Who is shaping today's IP policies?

Abstract
The Anti-counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is currently being negotiated behind closed doors by a small group of like-minded countries. This presentation will examine the origins of the ACTA in the concerns about the burgeoning growth of the trade in infringing products and the adequacy of the TRIPS Agreement to deal with it. It will also consider the alleged role of terrorists and organised crime in this trade and will examine the phenomenon of plurilateralism, which is supplementing bilateralism in the remodelling of the international intellectual property landscape.
The patenting of stem cells is controversial within Europe as the Biotechnology Directive can be read in a number of ways. The United Kingdom introduced a practice defining limits within which patenting is possible. The presentation will look at how this policy was developed and set out the tensions within the European Patent Organisation.

Professor Michael Blakeney
Professor Michael Blakeney is a highly acclaimed academic, researcher and international consultant in the field of IPR protection and enforcement. Currently Herchel Smith Professor of Intellectual Property Law at Queen Mary, University of London and Director of the Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute, Mr Blakeney also holds a chair in Law at the University of Western Australia. Mr Blakeney is widely considered one of the world's leading legal experts on IP related subjects. Formerly he has been a staff member of WIPO and has acted as Director of the Asia-Pacific Intellectual Property Research Institute in Perth.
With his professional career spanning over more than 30 years, Prof. Blakeney has extensive relevant consultancy experience on legal analysis and training related to TRIPS, international and European IP agreements and IP enforcement through various technical co-operation projects in Africa, South-East Asia and Eastern Europe undertaken for the EC, as well as the EPO and Swiss IPI. He has lectured widely on TRIPS and designed a handbook on IP Curricula and Teaching Materials for ASEAN countries as an activity funded by the EC and the EPO under the ECAP II programme. His current research is in the fields of traditional knowledge and access to genetic resources and geographical indications.

Ron Marchant
Ron Marchant is the former Chief Executive of the UK Intellectual Property Office and has almost 40 years in IP policy and administration at national level and within the international framework of WIPO, the WTO and the European Union. Mr Marchant is one of the leading international advocates for a more balanced relationship between developed and developing countries in IP matters. As chairman of Group B+ and co-chair of its development workgroup in WIPO, he was first to engage fully with the “friends of development” and was instrumental in bringing the two camps closer, earning him a World Leadership Award.
After his prestigious career at UK IPO, Mr Marchant has shifted to private consultancy practice, undertaking assignments for WIPO, the European Commission and other clients. Most relevant to the project, Mr Marchant recently authored a WIPO guidebook for creating national IP strategies, targeted specifically for transition economies, following which he has acted as an advisor on IP policy and development of inter-agency national IP strategies in several of the Balkan states.

The presentation of approximately 45 minutes will be followed by a Q&A session and/or group discussion.

Participation is free of charge and a variety of sandwiches will be provided.

Due to limited number of seats we kindly ask you to confirm your participation by sending a short email by Friday, 12 March 2010 (to francois.rosse(at)wti.org).