The Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) Committee on Intellectual Property meeting on:
the Impact of Intellectual Property Rules on Consumers of Health Care Services

Program Agenda


DAY 1 Thursday October 31, 2002

8:30 am - 9:00 am - Registration & Coffee

9:00 am - 9:30 am - Welcome and Opening Remarks.

James Love, Consumer Project on Technology, US-co-chair, TACD IP committee. 
Machiel van der Velde, Consumentenbond, the Netherlands, EU co-chair, TACD IP Committee.
Rhoda Karpatkin, President Emeritus of Consumers Union of United States, member of the TACD Steering Committee.
Anna Fielder, Consumers International, London.
Ralph Nader

9:30am to 10:45am - PANEL 1:  Barriers to generic entry I

Moderator: Mark Silbergeld, Consumer Federation of America.

Rachel Cohen, Doctors without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières,MSF), Access to Generic Drugs in Developing Countries.
David Balto, White and Case (formerly with FTC), Anticompetitive conduct and use of intellectual property to block entry of generic products.
Robert Weissman, Essential Action, The Free Trade Area for the Americas (FTAA) and barriers to generic drugs.
Spring Gombe, HAI Europe, Barriers to generic entry in Eastern Europe.

10:45am to 11:00am    - Coffee Break

11:00 am to 12:15 - PANEL 2:  Barriers to generic entry II

Moderator: Pia Valota, Association of European Consumers.

Ben Peck, Public Citizen, Pediatric Exclusivity: a case study of barriers to generic entry in the US market.
Bill Haddad, CEO, Biogenerics., Inc., Views of generic drug industry
Asia Russell, Health Gap, Barriers to generic entry in developing countries

12:15pm to 2:00pm    -   Lunch in Area Restaurants (on your own)

2:00pm to 3:30pm - PANEL 3:  Genes, Biotechnology and New Technologies I

Moderator: Michelle Childs, UK Consumers Association.

Tim Hubbard, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Lessons from the Human Genome Project.
Jon Merz, Center for Bioethics, University of Pennsylvania, New medical technologies and the need for compulsory licensing in the United States.
Q. Todd Dickinson, former Director of the US Patent and Trademark Office and Undersecretary of Commerce, Co-Chair of the Intellectual Property Practice of Howrey, The benefits of strong patent protection in the development of new medical technologies.
Peter DiMauro, International Center for Technology Assessment (ICTA), The patents they told you they would never grant.

3:30pm to 3:45pm   Coffee Break

3:45pm to 5:15pm - PANEL 4:  Unfinished Work: WTO negotiations on paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration and the future WTO rules for the export of health care technologies without the permission of patent owners.

Moderator: Jean Halloran, Consumers Union.

Pedro Velasco Martins, Directorate-General for Trade, European Commission, The EU position in the WTO discussions on paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration.
Jeffrey L. Sturchio, Merck & Co., Inc, The R&D based pharmaceutical industry perspective on WTO rules on exports of health care technologies without the permission of patent owners.
Brook Baker, Health Gap, US NGO views on WTO discussions on rules for exports of health care technologies without the permission of patent owners.
Sisule Fredrick Musungu, South Center, Perspectives of developing countries on WTO rules for exports of health care technologies without the permission of patent owners.
James Love, Consumer Project on Technology, Restrictions on exports of medicine: irrational public policy, backdoor efforts to marginalize compulsory licensing, or Northern protectionism?


DAY 2 Friday, November 1, 2002

9:00am to 10:30am - PANEL 5:  Genes, Biotechnology and New Technologies: II

Moderator: Joshua D. Sarnoff, Washington College of Law, American University.

Gregory Aharonian, Internet Patent News/Bustpatents.com, New issues in patent quality and scope.
Warren Kaplan, Boston University Law School, formerly Assistant General Counsel for Intellectual Property at Biogen, The freedom to operate in genetic research: What is the evidence for an "anti-commons effect?
Robert Wells, Affymetrix, Should anyone own a gene?
George Brieger, Intellectual Property Program, George Washington University Law School, Washington, D.C., The research exception in patent law.

10:30 am to 10:45 am - Coffee Break

10:45 am to 12:15 pm - PANEL 6:  Global and Local Campaigns

Moderator: Janell Mayo Duncan, Legislative Counsel, Consumers Union

Professor Alan Sager, Boston University, Protecting consumers completely and rewarding drug makers fairly: A prescription drug peace treaty for the U.S.
Tom Myers, General Counsel, AIDS Healthcare Foundation: AZT/3TC/Abacavir patent lawsuit.
Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Are Patents the Most Efficient Way to Support Bio-Medical Research?
Dee Mahan, Families USA, States Addressing Rising Drug Costs.

12:15 pm to 2:00 pm    - Lunch in Area Restaurants (on your own)

2:00pm to 3:30pm - PANEL 7:  Is it time to negotiate an R&D Treaty?

Moderator: Charles Clift, UK Commission on Intellectual Property Rights.

James Orbinski, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) The need for a treaty to support R&D on drugs for neglected diseases
Tim Hubbard, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, The need for a global treaty to support research that enters the public domain.
Juan Rovira, the World Bank, A Trade framework for IPR, Equity Pricing and Market Segmentation.
James Love, CPTech, How to frame a global trade agreement that promotes R&D and does not undermine lower prices in countries with less ability to pay.
Ralph Nader, Trade Negotiations as if protecting the public health was the first priority.


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