Intellectual property and the future of the data economy at the heart of the 19th Annual Conference of the EPIP (European Policy for Intellectual Property) Association, organized by Scuola Sant’Anna and University of Pisa from 11th to 13th September

“Intellectual Property and the Future of the Data Economy” is the overarching theme of the 19th annual conference of the EPIP (European Policy for Intellectual Property) Association, organized by the Sant'Anna School, in cooperation with the University of Pisa. The EPIP 2024 Organizing Committee features Caterina Sganga (EPIP 2024 Chair, DIRPOLIS - Law, Politics, Development- Institute, Sant’Anna School), Arianna Martinelli and Alessandro Nuvolari (Istitute of Economics, Sant’Anna School), Alberto Di Minin (Istitute of Management, Sant’Anna School) and Ilaria Kutufà (Department of Law, University of Pisa).The conference will take place from Wednesday 11 September to Friday 13 September at various venues of the two universities. The opening is set for Wednesday 11 September, from 9 to 9.30 am at the Aula Magna Nuova of the University of Pisa's Palazzo della Sapienza, with the participation of Sant'Anna School’s Rector Sabina Nuti and University of Pisa’s Rector Riccardo Zucchi, the Mayor of Pisa Michele Conti, EPIP President Justyna Ożegalska-Trybalska, Unione Industriale Pisana’s President Andrea Madonna, and SIAE’s President Salvatore Nastasi (online). 

The 19th Annual Conference of the EPIP Association brings together academics from the fields of intellectual property economics, law and management, along with judges, representatives of European institutions (European Commission, European Parliament, European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO)), the European Patent Office (EPO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Italian, European and U.S. patent and trademark offices, and industry and professions. About 300 participants from all over the world are expected in Pisa, making the conference an interdisciplinary and inclusive scientific event.

The overarching theme of the conference is the “trait d'union” of the papers presented in ten panels, often together with issues related to artificial intelligence and digital platforms. In addition, six sessions are devoted to different aspects of the relationship between intellectual property and sustainability, while nine focus on balancing intellectual property and conflicting public and private interests, especially in the face of new global challenges. Other panels address topics such as the relationship between science, innovation and patents; technology standardization; the geography of innovation; litigation and patenting strategies; author remuneration and copyright market failures; issues on the path from invention to innovation (technology transfer, funding and investment); mobility and export; and open innovation and open science.

The conference is preceded on Tuesday 10 September by a PhD workshop and the Global Annual Meeting of Chief Economists at patent and trademark offices, organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization. During the conference, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies hosts two keynote speakers (Matthias Leistner, LMU Munich; Aija Leiponen, Cornell University), seven roundtables and 43 parallel sessions, including two sponsored by the World Intellectual Property Organization, with more than 200 presentations of papers selected on a competitive basis.

The seven roundtables will feature a wide range of topics and speakers, such as.

• Friday 13 September, 9 am: “EPIP meets policymakers” - with Brando Benifei (MEP, S&D, Rapporteur on the AI Act), Kamil Kiljanski (European Commission - Head of Unit, DG GROW C.4 Intangible Economy), Sharon Israel (Chief Policy Officer, USPTO), Rita Wezenbeek (European Commission – Director, DG CNECT F Platforms Policy and Enforcement).
• Friday 13 September, 10.15am: "The role of judiciary in front of the challenges of new technologies - with Lord Justice Richard Arnold (Court of Appeal of England and Wales), Maria José Costeira (EU General Court), Zane Petersone (Supreme Court of Latvia), Ingeborg Simonsson (European Unified Patent Court).
• Thursday 12 September, 9.45am: “Views from economists at IP offices” - with Carsten Fink (WIPO), Nathan Wajsman (EUIPO), Brent Lutes (US Copyright Office), Andrew Toole (USPTO), Emilie Gallois (INPI France), Bernard Ong (IP Office Singapore).
• Thursday 12 September, 5 pm: “Blurred lines: data ownership, data governance and intellectual property rights” - with Martin Kretschmer (University of Glasgow), Niva Elkin-Koren (Tel-Aviv University), Maria Savona (University of Sussex and LUISS), Luis Aguiar (University of Zurich).
• Friday 13 September, 11.45 am: “Geographical indications between competitiveness and sustainability” - with Marcus Hopperger (WIPO), Katarina Kompari (EUIPO), Dev Gangjee (University of Oxford), Raffaella Alia (Marchesi Antinori), Flavio Innocenzi (Consorzio Asiago).
• Wednesday 11 September, 4.20 pm: “EPIP meets local innovators,” sponsored byUnione Industriale Pisana, with Riccardo Apreda (Erre Quadro), Paolo Bacci (Paolino Bacci), Gisella di Domizio (Dumarey Flowmotion Technologies).
• Friday 13 September, 11.45am: “UPC litigation scenarios,” sponsored by Società Italiana Brevetti, with Mario Pozzi and Davide Rondano (SIB), Stefano Baracco (Piaggio) and Federica Canu (ENEL).

At the gala dinner on Thursday 12 September, which will take place on Ponte di Mezzo in downtown Pisa, the EPIP Young Scholar Awards 2024 will be conferred to the two best law and economics / management papers presented by doctoral students during the conference.