Last modified: Monday, October 27, 2008
Intellectual property issues are focus of Indiana Life Sciences Collaboration Conference event
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 27, 2008
EDITORS: A complete program schedule, links to the participants' biographies and parking information is available at https://www.kelley.iu.edu/cbls/conferences/conf2.html . Media interested in attending need to contact George Vlahakis of IU University Communications at 812-855-0846 or gvlahaki@indiana.edu.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Protecting investments in intellectual property developed at life sciences companies will be the focus of the second seminar in the 2008-09 Indiana Life Sciences Collaboration Conference Series at Cook Medical world headquarters in Bloomington on Friday, Nov. 14.
Faculty from the Indiana University School of Law--Bloomington and IU's Kelley School of Business will be joined by intellectual property attorneys from around the world and key executives at several companies, including Cook Group Inc., Eli Lilly & Co., Roche Diagnostics Operations, Inc. and Zimmer.
Rebecca S. Eisenberg, the Robert and Barbara Luciano Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School, will give the keynote address, "Protecting Innovation in the Life Sciences: U.S. and International Perspectives."
The conference, "Untangling Global Life Sciences Intellectual Property Issues," will help attendees explore many practical issues related to both U.S. and international intellectual property specific to the life sciences. It will take place from 8:50 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. at Cook Medical headquarters at 750 Daniels Way in Bloomington. The program has applied for CLE credit.
"Helping life sciences companies address their most pressing business problems is an important part of the Kelley School's outreach mission," said Dan Smith, dean of the Kelley School. "We are particularly excited about collaborating with the law school to help leaders better address the challenges related to intellectual property and how to protect and leverage their innovations, particularly in global markets. I am confident that participants will come away with many practical and immediately applicable ideas."
Lauren Robel, dean and the Val Nolan Professor in the IU School of Law-Bloomington, added, "Globalization and the knowledge economy combine to make intangible property both highly valuable and highly vulnerable. Indeed, for life sciences companies, their intellectual property is their greatest single asset. The protection of intellectual property in a globalized market is a core area of competency for our school, and we are delighted to join forces with the Kelley School and the industry on this timely conference."
This conference is sponsored by Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione, the IU School of Law-Bloomington and Cook Medical. The series financial sponsors include BioCrossroads, Baker & Daniels, Barnes & Thornburg LLP, Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione, Covidien Imaging Solutions, Gilson & Lione, Cook Medical, Deloitte Consulting LLP, Lilly, Ice Miller LLP, the Indiana Economic Development Corp., IU, the IU School of Law--Bloomington, the IU School of Medicine, Purdue and Zimmer. For a complete list of all sponsors, see https://www.kelley.indiana.edu/cbls/conferences/confsponsors.html. It is the ninth in a series that began in the fall of 2006.
Registration is available online at www.kelley.indiana.edu/cbls/conferences/confreg.html or by contacting Roxie Glaze at the Kelley School at 812-855-9210 or rglaze@indiana.edu. The registration fee is $50 for each conference.
Other events in the series and their themes are "Business Partnerships," Feb. 13, at Eli Lilly Headquarters in Indianapolis; and "Strategic Collaborations," May 14, at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
Robel, Dan Peterson, vice president of industry and government affairs at Cook Group Inc., and Dominic P. Zanfardino, an intellectual property attorney at Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione, will open the Nov. 14 conference.
They will be followed by a panel discussion, "What All Life Sciences Executives Should Know About Intellectual Property -- Basic Patent Protections to Patent Law in an International Context." Joining moderator Dean Robel will be Kevin Collins, associate professor of law; Yvonne Cripps, Harry T. Ice Professor of law; and D. Michael Young, vice president and chief intellectual property counsel at Roche Diagnostics Operations, Inc.
Zanfardino will moderate the second panel discussion, "Perspectives from Asia, Europe and the U.S.: A Multijurisdictional Panel." Joining him will be Jeffrey M. Duncan, U.S. patent attorney at Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione; Robert Jehan, a European patent attorney at the London-based firm Williams Powell; Shigeru Itoh, a Japanese patent attorney at Tokyo-based Itoh & Associates; and Yuanlin Shen, a Chinese patent attorney at Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione.
Following Eisenberg's speech at lunch will be the final panel discussion of the day, "Industry Viewpoints -- The Practical Aspects of Intellectual Property Opportunities and Challenges." Kevin Leffel, director of intellectual property at Cook Group Inc., will moderate. Other panelists will be Bob Armitage, senior vice president and general counsel at Eli Lilly & Co.; Mike Hiles, vice president of research and clinical affairs at Cook Biotech; and Joseph Topmiller, associate counsel at Zimmer, Inc.
In addition to organizing the workshop series, the CBLS operates a Web site at www.kelley.iu.edu/cbls that includes research studies by Kelley faculty, MBA students and industry professionals about various segments of life science industries and the challenges presented.
