Publications

This month we look at the following topics:

• Is TRIPS Dead? Long Live IGWG? by Helen Disney and Dr. Meir P. Pugatch

• Microsoft Judgement Confirms New World Order in Competition Policy by Simon Moore

• Fighting the Fakes: Why Harry Potter`s Magic Doesn`t Work by Sukanya Natarajan

• Forthcoming Events

• News Flashes
  

In this paper, Professor Etro investigates recent research into industrial organization and proposes a new approach to antitrust issues. Focusing on the extent to which conditions within a market determine the entry of firms into it, the paper finds that technological constraints and demand conditions can change the way we understand market leader behaviour such as mergers, cartelisation, and other actions which affect the legal conception of antitrust. Accordingly, Etro finds that entry conditions should play a significant role in any antitrust investigation, and that, when entry into a market can be regarded as endogenous, spontaneous market forces can guarantee efficiency better than generous policy intervention.

The Autumn 2007 edition of the Eye on Europe is out now. This issue focuses on the British electoral race and the EU Constitution.

Although few people deny that European pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) pension systems are in crisis, reform debates seldom go beyond marginal changes. In European political debates privatisation and full funding are usually objected to both on economic and on moral grounds. This paper describes Chile`s privatised, funded system of old-age provision with the purpose of illustrating why personal retirement savings accounts are preferable to European pay-as-you-go systems in both regards. Chile is an excellent showcase not only because it represents the purest example of the move from the latter to the former, but also because it has been in place for long enough to provide a good evidence base.

The fourth edition of Climate of Opinion focuses on the liberalisation of Europe`s energy markets and contains the following articles:

• Commentary by Helen Davison
• European Energy at the Cross Roads by Barry Neville
• Ownership Unbundling: The Last Resort? by Bartlomiej Nowak
• Yesterday`s Energy Champions, Today`s Cheats by Paul Domjan
• Microclimates – Top Stories in Energy and Environment

This paper examines the approach of French competition authorities to the issues of dominant market position and access to intellectual property rights under the doctrine of `essential facility`. Taking three milestone rulings, the author argues that French competition authorities and courts have adopted the same cautious approach that generally prevails under European law concerning the use of the essential facility theory to oblige dominant companies to grant access to technology and information protected by intellectual property rights.

Edition 3.6 0f Know IP includes the following articles:

• The Patent Reform Act – Divided We Are, United We Stand’
  by Helen Disney and Dr. Meir P. Pugatch
• ‘Cause or Coincidence? Some Empirical Findings on the Link Between IP and Innovation’ by Kristian Niemietz
• ‘The Real Threat to European R & D’ by Alec van Gelder
• Book Review: Le Droit Français de la Concurrence, Aurelian Condomines by Dr Meir P. Pugatch
• New and Notable: ‘Stockholm Network Expert’s Series on IPRs and Competition – A Statistical Analysis of the Gowers Review’

This is the third edition of the Stockholm Network’s new energy and environment newsletter, Climate of Opinion.

This edition is dedicated to the aviation industry, and contains the following articles:

• Ready for take off? The inclusion of the aviation sector in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme by Arnoud Walrecht & Dr Jeroen Kruijd


• Emissions trading for the aviation industry by Philippe Rochat


• The Economic Case for Airport Expansion by Simon Baugh


• Top Stories in Energy and Environment: Microclimates
  
  

This paper uses statistical analysis to provide an insight into the submissions sent to the Gowers Review. It is an attempt to understand how the Gowers process reflects the IP climate in the UK, and whether Gowers made the best use of the nation’s IP expertise.The study investigates a number of areas, including the industries and groups who provided evidence to Gowers, how much use the submissions made of the “economic analysis” Gowers requested, and what use Gowers made of the advice he was given. We conclude that, despite the shortage of economic analysis in a large proportion of the submissions that were made, he still tended to follow the recommendations sent to him.

In March 2007 the Stockholm Network launched its new series on the political economy of health technology assessment (HTA).
We are delighted to enclose the second paper in the series, authored by Dr Meir Pugatch and Helen Davison, focusing on the historical, political and economic developments that have led to the creation of institutional HTA processes and bodies.