It seems as if Charlie McCreevy gave the keynote speech at today's conference at the European Parliament. He's still Commissioner-designate, of course, due to the Buttiglone affair, but it's unlikely his portfolio will change. The FFII webcast not operational right now.
Teresa -------------------
Check http://tv.ffii.org/ to view the webcast of 'Regulating Knowledge: Costs, Risks, and Models of Innovation' http://en.eu.ffii.org/sections/bxl0411/index/, an event held in the European Parliament tomorrow, Wednesday November 10. Sponsored by FFII, MERIT, CEA-PME, the Greens/EFA in the EP, and OSI.
Regulating Knowledge: Costs, Risks, and Models of Innovation
Wednesday, 10 Nov 2004
Location
European Parliament, Rue Wiertz, 1047 Brussels, Room ASP 1G3.
Program
*Welcome address (9h15-9h20)*
Daniel Cohn-Bendit, co-president of the Greens/EFA in the EP
*Keynote (9h20-9h45)*
Charlie McCreevy, Commissioner for Internal Market and Services
*Panel 1 (09h45-11h00) The Lisbon agenda, the economics of innovation, and patents on knowledge-related processes*
/Policy regarding software patents is a critical element of the Lisbon agenda, because software innovation is an important economic area. As an enabling technology, software also determines how information and knowledge is managed across all fields of innovation, and indeed in all forms of business and commerce. This panel will examine what economists know about patents and innovation, as well as the special issues related to patents on software-implemented innovations./
*/Speakers:/*
* Luc Soete, Director, Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology, University of Maastricht * Jim Bessen, Boston University * Dietmar Harhoff, Director, Institute for Innovation Research, Technology Management and Entrepreneurship, University of Munich
*Panel 2 (11h15-12h30) Bottom up economics: defending SMEs and the public interest*
/Despite the often heard argument that patents benefit small companies, SMEs largely oppose software patents. This panel will examine the economic problems of dealing with patents from an SME perspective. It will look at new developments in the U.S. that show how patent holding companies behave in the ICT sector./
*/Speakers:/*
* Wendy Seltzer, Electronic Frontier Foundation * Stefan Zickgraf, Secretary General, CEA-PME * Rita Heimes, Director, University of Maine Technology Law Center
*Panel 3 (14h00-15h15) New developments in patent practice: assessing the risks and cost of portfolio licensing and hold-ups*
/The proliferation of software patent lawsuits has focused attention on the risks that patents pose to software developers and users. Open source and Free Software are often named as the most endangered entities, but small firms, non-profit institutions and public interest groups are all confronted with this issue. This panel will focus on how they are addressing this challenge./
*/Speakers:/*
* Dan Ravicher, Public Patent Foundation * Bruce Perens, Perens LLC/OSRM * Jonas Maebe, FFII
*Panel 4 (15h30-16h45) Informing and reforming patent policy*
/There is widespread agreement that getting patent policy right is important to economic growth, yet there are no mechanisms in place for monitoring how the system is performing in practice. The controversies surrounding the software patent directive and the community patent suggest that existing institutions and political processes may not be up to the task of developing a sound patent policy. This panel will examine options for making the European patent system more accountable in terms of economic outcomes./
*/Speakers:/*
* Brian Kahin, University of Michigan, formerly White House Office of Science and Technology Policy * Marianne van der Steen, Technical University of Delft, formerly Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs * Susana Borras, University of Roskilde
*Conclusion (16h45-17h00)*
EIF Conference on Computer Implemented Inventions (17h00-22h30)
The EIF (European Internet Foundation) organises a panel discussion on Patentability of Computer Implemented Inventions http://www.eifonline.org/site/index.cfm?TID=1&BID=16&SID=1&LG=2&ART=46&back =47, chaired by Erika Mann MEP. This event will take place in the Hotel Renaissance, 19 Rue du Parnasse, Brussels. Registration for this event is directly via EIF. Send an email with your name and affiliation to secretariat@EIFonline.org, or have a look at their website http://www.eifonline.org/site/index.cfm?TID=1&BID=16&SID=1&LG=2&ART=46&back =47 for more information.