CERGE-EI
Politickych veznu 7
111 21 Prague 1
Czech Republic
January 17, 2006

Agenda

Presentations

Register with Brooke Emmerick at 202-289-8928 or bemmerick@pff.org

 

The Progress & Freedom Foundation will have President Ray Gifford, Vice President for Research Tom Lenard and Director of PFF's Center for the Study of Digital Property James DeLong in Prague January 17, 2006, for an all-day conference entitled "Intellectual Property and Innovation in the Digital World." Co-hosted with CERGE-EI, a joint venture of Charles University and the Czech Republic Academy of Sciences, and the Liberální Institut, a Czech-based think tank born of the "Velvet Revolution," the program will focus on both U.S. and E.U. approaches to intellectual property protection, with particular focus on patents, standard setting, interoperability and "open" platforms in the software and IT sectors.

The conference will open with a morning keynote followed by two panel discussions. A luncheon keynote will be followed by two more panel discussions. The conference will conclude with a private reception.

Keynote speakers include:

• Dana Bérová, Minister of Informatics for the Czech Republic

• David Gross, U.S. Ambassador, Department of State

Featured speakers include:

• Karel Cada, President, Industrial Property Office

• Martin Campbell-Kelley, University of Warwick

• James DeLong, Senior Fellow with The Progress & Freedom Foundation and Director, PFF's Center for the Study of Digital Property

• Raymond Gifford, President, The Progress & Freedom Foundation

• Tom Lenard, Senior Fellow and Vice President for Research, The Progress & Freedom Foundation

• Jirí Matolín, Czech attorney

• Stephen McGibbon, Regional Technology Officer, Microsoft

• Meir Perez Pugatch, University of Haifa, IP Policy and Commercialisation of Knowledge Assets

• Guenther Schmalz, Director of Intellectual Property, SAP Europe

Recognizing that intellectual property is a central driver of the digital economy, "Intellectual Property and Innovation in the Digital World" will examine the nexus of innovation, creation and intellectual property protection in the digital world. The conference comes as the E.U. is reexamining its Lisbon Agenda for economic growth with its i2010 initiative, seizing on the digital revolution to revitalize the economies of European nation states and make the E.U. more competitive globally. And it comes as the U.S. and E.U. approach the conclusion of global trade talks in the Doha Round, in which intellectual property protection is a central component.

CERGE-EI is an economics department jointly established by Charles University in Prague and the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. It provides an American-style Ph.D. program in economics and conducts state-of-the-art research in theoretical and policy-related economics, with a particular emphasis on the transition to free markets and European integration. All courses are taught in English, and the Ph.D. degree from CERGE-EI is fully recognized in the United States.

The Liberální Institut is a non-governmental, non-partisan, non-profit think tank for the development, dissemination and application of classical liberal ideas and programs based on the principles of classical liberalism. Its focus is on the development of individual freedom, private ownership, free markets, and the rule of law. Those principles were adopted by the F.A. Hayek Club, which was formed during the "Velvet Revolution" in the fall of 1989. The F.A. Hayek Club officially became the Liberální Institut in February, 1990.

Those interested in attending Digital Europe 2006: Intellectual Property and Innovation in the Digital World should contact Brooke Emmerick of The Progress & Freedom Foundation at 202-289-8928 or bemmerick@pff.org.

 

Digital Europe 2006: Intellectual Property and Innovation in the Digital World by Raymond Gifford
Standards, Interoperability and Intellectual Property Rights by James DeLong
Issues in the Economics of Patents by Thomas Lenard

 

CERGE-EI
Politickych venznu 7
111 21 Prague 1
Czech Republic
17 January 2006