the world’s biggest, began striking as coal miners at the company’s Australian operations prepared to escalate industrial action. The strike by all union members at the northern Chilean mine began at 8 p.m. New York time yesterday with the changing of a shift and will run through to 8 p.m. today, which may lead to about 3,000 metric tons of lost copper production, union leader Jose Vidal said by telephone. Image of BHP's Escondida mine is by BHP Billiton.
BusinessWeek | July 22, 2011 | 4:03 am
Iron ore shipping rates to continue to climb

Record mine profit as shipping slumps on glut

The largest glut of ships in history means the cheapest freight rates relative to iron-ore prices in at least a decade, helping Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) to generate record profit. The cost of transporting iron ore to China from Brazil, the biggest route, is now equal to 10 percent of the value of the commodity used by steelmakers, compared with 64 percent in 2003, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
BusinessWeek | July 19, 2011 | 2:22 am

Investors boost bullish commodity bets

Funds boosted bets on rising commodity prices by the most in almost a year as traders snapped up gold amid escalating debt woes in the U.S. and Europe. Speculators raised their net-long positions in 18 commodities by 15 percent to 1.09 million futures and options contracts in the week ended July 12, government data compiled by Bloomberg show. That’s the biggest gain since early August. Gold holdings surged the most since September 2009 as prices climbed to a record last week.
BusinessWeek | July 17, 2011 | 3:00 pm
mining open pit

Codelco weighs bond sale for record $4 billion copper expansions

Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, will seek to sell bonds within 12 months to help finance a record $4 billion investment in its Chilean mines next year, Chief Executive Officer Diego Hernandez said. The state-owned copper company probably will raise part of the investment in U.S. dollar-denominated bonds as well as using amortization and retention of profits, Hernandez said in an interview in Bloomberg’s Santiago office yesterday.
BusinessWeek | July 8, 2011 | 5:04 am

Diamonds lure insurance investor Cowdery as gems beat gold

Clive Cowdery, the Resolution Ltd. founder who made about $240 million buying and selling insurers, is betting on diamonds after prices rose five times faster than gold this year on surging demand from China and India. Cowdery, 48, is among startup investors in Diamond Capital Ltd.’s $20 million fund that will manage a portfolio of the polished gems valued at as much as $400,000 apiece.
BusinessWeek | July 7, 2011 | 1:33 pm