[Ecommerce] 19 April: Patents for Poets and Policy Wonks

[James Love]

Patents for Poets and Policy Wonks

Tuesday 19 April, 2005

Venue:  Washington Plaza Hotel, 10 Thomas Circle NW

9.00 =09Introduction: Felix Cohen and Ed Mierzwinski, (TACD Steering
Committee)

9.15 =96 9.50=09Opening comments by US government and European Commission
    Jens Gaster, DG Internal Market, European Commission
    Paul Salmon/ Michael Shapiro, US Patent and Trademark Office

9:50=96 10.15=09What is a patent?
   Josh Sarnoff, American University, Washington College of Law

10.15-11.00  =09What should be patented?
Moderator =96 Anna Fielder, Consumers International
   Medicines =96 Sarah Lenz Lock, AARP
   Life forms - Michael Hansen, Consumers Union
   Methods of business and finance =96 Phil Evans, Which?

11.00-11.15=09Break

11.15-12.30=09What should be patented?  (continued)
Moderator =96 Karel Pavlik (Czech consumer organisation SOS)
    Software - Cornelia Kutterer, BEUC (European Consumers Organisation)
    Education and teaching =96 Manon Ress, Consumer Project on Technology
    USPTO, TBC

12.30-1.30=09Lunch

1.30-3.00=09Patents on standards:  What is the reform agenda?
Moderator =96 Machiel van der Velde (Consumentenbond =96 NL)
    Brian Kahin, University of Michigan
    Michael R. Nelson, Vice President for Policy, Internet Society
    Daniel Weitzner, World Wide Web Consortium
    James Love, CPTech
Issues to discuss: Ideas on patents and standards, Ideas on essential
interfaces

3.00-3.15=09Break

3.15-4.45=09Five miscellaneous policy wonk questions
Moderator =96 Rhoda Karpatkin =96( President Emeritus of Consumers Union)
    Rama Rao, World Intellectual Property Organisation
    Mark Silbergeld, Consumer Federation of America
    Brian Kahin, University of Michigan
    Stephen Merrill, National Academy of Sciences
    Michelle Childs, CPTech

1.  What is patent quality, and why is bad patent quality important to
consumers?
2.  What type of research exceptions are needed?
3.  Should governments formally recognize humanitarian exceptions to
patent rights?
4.  How much can patents differ by field of technology?
5.  What is the future of patent harmonization?

4:15 to 5:00   -   Open discussion and next steps, chaired by Machiel
van der Velde  and James Love (co-chairs of TACD=92s IP Working Group)

--
James Love, Consumer Project on Technology, http://www.cptech.org,
mailto:love@cptech.org

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