Michael Abramowicz on "Perfecting Patent Prizes".

CPTech is hosting a brown bag lunch seminar by Michael Abramowicz on "Perfecting Patent Prizes."

Who: George Washington University Law Professor Michael Abramowicz

What: Brown Bag Lunch on "Perfecting Patent Prizes"

When: 12:30-2:00pm on Tuesday, December 12th

Where: CPTech - 1621 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington DC 20009.

Details:

Several recent brown bag speakers have discussed the potential of using prizes in lieu of patents to promote medical innovation. While reaction to such proposals has been positive, some have expressed the concern that with innovation prize systems, "the devil is in the details." In this brown bag seminar, Michael Abramowicz, author of the lengthy article "Perfecting Patent Prizes (see link below)," will offer his views on sticky issues in the implementation of an innovation prize system. He argues that there is no perfect formula or algorithm for determining the size of prizes, but that a prize system is nonetheless worth pursuing because it could increase social welfare significantly by eliminating deadweight loss. Professor Abramowicz will present his proposals for implementing an innovation prize system and discuss what he considers to be the strengths and weakness of the system proposed in Senator-elect Bernie Sanders' Medical Innovation Prize Fund Act (H.R. 417).

Professor Abramowicz is a graduate of Yale Law School, where he served as executive editor of the Yale Law Journal. After graduating, he clerked for the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. He teaches and does research on intellectual property, and is published in journals including the California Law Review, Columbia Law Review, Iowa Law Review, Michigan Law Review, Stanford Law Review, UCLA Law
Review, University of Chicago Law Review, Vanderbilt Law Review, Yale Journal on Regulation, and Yale Law Journal.

Michael's presentation will be based on his 2003 paper:
"Perfecting Patent Prizes," Vanderbilt Law Review (56): 115.
http://www.law.gmu.edu/faculty/papers/wpDetail.php?wpID=120

If you would like to join us for Michael Abramowicz's brown bag seminar, please RSVP your name, title, organization and contact details to: ben.krohmal@cptech.org or 202.332.2670.

Benjamin Krohmal
Medical Innovation Fund Project Director
Consumer Project on Technology
Tel: +1-202-332-2670 ex. 14
Fax: +1-202-332-2673
ben.krohmal@cptech.org

Next Steps and Strategies on Bilateral Free Trade Agreements

The Consumer Project on Technology (CPTech) is hosting a post-
election brown bag lunch seminar and strategy session on "Next Steps
and Strategies on Bilateral Free Trade Agreements."

Date:  Thursday, November 16th, 2006.
Time:  12-1:30pm
Venue:  1621 Connecticut Avenue Suite 500, Washington, DC 20009

The session will feature brief presentations on the results of
previous FTA's, ongoing FTA negotiations, and possible future
directions by the following panelists:

Jamie Love of CPTech
Rob Weissman of Essential Action
Rohit Malpani of Oxfam
Gaelle Krikorian of CRESP,
Fabiana Jorge of MFJ international,
Asia Russell of Health GAP,
Brook Baker of Health GAP, and
Matthew Kavanagh of Global Justice

Following the presentations there will be general discussion and
coordination on strategies for addressing FTA's in light of the
results of the U.S. mid-term elections and the possible expiration of
TPA in July.

This will be an important session for those working on issues in
trade and access to medicine.

If you would like to join us for the FTA brown bag, please RSVP your
name, title, and organization to ben.krohmal@cptech.org or 202 332 2673.

Benjamin Krohmal
Medical Innovation Fund Project Director
Consumer Project on Technology
Tel: +1-202-332-2670 ex. 14
Fax: +1-202-332-2673
ben.krohmal@cptech.org