Cato Events on IP and Trade Agreements

We are going to host two trade and IP events at Cato in January.  I'll remind everyone again after the holidays, but this is just to put it on your radar now.

The first one is on the Eli Lilly NAFTA Chapter 11 case, and will be on January 16.  Here are the details:

Patents, Public Health, and International Law: The Eli Lilly NAFTA Chapter 11 Case

 

Featuring Burcu Kilic, Legal Counsel, Public Citizen Global Access to Medicine Program; Christopher Sands, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute; and Mark Schultz, Associate Professor, Southern Illinois University School of Law, and Senior Scholar, Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property, George Mason University School of Law; moderated by Simon Lester, Trade Policy Analyst, Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies, Cato Institute.

 

In recent years, controversy has arisen over perceived conflicts between intellectual property protection and public health, and also over the role of international investment rules that allow corporations to sue governments before international tribunals. A new case combines both issues. Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly has filed a claim before a NAFTA tribunal, alleging that Canadian court decisions in response to challenges from the Canadian generic drug industry have unfairly invalidated some of the company’s Canadian patents. Eli Lilly has asked for CDN$500 million as compensation for the damages it has suffered. This forum assembles experts with different perspectives on the case to sort through the various intellectual property, public health, and international law issues involved: Is the “promise utility” doctrine relied on by the Canadian courts credible? Is public health undermined or helped by this shift, which will favor the generic drug industry? Is it appropriate for international tribunals to play a role here? Please join us for a spirited discussion.

Register here: http://www.cato.org/events/patents-public-health-international-law-eli-lilly-nafta-chapter-11-case

There will also be one on the TPP and IP, on January 21.   

Intellectual Property in the Trans-Pacific Partnership: National Interest or Corporate Handout?

Featuring Margot Kaminski, Executive Director, Information Society Project, Yale University; Tom Giovanetti, President, Institute for Policy Innovation; and K. William Watson, Trade Policy Analyst, Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies, Cato Institute; moderated by Simon Lester, Trade Policy Analyst, Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies, Cato Institute.

Intellectual property has been a focus of U.S. trade policy for many decades, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations include an especially ambitious effort by the United States to strengthen international intellectual property laws. At the same time, however, there is serious debate within the United States over the proper scope and level of intellectual property protection. Is it in the interests of the United States to seek to harmonize intellectual property rules around the world, or is the U.S. position overly influenced by special interests hoping to export bad policy abroad and to lock it in at home? Come hear our panel of experts discuss why trade agreements cover intellectual property law, whose interests are served, and what, if anything, should be done about it.

Register for the second one here: http://www.cato.org/events/intellectual-property-trans-pacific-partnership-national-interest-or-corporate-handout

And as usual, there will be a free lunch afterwards!