Protecting new inventions is vital, everyone agrees – but most also agree that the system that has evolved is in need of serious overhaul.

The current international patent process is complex and costly. New technologies – stem cells, software, the Internet – raise legal quandaries that the patent authorities are only gradually resolving. The current economic crisis adds new urgency.

There is a need for more IP cooperation at an international level, as initiated by the five large offices around the world (EPO, USPTO, JPO, SIPO and KPO). So what’s the best way forward?

That is the subject of an exclusive Science|Business Policy Bridge meeting with Alison Brimelow, the EPO president and a leading force in the future evolution of our intellectual property regime.

Who should attend

• IP lawyers and consultants
• Corporate R&D and public affairs executives interested in European intellectual property regulation
• University administrators and principal investigators
• Nation al delegations, and third-country representatives

A working lunch with the president of the European Patent Office - part of the ScienceBusiness Policy Bridge series.

REGISTER HERE

Featuring: Alison Brimelow, President, European Patent Office

21 April 2009, 11:30 to 14:30 1000 Brussels, 17 rue Archimède

Hosted by the Mission of Norway to the European Union