TILEC 5th Anniversary Conference: 14 April 2008

On 14 April 2008, TILEC will celebrate its 5th anniversary with a conference devoted to the Law and Economics of Innovation. Innovation is a theme that is central to TILEC's two main research lines: 'Institutions, Competition and Regulation' and 'Law and Finance'. In the opening lecture, Andrew McLaughlin (Head of Global Public Policy and Government Affairs, Google Inc.) will set out how an innovative firm manages its way through the web of national and international regulations. A first session on 'Competition and Innovation' (with speaker Suzanne Scotchmer, UC Berkeley and a leading legal academic still to be confirmed) will then focus on the interplay between innovation, intellectual property law and competition policy. In the afternoon, a session on 'Financing Innovation' (with speakers Mike Wright, Nottingham, and Bill Megginson, U of Oklahoma) will discuss the workings of the market for seed capital and the need for financial markets themselves to innovate. The day will be closed with a distinguished panel of academics, regulators and market players on 'Regulating Innovation?': How should market regulators and competition authorities react to market innovations? Can they stimulate innovation, or do they necessarily stand in the way? More details will be provided in the next newsletter; meanwhile, mark the date in your calendar!