Publications

In this issue of the Stockholm Network`s quarterly newsletter, Ukraine`s allegedly tainted elections are examined, member think tanks are profiled and James Surowiecki`s book The Wisdom of Crowds is reviewed.

In the third issue of Know IP the following topics are covered:
1) Software Patents in Europe
2) WTO GIs Dispute
3) IP, Generics and ARV Treatment
4) Singapore`s IP Regime

In this issue of Know IP the authors analyse the following issues:
1) Licensing, Developing Countries and IPRs
2) Design Protection and European Competitiveness
3) Bilateral Free Trade Agreements

A report by the Stockholm Network, The State of the Union, examines the progress of market-oriented reform in the EU member states, and at EU level, in 2004. Thirty authors contributed to this study, which seeks to understand the unique set of historical, cultural and social circumstances that have obstructed the path to reform in individual member states over the past twelve months.

These national differences have been at the core of the European Union’s failure to implement its Lisbon Agenda, for while the EU is publicly committed to reform, it is institutionally opposed to it. And while José Manuel Barroso’s Presidency of the European Union constitutes an unprecedented opportunity for economic reform in Europe, most of the true burden for reform lies with the member states. The state of the union in 2005 and beyond will depend less on Brussels, and more on the sum of its parts.

In the first ever issue of Know IP, the following issues are addressed:
1) The New Stockholm Network IP and Competition Programme
2) Microsoft and the Compulsory Licensing of IP
3) India`s New Patent Ordinance

Questioning the heavy-handedness of the British government, SN argues that concerns for public welfare may have taken on a Big Brother approach.

This issue also reviews Global Crises, Global Solutions by Bjorn Lomborg who asks: how can money be most efficiently spent in solving the ten greatest challenges facing the earth today?

Recent decades have seen an astounding change in the way we view healthcare. Medical innovation has brought new treatments for all sorts of diseases. But there is a dark side to the growth in demand for medicines. Counterfeiting of pharmaceuticals is now a global trade.

Conducted by a former policeman, this investigation into the trade in fake medicines and its links with organised crime uncovers a horrifying story. Across Europe, counterfeiters have discovered a range of easy routes for selling fake and sub-standard products into the legitimate distribution chain. A Sick Business shows how, to the uninitiated eye, this crime is invisible. Most patients and consumers are unaware just how many public safety problems counterfeit medicines may cause. It argues that this illegal business is conducted by unscrupulous people whose actions have already cost thousands of lives and may even be linked to terrorist activity – yet almost nothing is being done to stop it.

In its second issue, Eye on Europe focuses on the growing dependence on pills, and subsequently the counterfeiting businesses that have taken a free ride to reap the benefits. Additionally covered is health care reform in the Czech Republic as proposed by Pavel Hrobon, Tomas Julinek, and Tomas Machecek.
This issue also reviews A Right Nation by John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge.

Should companies be cheerleaders for capitalism or is the growth of corporate and social responsibility evidence of a new way of doing business and doing it better? Is it time for policymakers to be more aggressive with business failure?

A backlash is emerging too among those who think companies are becoming overly timid and apologetic. Too much of this risk aversion could be damaging, not just to profits, but to faith in capitalism itself. With books critical of global corporations topping best-seller lists across the world, how can corporations answer their critics – and should they even try?

An Apology for Capitalism? assembles leading thinkers to debate the limits of corporate and social responsibility. It questions whether corporations deserve the flak and asks if it is now time for them to embrace the business of saying sorry.

To order, please email info@stockholm-network.org

Do Europe’s politicians really understand what voters want from their healthcare systems? And how can they square the circle of rising demand, rising costs and shrinking tax funding?

To find out, the Stockholm Network and Populus commissioned a major study of the attitudes of European publics on the state of their health systems now and what they expect from them in future. Leading experts from across Europe analyse the data, putting it into its national and pan-European context.

Is ‘choice’ really a meaningful concept for patients? Will they pay more for healthcare and, if so, how? What do they think will happen if no reform takes place? If reform occurs, what should it look like and what are their priorities?

To order, please email info@stockholm-network.org