Professor Arti Rai, "Innovation Policy: Theory and Practice"

This Thursday, March 24, Professor Arti Rai will deliver the Ninth Annual Meredith & Kip Frey Lecture in Intellectual Property. The lecture, titled "Innovation Policy: Theory and Practice," will take place at 12:15 p.m. in Room 3041 of the Law School. Professor Rai has a unique perspective on the subject, being both a leading scholar on science and innovation policy and someone who has just returned from service as Administrator of the Office of External Affairs at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. What insight does academic analysis throw on the operation of science policy? What can academics learn from the realities of the policy process? Professor Rai's lecture will offer some answers.

Please join us for this event, and feel free to forward this announcement to anyone who may be interested. We look forward to seeing you. Additional details are below.
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Professor Arti Rai, Elvin R. Latty Professor of Law at Duke Law School
                      
"Innovation Policy: Theory and Practice"
                      
Date: March 24, 2011
Time: 12:15 p.m.
Location: Duke Law School, Room 3041
Open to all
                      
In the last few years, academic commentators, Congress, and the Obama Administration have all embraced innovation as the key to achieving sustainable economic growth and addressing complex social problems.  Proposals across the political spectrum also recognize that government policy inevitably plays some role in spurring (or retarding) innovation.  In the U.S., however, there is no single agency that has both substantial power and innovation as its overriding mission. To the contrary, innovation emerges from regulatory regimes focused on other goals that are managed by a plethora of different agencies.  In this lecture, Professor Rai will draw upon her scholarship in the areas of intellectual property and administrative law, as well as her recent executive branch experience, to comment on the viability of achieving sustained and coordinated action across agencies.  Focusing on  examples such as commercialization of federally funded research and the patent/antitrust interface, she will argue that a strong White House presence is critical for achieving a coherent innovation policy framework.

This event is open to the public and will be webcast live at www.ustream.tv/DukeUniversity