ESA NSW Lunchtime Seminar Series
Date
From: Thursday September 12, 2013, 12:15 pm
To: Thursday September 12, 2013, 1:30 pm
Presenter: Benjamin Mitra-Kahn
Topic: Intellectual Property in the Economy
Time: 12:15 pm for 12.30 pm, Thursday 12th September 2013. Presentations usually conclude by 1.15 pm to 1.30 pm
Venue: Ground Floor East Seminar Room, Reserve Bank of Australia, 65 Martin Place, Sydney
Cost: Free, light refreshments provided
RSVP: Please respond to ecosocnsw@ecosoc.org.au
Abstract: There is a lot of heated discussion around intellectual property (IP), and even more polarised opinion as to whether the IP system is ‘brilliant’ or ‘terrible’. This presentation is intended as a step towards a data-driven discussion about IP – a discussion only starting in Australia. Although IP rights are relatively simple at their core, they have become increasingly important in the 21st century. Consumers produce copyright works every day, supply chains have globalised brands and production, and high-tech products represent thousands of patents in world markets. IP rights can incentivise or block innovation, and we need to go beyond case studies to see how the system as a whole impacts the economy. This presentation will introduce the economics of IP, and look at the issues for Australia, discussing: Apple’s successful $1bn defence of its design patent on a rounded edge; the impact of the patent mobile phone wars; and the significance of human gene patents to the Australian economy. Benjamin Mitra-Kahn is the Chief Economist at IP Australia. He took his Ph.D. in Economics at City University London where he also lectured in Applied Macroeconomics. He has previously worked as the Economic Advisor in the UK Intellectual Property Office, and written papers such as Copyright, Evidence and Lobbynomics: The World after the UK’s Hargreaves Review; Patent Backlogs, Inventories and Pendency: An International Framework, and a number of papers outside IP on economic history, economic growth and national accounting.Venue
RBA
65 Martin Place , Sydney NSW