FIDE (Legal and Business Research Foundation) and TIPSA (Transatlantic Intellectual Property Academy) join forces to organize a serial of digital encounters to be scheduled along the year 2020 around the topic “The role of IP in a new post-crisis world”. All online encounters are opened to any interested person and speakers have been selected among the most relevant IP scholars and professionals all over the world.

The situation we live in has highlighted and made unstoppable something that we already knew: we are heading towards a world in which intangible assets are going to be key in a society oriented towards artificial intelligence and the data economy, where Industry 4.0, Biotechnology and Biocomputing will be the keywords for the future. So, the question is served: if intangible assets are increasingly important, How is the Intellectual Property system duly equipped to respond to the needs of this new world?

In these meetings, TIPSA and Fide want to find some answers, through the debate and reflection of the IP community, led by the best international experts.

The Global Digital Encounters form an integral part of the solidarity projects run by both organizations to support the international, European, and national plans to overcome the sanitary and financial consequences of the COVID-19.

Director: Prof. Laurent MANDERIEUX, Adjunct Professor of Intellectual Property Law and International and European Law, Member of the Directorate Board, Bocconi University.
Academic Co-Director: Manuel DESANTES, University of Alicante
Coordinator: Javier FERNÁNDEZ-LASQUETTY, Elzaburu. Member of Fide’s Academic Council

Panelists of the 7th GDE:
Professor Sharon K. SANDEEN, Director of the IP Institute at Mitchell Hamline School of Law
Professor Nicolas BINCTIN, Professor of Law, University of Poitiers

Moderator: Javier FERNÁNDEZ-LASQUETTY, Partner at Elzaburu. Professor of IP Law. Member of Fide’s Academic Council

Objectives
Trade Secrets are among the most attractive, but also misused Intellectual Property Rights. The US has the lead in this IP area. After decades of hesitations, the European Union recently adopted a Directive that offers new opportunities to business, but at the same time is heavily criticized. Fascinating developments are also taking place in Eastern Asia. Also, WIPO is promoting efforts towards better harmonization in this field of IP. In a post-COVID Crisis environment marked by a profound transformation of business and company operations and commercial transactions, including a further digitalization of society, how will trade secrets will play an important role as business tools towards a new rebound, in an evolving business and social format? Which meanings might be expected from this evolution? Will the US and EU approach further evolve? Would there be space for diverse scenarios, such as further international harmonization? Speakers from Europe and the US will provide a worldwide picture of the fast-evolving Trade Secrets environment under a deeply transformed post-crisis environment and elaborate on possible future scenarios.

Schedule: The 7th Global Digital Encounter will be held from 16:30-17:30hrs (Madrid, CET) using the online platform Microsoft Teams.

Structure: The Global Digital Encounters will be organized where 50% of the available time will correspond to the presentation of the topic by one or several distinguished speakers, and the other 50% to questions from the audience and answers.

Registration: Participation is free but places are limited, therefore early registration is encouraged.
Please, link here

To go to the Global Digital Encounters’ website directly and the vídeos and reports of the past two encounters, please linke here