[Patents] Re: IPR Symposium in

[Bernard Lang Bernard.Lang@inria.fr]

about the symposium on "Keytechnologies, Patents and Products"
which takes place in Munich from 17-18.11.99.
http://www.mariecurie.org/index.html?frame2=/src/meet/iprsymposium/index.htm

Dear Norbert,

I did not realize you subscribed to this list, which may shed a
different light on the conference, or simply show that the EPO is
annoyed with us.

  Being informed about the conference, I quickly (I am short on time)
glanced at the program to see in which way it would concern us.

  I realized that EPO was not the organizer but the Marie-Curie
Fellowship Association. Trying to be brief, I made some shortcuts,
possibly abusive (but you are co-chair).

 But my impression, perhaps wrong (I WOULD BE HAPPY TO BE DISPROVED),
was that there is a session on intellectual property which will
reflects exclusively the views of EPO, IP consultants and other
lawyers, who objectively have a vested interest in developing patents,
regardless of whether they are useful for technology, economy or
society.  I am used to having this community, and many heavily
lobbied bureaucrats, give a totally one-sided view of these issues,
while it is not at all clear that, in information technologies,
patenting always helps young companies, nor that it promotes faster
technological progress or better economic growth.  The web is one
proof of the opposite, and Linux another.

  Actually the situation may be extremely different in Biotechologies
and Information Technologies, for the simple reason that the
investments required both for the research and for bringing products
to market are on a totally different scale.  As far as I know, few
people have recently made biotech breakthrough in their basement.
Telling young scientists about the law is one thing. Telling them the
purpose and the justification for the law is another.

I read the call for submission. It does not ask for papers on
intellectual property, which does mean to me that the game is closed
on that side. So my question is: how balanced will your panel be.
Young scientist have an economic duty, certainly, but they also have a
duty to science and to society.

As I said, I would be happy to be disproved.

Cordialement

Bernard Lang
Directeur de recherche

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