Suggested Questions for Consideration by the Panelists
Tuesday, November 16th
9:30 - 11:00
PANEL 1:
Intellectual Property Rights and Development:
The Historical Record
Moderator: Richard Nelson, Columbia University
Speakers: Hiroyuki Odagiri, Hitotsubashi University;
Akira Goto, Fair Trade Commission, Japan
1. How has IP traditionally affected different nations’ economic catch-up experiences, both in countries that lie at the frontier and in the developing world?
2. Are there significant differences in this “IP effect” across various technologies?
3. Looking forward, what does history suggest about the impact TRIPs will ultimately have on nations’ developmental efforts in the 21st century?
11:15 - 12:45
PANEL 2
TRIPs Deliberations and Negotiations:
A Review of Main Claims and Concerns
Moderator: Keith Maskus, University of Colorado
Speakers: Rochelle Dreyfuss, New York University Law School;
Graeme Dinwoodie, Oxford University
1. During TRIPs negotiations, to what extent were the interests of developing countries of primary concern? The interests of developed countries?
2. What claims—real or rhetorical—were made about the anticipated effects of TRIPs on developing countries, either during TRIPs negotiations or during post-agreement negotiations and debates?
3. Who was making them?
3:00 - 5:00
PANEL 3
TRIPs Implementation,
Current Debates, and Open Policy Choices
Moderator: Jerome Reichman, Duke University
Speakers: Antony Taubman, World Trade Organization;
Carolyn Deere, Oxford University;
Ken Shadlen, London School of Economics;
Jamie Love, Knowledge Ecology International;
Pedro Roffe, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development
1. How have different countries been changing their patent laws and institutions since TRIPs? What explains variation in implementation patterns?
2. What challenges and issues have arisen in the post-implementation phase?
3. How have bilateral pressures affected the implementation process?
4. What roles have the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and other international organizations played in the TRIPs implementation process?
5. What are the important TRIPs-implementation issues are currently on the table?
Wednesday, November 17th
9:15 - 10:45
PANEL 4
The Institutional Structure of
Patent Offices in Developing Countries
Moderator: Arti Rai, Duke University
Ana Celia Castro, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro;
Jorge Avila, National Institute of Industrial Property, Brazil
1. What do we know about the training, performance, and workplace incentives of patent examiners in India? In Brazil? Other jurisidictions?
2. Does this matter for thinking about the effects of TRIPs in these countries?
3. What are the roles of patent offices and examiners in TRIPs implementation?
4. What are the major challenges facing patent offices in developing countries? Are they similar or different to those facing patent offices in developed countries?
11:00 - 12:45
PANEL 5
The Impact of TRIPs in Pharmaceuticals
Moderator: Bhaven Sampat, Columbia University
Speakers: Chan Park, UNITAID;
Carlos Correa, University of Buenos Aires;
Tahir Amin, Initiative for Medicines, Access, and Knowledge;
Inder Singh, Clinton Foundation;
Manisha Desai, Eli Lilly and Co.
1. What effects did TRIPs have on developing-country patent laws affecting the pharmaceutical sector?
2. How (if at all) has TRIPs affected the strategies and activities of developed-country firms? How about developing-country firms?
3. Has TRIPs changed incentives for R&D, licensing, direct investment, and/or collaboration within this industry? (For developed-country firms? Developing-country firms?)
4. Has it affected access to medicines, or diffusion of technologies?
5. What are the most critical TRIPs-related patent policy issues in the pharmaceutical sector today, and looking forward?
2:00 - 3:15
PANEL 6
The Impact of TRIPs in Agriculture
and Agricultural Biotechnology
Moderator: Calestous Juma, Harvard University
Speakers: Phil Pardey, University of Minnesota;
Antony Taubman, World Trade Organization;
Brian Lowry, Monsanto Co.
1. What effects did TRIPs have on developing-country patent laws affecting the Agriculture and Agricultural Biotechnology sectors?
2. How (if at all) has TRIPs affected the strategies and activities of developed country firms? How about developing-country firms?
3. Has TRIPs changed incentives for R&D, licensing, direct investment, and/or collaboration within the Agriculture and Agricultural Biotechnology sectors? (For developed-country firms? Developing-country firms?)
4. Has it affected access to agricultural technologies, prices, or diffusion?
5. What are the most critical TRIPs-related patent policy issues in the Agriculture and Agricultural Biotechnology sectors today, and looking forward?
3:30 - 5:00
PANEL 7
The Impact of TRIPs in Software, IT, and Electronics
Moderator: Ashish Arora, Duke University
Speakers: Richard Wilder, Microsoft Corp.;
Mark Wu, Harvard Law School;
Daniel Gervais, Vanderbilt University;
Mishi Choudhari, Software Freedom Law Center, India
1. What effects did TRIPs have on developing-country patent laws affecting the Software, IT, and Electronics sectors?
2. How (if at all) has TRIPs affected the strategies and activities of developed-country firms? How about developing-country firms?
3. Has TRIPs changed incentives for R&D, licensing, direct investment, and/or collaboration within the Software, IT, and Electronics sectors? (For developed-country firms? Developing-country firms?)
4. Has it affected access to technologies or diffusion? The ability to copy and/or reverse engineer technologies?
5. What are the most critical TRIPs-related patent policy issues in the Software, IT, and Electronics sectors today, and looking forward?
5:00- 5:40
WRAP UP PANEL &
GENERAL OPEN DISCUSSION
Moderators: Richard Nelson, David Mowery
This session will highlight cross-industry differences and similarities in the effects of TRIPs, based on the discussions that took place during the industry panels. The moderators will lead off with their own reflections, before inviting more general audience discussion.
Thursday, November 18th
9:30 - 11:00
PANEL 8
TRIPs, Patents, and Climate Change
Moderator: Pedro Roffe, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD);
Speakers: Elizabeth Burleson, University of South Dakota;
James Bacchus, Greenberg Traurig LLP;
Bernice Lee, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House
1. How important are patents (and TRIPs-related changes in patent law in particular) in affecting innovation and diffusion of climate-related technologies?
2. Who is patenting what types of climate-related technologies since TRIPs? And why?
3. Are patents likely to play an important role in promoting technology transfer? Multinational cooperation?
11:15 - 1:00
PANEL 9
From TRIPs to Knowledge Governance
Moderator: Richard Nelson; Columbia University
Panelists: Fred Block, University of California, Davis;
Carolyn Deere, Oxford University;
Leonardo Burlamaqui, Ford Foundation;
Dominique Foray, Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne;
Jerome Reichman, Duke University;
Sunil Mani, Center for Development Studies
This panel will close the conference. Rather than one guided by a specific set of questions, the panelists will present their own views and research on “knowledge governance”, and discuss how IP issues fit into a research and policy agenda on knowledge governance more generally.