Publications

This groundbreaking survey of attitudes toward the environment has been launched by the Stockholm Network in November. Poll findings include:
- 94% of people say that protecting the environment is important for the UK.
- However, the public strongly feels that Government action in tackling threats to the environment is ineffective. Just 8% rate the effectiveness of national governments on this issue and only 11% think that international treaties on the environment, such as Kyoto, are effective.
- There is a clear lack of trust in the Government's stance on the environment (credibility rating of -15%). 72% trust scientists.
- Just 10% of respondents believe that protecting the environment should be Government's main focus.
- People feel actions by businesses are the most effective (40%) way of combating threats to the environment.
- 73% believe UK businesses should be forced to tackle climate change, although roughly the same amount (62%) believe that environme

Does the West Know Best?, the book resulting from a Stockholm Network CNE conference in February 2005, is reviewed and the Westminster Fringe debate, with the motion "Prosperity, not environmentalism, is the best way to save the planet" is summarised.

In this issue of Know IP the following issues are covered:
1) The Current State of the TRIPS Agreement
2) Linguistics and the CII Directive
3) SMEs, IPRs and Scale Neutrality

In this issue of Know IP the following issues are addressed:
1) The European Constitution and IPRs
2) Enforcing IPRs Globally
3) The Grokster Case

Accession of the Central and Eastern European states has provided impetus for a fundamental re-evaluation of Europe’s economic and social model. New member states were forced to introduce radical reforms to tackle the deep-seated problems of the welfare state and in so doing have challenged the orthodoxy of Western European systems. With the west now facing the impending crises of an aging population, unsustainable healthcare systems, and the prospect of sustained weak economic growth, the question remains: Should ‘old Europe’ mimic the reforms of its newest partners? Indeed, does ‘old Europe’ have a choice but to reform?

Does the West Know Best? assembles leading thinkers from both eastern and western Europe to examine whether the EU-15 can learn from some of the new member states’ more radical approaches to social and economic reform. It questions the sustainability of the European economic and social model, while seeking solutions to its endemic problems

It is often assumed that there is a wide gap between eastern and western Europe, not just geographically, but also when it comes to the state of their healthcare systems.

Slovakia, Poland and Hungary all emerged from the yoke of communism with state-run, state-funded systems that were highly bureaucratic, mismanaged and often corrupt. Many citizens could only get access to helathcare by bribing physicians - and some still do today. The systems were also largely underfunded, especially in comparison with other EU nations. But how have these countries fared since the fall of the Berlin Wall, and what do their attitudes tell us about the prospects for reform today?

Poles Apart? sets out to examine whether this perception is really true by asking the opinions of 3,000 central and eastern Europeans and comparing them with their counterparts in the rest of the EU

In this issue of Know IP the following topics are addressed:
1) Interoperability
2) IPRs and SMEs
3) Patents, Tying Agreement and Market Power
4) Protecting 21st Century Know-how

The Stockholm Network discusses the future of health care in Europe, polling eight of the EU countries on issues of sustainabilty and reform.
The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz is reviewed.

In this issue of Know IP the authors look at the following issues:
1) IP Debates Throughout History
2) Market Leaders and Industrial Policy
3) Humane Gene Patenting

In this issue of Know IP the following issues are addressed:
1) European Patent Harmonisation
2) New Technology- Based Firms
3) Pharmaceutical IPRs in Europe