epoline?: assigning a new role to patents for the European economy

Munich/The Hague: The first Annual Conference of epoline? will take place in Nice, France, on 3-5 December 2002. It will provide up to date information on the latest key developments in patent-related e-business.

The conference will be formally opened with a joint press conference by Mr. Daniel Hangard, Director General of the National Intellectual Property Institute (INPI), and Mr. Ingo Kober, President of the European Patent Office (EPO).
The focal point of the Conference is the opportunity for participants to use epoline® products and services in workshops. For that purpose, the EPO has set up an interactive infrastructure with more than 200 computers at the Conference venue in Nice that allows hands-on training onsite.
Moreover, the Conference offers insight on the value of the patenting process for the European economy. Fourteen expert speakers will examine this topic from different angles ranging from macro-economic considerations to patent portfolio analysis and litigation.
The challenging key note speeches given at this Conference will also include a presentation on "Creating an efficient market in ideas", by Mr. Ciarán McGinley, Director at the EPO. Mr McGinley will demonstrate how the patent system has the potential to be to the economy of the 21st century, in a way that the telephone network was in the 20th century.
On a different point Mr. Pierre Breese, a lawyer with Breese-Majerowicz, France, will present the principal methods for the financial evaluation of intellectual capital and of patent portfolios ("patent pools"). He will also deal with the establishment of periodic indicators for the financial management of patent portfolios.
A Conference highlight may be expected from Mr. Jonas Ridderstrale, a Swedish economist from Funky Business, who will illustrate how Talent Makes ,Capital Dance.
The renowned US economist Mr. Baruch Lev will focus on the role that public institutions such as the EPO will have to play in advancing the use of patents by the private sector, and what needs to be done to maintain the economic value of the patent.

Invitation for journalists:
The epoline® Press Conference will be on Tuesday 3 December, 11.00 hrs at Room Maia, Nice Acropolis
Speakers are:
Mr Daniel Hangard, Director General, ,Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle, Paris
Mr Ingo Kober, President , European Patent Office
Mr John Bambridge, Director of epoline®, European Patent Office
,All journalists are kindly invited to attend. ,Information and registration online for the Press: ,http://www.isc-europe.com/epoline
Contact:,Constantin Kapsouropoulos,ISC ,Tel [phone],Fax [phone],[e-mail],http://www.isc-europe.com/epoline
,NOTES TO EDITOR:
The key speakers for the event are as follows:
Dr. Ingo Kober -President, European Patent Office,After completing his legal studies, Ingo Kober began his professional career in 1972 as judge and public prosecutor in Mannheim and Tauberbischofsheim. In 1975 he moved to the Federal German Ministry of Justice (MoJ), where he served until 1982. He then worked for a short time as chief legal policy adviser before returning to the MoJ in November 1982 as head of its "Cabinet and Parliamentary Affairs" department. Subsequently he took charge of personnel and organization (1985), then of overall administration at the MoJ (1986). ,In January 1991 Ingo Kober was appointed state secretary at the MoJ, a position he held until taking over as President of the European Patent Office in January 1996. He was elected to the EPO presidency in December 1994 by the member states that make up the European Patent Organizations Administrative Council, on which he served as head of the German delegation from 1987 to 1991. , ,Daniel Hangard - President of the National Institute of Industrial Property, France,Born in 1946, Daniel Hangard is a graduate of the Ecole Nationale dAdministration (ENA) (thesis on François Rabelais, 1973) and the Ecole Nationale de Sciences Po Paris, with a degree in economics. His previous posts include head of department at the Government Secretariat General, head of division at the Ministry of Culture, and, at the Ministry of Industry, assistant director of personnel and assistant to the Director General of Administration and Finance. ,In May 1994 he was appointed Director General of the French Patent Office (INPI). He has been involved in training (ENA, Ecole des Mines, Institut international d'administration publique, Paris II university) throughout his career and has represented the French government and the UN Secretariat General on missions., ,John Bambridge- European Patent Office, Director epoline®,Having graduated from Imperial College, London, where he read Mathematics, John joined the European Patent Office in 1981. After three years as a search examiner in The Hague and two years as a substantive examiner in Munich, John moved to Information Services to set up the helpdesk for examiners. In 1990, he joined the Controlling Office within the EPO, where he was responsible for the control of Automatic Expenditure and Planning. Since 1996 he has been responsible for managing internal projects such as PHOENIX. He now leads the epoline® initiative.
Ciarán McGinley - European Patent Office,Ciarán McGinley joined the EPO as an examiner in 1982 after graduating from Bristol University in England with a BSc in Aeronautical Engineering. ,In 1999, after taking a sabbatical year in Paris to do an MBA (HEC-ISA), he returned as director to the RSS (Receiving Section and SIS Units). ,In 2002, following extensive research into the strategic role of patents in the knowledge economy, he co-authored the paper "Creating an efficient market in ideas". , ,Pierre Breese- Cabinet Breese Majerowicz, France,Pierre Breese, physicist and lawyer, runs Breese-Majerowicz, a firm of IP lawyers. A specialist in the field of telecommunications and the Internet, he teaches at the ENST graduate engineering school and the HEC business school. He is the author of publications on online payment and IP strategies, and has written a legal guide to e-commerce and the Internet. Pierre Breese is actively involved in the issues of the patentability of software, the "economy of the immaterial", and patents and standards. He also runs a knowledge-management working group (http://www.breese.fr )., ,Dr. Jonas Ridderstråle Funky Business, Sweden,Dr. Jonas Ridderstråle is at the forefront of a new generation of European-based business gurus. Jonas' uncompromising, imaginative and decidedly funky take on contemporary business life has made him one of today's most sought-after speakers. Jonas Ridderstråle is an assistant professor at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Leadership at the Stockholm School of Economics. Jonas has a doctorate and an MBA from the same school. His research focuses on new organizational models and leadership styles in the information age and has been published in leading academic journals, magazines and newspapers. He has also run the School's Advanced Management Program, a five-week top-management programme that attracts the elite of Scandinavian business leaders. Jonas was recently recognized as Sweden's outstanding young academic of the year. His latest book, "Funky Business: Talent Makes Capital Dance" is a manifesto for the new world of business., ,Prof. Dr. Baruch Lev USA,1970 - 1986: Practicing public accountant (five years), consultant to industrial firms and banks in Israel and in Europe; member of boards of directors; consultant to the Israeli Finance Minister on government-owned corporations; member of various public committees on economic and social issues. 1983 - 1984: Bank Hapoalim (Israel's largest bank), in charge of investment banking activities. ,1986 - to date: Consultant to banks and industrial firms on finance, corporate governance, and accounting issues; expert witness in litigations concerning shareholder lawsuits, mergers and acquisitions, financial fraud and misrepresentation, damage assessment, and other economic, finance and accounting issues. Recent professional focus: valuation of intellectual capital.
1970 - To date: Member: American Finance Association, American Economic Association, and American Accounting Association.,

Countries

France