Program

22 April 2014, Hypercube Skolkovo, Skolkovo Innovation Center, Moscow, Russia

 

9:30 – 10:00 Registration
10:00 – 10:30 Welcome coffee
10:30 – 10:45 Conference Opening. Viktor Vekselberg, Skolkovo President
SECTION 1:
EMERGENCE OF THE GLOBAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW AND DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE
10:45 – 12:00 Globalization Drives Intellectual Property to the International Level
 
SUMMARY:
Intellectual property (IP) law has gone global. An important and ever increasing share of global commerce (in terms of value) concerns IP-based products and services. This is supported by intensified capital flows across the borders to support investment in the development of IP-based products and services and the transfer of technology.
Developing countries are led to implement higher standards of IP rights protection and enforcement in order to attract direct foreign investments and support their nascent IP-based industries. It has been argued that the international framework resulting from the TRIPS agreement, aimed at the creation of a strict and effective global IP regime may however result in a heavier burden for the BRICS economies, and calls for more flexibility in its implementation in developing economies have been made. BRICS countries have adopted IPR laws, which while offering significant protection overall, sometimes build a number of limitations and exceptions in order to achieve other objectives, such as public health or the promotion of a domestic industry. Yet, a significant imbalance remains (and will continue to exist for the foreseeable future) between developed and developing economies with regard to the allocation of these IPRs at a global level. All this creates a strong demand on considering both distributive effects of the established global IP and perspectives and needs for its transformation. For this the session will take a global distributive justice perspective and explore ways it may be implemented in the area of IP. The focus will be on how the distributive justice agenda should look like. Should the redefinition and expansion of intellectual property rights give more weight to the complexity of knowledge production in developing and emerging economics? Would compensatory wealth and technology transfers ensure a more equitable economic playing field or should we devise other asset-redistribution inspired policies? How should a global distributive justice perspective for IP integrate capabilities to innovate and desert considerations? The session will explore particular sectors (e.g. environmental sciences, life sciences) in order to examine more concretely how these distributive justice strategies are already in action or may be implemented in the future.
 
SPEAKERS:
 
MODERATOR:
12:00 – 12:20 Q&A Session
12:20 – 12:50 Coffee break
SECTION 2:
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, RESEARCH AND EDUCATION
12:50 – 13:50 Intellectual Property, Research and Education
 
SUMMARY:
The development of modern technologies (e.g. online file sharing, torrents, distant learning, and stream video) allows consumers all over the world to share and exchange copyrightable materials, and offers right holders additional ways to protect their copyright (through Digital Rights Management). BRICS countries are expected to put more effort into effective copyright enforcement in the digital era. It is however argued that copyright itself is outdated in view of the development of DRM technologies and shall be reformed for easier sharing of copyrightable materials for the purposes of research and education, especially in developing countries. Is it time to grant more copyright freedom or, vice versa, to implement stricter copyright laws? What does the Google book case instruct us on the challenges facing copyright in the digital world and its interaction with other public policies, such as antitrust?
 
SPEAKERS:
 
MODERATOR:
13:50 – 14:10 Q&A Session
14:10 – 15:10 Lunch
SECTION 3:
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY FOR PUBLIC WELLBEING
15:10 – 16:10 Intellectual Property and Global Health. Original Medicines vs. Generics – Finding the Right Balance Between IPRs and Antitrust: a Law and Development Perspective.
 
SUMMARY:
This panel will examine the complex interaction between IPRs, competition law and pharma regulation and the impact that this may have on the promotion of innovation in this vitally important area for global health. The panel will delve into the parameters of the choice between different standards for this interaction prevalent in the US, Europe, BRICS and other key jurisdictions in order to operate the delicate balance between incentives to innovation and wider access to affordable drugs. We will particularly focus on the following practices: Abuse of the IP process: Sham litigation or attempts to extend the IP protection through various regulatory practices constitute prevalent practices in the industry. US law tends to address these issues in the context of the IP system (patent misuse doctrine), while EU law employs the tool of competition law. Other options may also be examined. Reverse payment settlements have also recently attracted the attention of competition authorities worldwide: What is the source of the controversy between and among economists, courts, and antitrust authorities over whether and when—if ever— reverse payment settlements should be unlawful under the antitrust laws? Parallel imports and the exhaustion doctrine: Thinking more broadly of competition policy in this area, what should be the role of the exhaustion doctrine in the delicate balance between incentives to innovation and dissemination of innovation?
 
SPEAKERS:

 
DISCUSSION PARTICIPANT:

 
MODERATOR:
16:10 – 16:30 Q&A Session