Need to know…

• Supreme Court Suggested Support for Arizona Immigration Law Provision. The Supreme Court yesterday appeared highly skeptical of the administration’s objections to Arizona’s immigration law. Conservative and liberal justices alike expressed doubts about the government’s argument that the Arizona law was an unconstitutional intrusion on the federal government’s power to enforce immigration law. “You can see it’s not selling very well,” said Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic woman to be seated on the bench, to Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. A final decision will not be reached until June.

• Fed Rejects New Action, Predicts Lower Unemployment Rate in Q4. Markets had little response to the Fed’s monetary policy statement yesterday that came largely in-line with expectations. The central bank reaffirmed its pledge to keep interest rates at extraordinarily low levels until late 2014 and largely brushed off inflation concerns. Separately, Fed officials said U.S. economic growth would pick up gradually and lowered their forecast for the unemployment rate. The Fed predicted the unemployment rate would fall to as low as 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Just three months ago, most Fed expected unemployment to be 8.2%, its current rate, or higher in the last three months of the year.

• Senate Shifts Postal Service Overhaul Pressure to the House. By a 62-37 vote, the Senate offered a lifeline to the nearly bankrupt U.S. Postal Service yesterday, voting to give it an $11 billion cash infusion while delaying controversial decisions on closing post offices and ending Saturday delivery. The Post Office criticized the measure, saying it fell short in stemming financial losses. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the sponsor of the House’s Postal Service legislation, said the Senate measure is “a special interest spending binge that would actually make things worse.” Meanwhile, small businesses are concerned about the impact of post office closings and reduced service.

• Administration Threatens to Veto CISPA. The White House yesterday threatened to veto the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), saying the measure would fail to protect critical infrastructure systems and would undermine Internet privacy. The announcement comes a day after Reps. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) and Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), the authors of CISPA, announced amendments to address the concerns of privacy advocates. The House is expected to approve CISPA on Friday.

Worth the read…

• ‘Pivoting’ Pays Off for Tech Entrepreneurs – The Wall Street Journal
• Intel-Sharing Bill is a Big Step Forward – Bruce Josten, Vice President of Government Affairs, U.S . Chamber of Commerce, via The Hill
• Andreessen Horowitz, Venture Capital Firm, to Give Half Profits to Charity – Huffington Post
• Serial Entrepreneurs Set Up Shop in China – Forbes
• Investing in Main Street Instead of Just Wall Street – Businessweek

Today is the 12^th annual World Intellectual Property Day, when we celebrate the visionary innovators around the world, past and present. Join us as we celebrate the innovations that were made possible through intellectual property rights, including patents, trademarks, and copyrights. Check back throughout today for content, including videos, highlighting the role IP plays in bringing ideas to life.