NYTimes.com: Not everyone is in favor of the "Go big or go home" theory of venture capital investment and a few investors are even specifically seeking more modest funds in which to gently place their precious dollars. Who are these smaller-minded, yet savvy investors, you ask?

"One of them is Judith Elsea, a co-founder and managing director of Weathergage Capital, which invests in venture funds, and the former chief investment officer of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. 'I'm looking for people who want to raise smaller funds and approach the entrepreneur in a very handcrafted, old-school kind of way,' she said Friday at the International Business Forum venture capital investing conference." There are, however, some in the VC industry that aren't so sure this trend will last very long. Nicole Belytschko worries "that as soon as the market for initial public offerings returns and venture firms have a few big I.P.O.’s, investors will quickly forget their new discipline." Time will tell if it's going to be "hell-bent for leather" or "the mouse that roared," so in the meantime, read Claire Cain-Miller's Investors Want Smaller Venture Funds for more details.

ChinaView.com: Who ever said the Chinese we always on the wrong side of international IP justice? In a sweet victory, one China-based company has struck a blow for their intellectual property rights against the mighty US patent jugernaut. "JK Sucralose Inc., one of the biggest sucralose manufacturers and exporters in China, has won an intellectual property legal process in the United States, the company said on Saturday." The process cost the leading manufacturer some millions of dollars in legal costs, but is clearly a vindication for the sugar-substitute maker. There is still a potential sticking point for the favorable judgment to remain in effect. "The U.S. president has the right to veto the ITC ruling within 60 days and inaction on the president's part before the deadline would enable the ruling to be immediately effective and legally binding." The decision has already passed the first hoop in the presidential review process, so it appears that the ruling will stand. More on this surprising but fair legal outcome in "Chinese company wins intellectual property legal process in United States".

Washington Business Journal: President Obama's proposed health care reform package is receiving attention from every side of the issue and some small business owners are concerned that the legislation might unfairly target their operations by placing undue costs on the shoulders of already stressed cash reserves. Ken Hoover reports on one potential downside of a "everyone pays to play" system: "Most business lobbyists, however, contend that employers who can afford to provide health insurance do so already, because it helps them attract and keep good employees. Businesses that don't provide health insurance tend to be 'marginally profitable,' said Denny Dennis, senior research fellow at the NFIB Research Foundation. Imposing a 'play or pay' insurance requirement on these businesses would cost the economy more than 1.6 million jobs, according to a National Federation of Independent Business study." Other groups of business leaders, such as Main Street Alliance, believe that the way the health care system currently works places too much burden on successful operations: "'The way our system works now, where responsible employers offer coverage and others don't, leaves us in a situation with an unlevel playing field,' 11 alliance members said in a statement submitted to the Senate Finance Committee. 'If we're contributing but other employers aren't, that gives them a financial advantage over us. We need to level the playing field through a system where everyone pitches in a reasonable amount.'" This is an important issue that everyone agrees needs fixing, so be sure to read Hoover's Business warily awaits health care reform for the rest of the story and feel free to weigh in with your thoughts/comment below.

Springwise.com: Portland, Oregon is the home of bike commuting, great microbrews, hearty hearth breads and generally speaking, plenty of good social times. Unemployment in the region is approaching breath-taking levels,  and times are a bit tight, but that's not keeping one fast food chain from carving out a locavore niche for itself in conjunction with a thorough greening up of its business practices. Spotter Raymond Kollau highlights the efforts of Burgerville in his recent post Fast food chain goes local,vand provides these details of their success: "Beef and cheese are purchased from hormone-free farms in Oregon, and all of Burgerville's produce is locally sourced—meaning customers won't find a strawberry shake in December. They will, however, find sweet potato fries and pumpkin shakes in autumn and Walla Walla onion rings in the summer. In addition to its focus on sustainable ingredients, Burgerville runs its 39 restaurants as greenly as possible. Its canola oil is recycled into biodiesel fuel after its cooking life has ended, it has a wind-generated electricity investment programme, and there is a staff-initiated composting and recycling scheme. Food is priced marginally above other chains (for instance, a Yukon & White Bean Burger costs USD 5.29 and rosemary shoestring potatoes USD 2.99), but can be justified by the extra effort involved." I suddenly have the urge for a sustainable burger and sweet potato fries... Not every business can build such a great ecologically-friend product but that doesn't mean you can't make some small changes to your venture in the name of going local and green.

The Patent Prospector: Everyone likes free, right? Download the gratis "Patent Case Management Judicial Guide" by Professor Peter S. Menell at U.C. Berkeley School of Law and learn more than you ever wanted to know about IP law.

Bonus piece of the day: Patenting human genes thwarts research, scientists say by Robert S. Boyd lays out the torrid tale of profiting from the building blocks of life. Courtesy of The State.