Asia Pacific Conference on Strategies for Building Competitive Software Industry
Grand Hyatt Hotel
Beijing, People's Republic of China
June 28-29, 2005

Software innovation drives information and communications technology which is the heart of a knowledge-based economy.  Within the software industry, debate continues about the roles of intellectual property, open source software and government policies on software.  An informed dialogue on different approaches to software development will cover a broad range of issues such as intellectual property rights, licensing, business models, commercialization, procurement, open standards, interoperability, public policy and role of industry.  A distinguished group of speakers and industry players from Asia Pacific and overseas will gather in Beijing, China for a balanced and thoughtful discussion on these issues.

Agenda 
Conference Packet (Background, Hotels, and Agenda) (PDF, 1.4MB) 
Press Release

Discussion Forum: EU Computer Implemented Inventions
May 18, 2005

One of the most contentious intellectual property issues currently being debated is whether the European Union should adopt a new Directive concerning the patentability of Computer Implemented Inventions (CIIs).  While many organizations have begun information campaigns against the proposed Directive,  this Discussion Forum has been created to counter these efforts and provide a more balanced view on the various issues surrounding the EU CII Directive.

EU CII Discussion Forum
Press Release

IIPI Congressional Roundtable on Copyright Issues
House Caucus on Intellectual Property Event
July 8, 2004

The House Caucus on Intellectual Property hosted a luncheon roundtable which centered on the effects of software piracy on both US software companies of all sizes and the relationship between software copyright enforcement and foreign direct investment abroad. Fifteen Members of Congress attended this lunch discussion.

Agenda and Speaker Biographies
Press Release

IIPI Report:  Intellectual Property in the Indian Software Industry - Past Role and Future Need
By: Stanley Nollen
June 2004

This report investigates the Indian software industry and assesses the role of intellectual property creation and protection in its growth and development.  The analysis is based on several sources of statistical data; published articles, books, and cases; and personal interviews among Indian software company managers and legal practitioners.  The report finds that the Indian software industry has created very little new and valuable intellectual property and that patent nor copyright protection was important to Indian software companies in the past.  However, the rate of patenting and copyrighting activity has accelerated dramatically in the last two years.  In the future, Indian software companies will shift toward higher value-added and more complex software services that will require more advanced technology, more skilled labor, and more managerial and marketing skill.  To succeed in this strategic transition, the companies will need to create new and valuable intellectual property, which will be both innovative and reusable. This implies a more important role for patents and copyrights than in the past, and accordingly a requirement for stronger intellectual property creation.

Report (PDF, 426KB)

International Conference on Strategies for Building Software Industries in Developing Countries
East-West Center, University of Hawai ‘i at Manoa
Honolulu, Hawai'i
May 19-21, 2004

The growth of a strong software industry is viewed by many developing country policy makers as an essential element in their road to development. Developing countries and aid agencies have thus invested heavily in support of building domestic software industries, particularly by investing in education and technology adoption.

While the various measures and programs developing countries have instituted are meant to promote the growth of domestic software companies, they may also have long-term negative effects upon their software industry. Without careful and enlightened policies, the well-intentioned efforts of some developing country governments may stunt the growth of their software companies and in the end do more harm than good.

Strategies for Building Software Industries in Developing Countries will bring together experts and software industry professionals from around the world to identify, discuss and debate the various policy options governments have to cultivate their software industries and what strategies software companies can employ to ensure success in the international market place.

Agenda, Biographies and Materials
Conference Summary
Press Release

World Intellectual Property Day
April 28, 2004
Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC

The International Intellectual Property Institute (IIPI) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) co-hosted a luncheon for Members of Congress and their staff on Wednesday, April 28, 2004, to mark World Intellectual Property Day. A series of international events, World Intellectual Property Day celebrates the significance of creativity and innovation in people's daily lives. The theme of this year's local event was "Protecting America's Creativity Around the World".

Speakers at the event included: Jon W. Dudas, Acting Undersecretary of Commerce and Acting Director of the USPTO; Nick Taylor, President of the Authors Guild, best-selling author who wrote Laser: The Inventor, the Nobel Laureate, and the Thirty-year Patent War; and Peter C. Schultz, Ph.D., the co-developer of the world's first practical glass optical fiber for communications and the co-inventor of the fiber optics now used worldwide for telecommunications.

Agenda, Speaker Biographies and Materials
Press Release

Digital Commerce in Copyrighted Works: Where is the World Going?
Speech by Hon. Bruce Lehman
Berlin, Germany
September 2002

There is a lack of digital copyright protection leaving the world vulnerable to theft and abuse of digital material. There are three reasons for this; 1) our culture no longer respects the rights of the author, 2) there is always a way to circumvent technological locks and 3) there is no universal guidelines for the protection of digital copyrights.

Speech (PDF, 274KB)

International Workshop:  Intellectual Property Law and the Networked Economy
Sao Paulo, Brazil
March 2002

This policy forum brings together some 120 leading Brazilian and American technologists, business people, government policymakers, lawyers, and academics to discuss various copyright and trademark issues pertaining to internet economy.

Agenda and Summary
Press Release

The Leadership of the USA on Business Method Patenting
Speech by Hon. Bruce Lehman
Paris, France
March 2001

After the 1998 Federal Court of Appeals decision in State Street Bank and Trust Company vs. Signature Financial Group stating that business methods cannot be patented due to the fact that they are subject matter. Therefore if companies do not define their patent application broadly enough to protect themselves they can be locked out of producing in certain countries if someone else has “invented” it first. This leads to the necessity for a company to develop a comprehensive intellectual property program to protect its inventions.

Speech (PDF, 192KB)

Multimedia - Problems for the Future
Speech by Bruce A. Lehman
Monte Carlo, Monaco
September 1999

Laws protecting multimedia sources are still in the early stages of development, despite the rapid advancements over the past years. The first law specifically for multimedia came in 1980 when amendments were added to copyrights laws for computer programs. During the first Clinton Administration a taskforce was put together specifically to deal with an information infrastructure. Many countries around the world and many international treaties, such as those administered by WIPO, have also added laws and sections concerning the protection of multimedia sources.

Speech (PDF, 171KB)