Suchergebnisse

This work presents several different points of view regarding the role of environmental innovation as the driving force of public policy designed to promote sustainabilityand reduce environmental impacts. Environmental innovation is analyzed byexamining concrete practices such as sustainable design, green branding, eco-labeling, the use of medicinal plants, and improved plant varieties, among other things, and the individual and collective intellectual property rights that protect and promote these kinds of innovations. While this thematic diversity is directly proportional to the complexity of the author's presentation, it does not detract from the conceptual unity of the text. On the contrary, by examining the concepts as applied in a variety of contexts, the author highlights not only the challenges that must be faced in order to protect the general interest, but also proposes alternative solutions that promise to improve the structure, emphases, and priorities of these rights. This work represents the culmination of a valuable research project that benefited from the cumulative experience of the author and will be of great interest to scholars in the field, It is an important theoretical contribution to the formulation of strategies for environmental mitigation, adaptation, and recovery.

On December 2-4, 2012 the Sino-German Institute for Legal Studies and the Konrad-Adenauer- Foundation Shanghai jointly held an international symposium on "Patent Law and Innovation". The symposium follows a long term tradition of bringing together academics, practitioners and politicians to discuss current issues that have a high impact on society. One such issue is patent law: The government of the People's Republic of China ("China") seeks to gradually change its production dominated industry into one driven by innovation. Goods shall not only be made, but also be created in China. Therefore the Chinese government has designed different kinds of incentives to promote research and development: local governments could receive a bonus for the number of patents granted in their territory, corporate income tax could be reduced quite significantly when filing many patents, professors who acquire patents are more likely to win tenure, workers and students enhance their chances to earn a hukou. In conjunction with a low patent fee these measures have created an atmosphere that has actively encouraged patent application, which has in turn led to a sevenfold growth in patent filings at China`s State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) during the last decade.[.] ; On December 2-4, 2012 the Sino-German Institute for Legal Studies and the Konrad-Adenauer- Foundation Shanghai jointly held an international symposium on "Patent Law and Innovation". The symposium follows a long term tradition of bringing together academics, practitioners and politicians to discuss current issues that have a high impact on society. One such issue is patent law: The government of the People's Republic of China ("China") seeks to gradually change its production dominated industry into one driven by innovation. Goods shall not only be made, but also be created in China. Therefore the Chinese government has designed different kinds of incentives to promote research and development: local governments could receive a bonus for the number of patents granted in their territory, corporate income tax could be reduced quite significantly when filing many patents, professors who acquire patents are more likely to win tenure, workers and students enhance their chances to earn a hukou. In conjunction with a low patent fee these measures have created an atmosphere that has actively encouraged patent application, which has in turn led to a sevenfold growth in patent filings at China`s State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) during the last decade.[.]

Abstract
Human capital, access to markets, and innovation-friendly institutions were important preconditions for the acceleration of technological change during the industrial revolution. In this context, the recent literature discusses the role of patents. Given their dual nature, patents may have either stimulated innovation through the creation of financial incentives for inventors or they may have hampered innovation, because they created monopolies that restricted the free flow of knowledge. For this reason, the overall effects of patents on innovation and, eventually, long-run economic growth are not clear. In order to develop a better understanding of the determinants of innovation, this special issue of the Economic History Yearbook therefore focuses on the causes and consequences of patent laws and patent law reforms in the nineteenth and early twentieth century in different European countries.

According to Art. 3(3) of the Treaty on the European Union, the Community is working towards the sustainable development of Europe – this constitutes the overriding long-term goal of the European Union. The guiding principle of sustainable development aspires towards the reduced exploitation of natural resources aimed at their long-term preservation and a reduced pollutant burden for protected natural resources. The target for 2020 is that "chemicals are used and produced in ways that lead to the minimization of significant adverse effects on human health and the environment" ('Johannesburg goals'). In addition, the guiding principle pursues the safeguarding of the basis for survival and economic production in order to maintain an adequate quality of life. These aims can only be achieved by far-reaching changes to the economic and social structures and also to patterns of consumption and production – consequently innovations are required. This requires specific regulatory strategies – particularly for product or process innovations – in order to create adequate incentives so that actors from trade and industry get innovations for sustainability off the ground. In connection with this the question arises as to how nanomaterials are to be regulated so that the innovation processes linked to these substances are aligned with the guiding principle of sustainable development. Nanomaterials are substances in terms of the REACH Regulation and therefore fall within its scope. However, REACH does not contain any provisions directed specifically at nanomaterials. The regulatory omissions arising from this – no definition for nanomaterials; tonnage quantity thresholds may be inappropriate for nanoscale substances; transitional periods for existing substances (phase-in substances, Art. 23) also apply to certain nanomaterials; test procedures are not designed to nanomaterial specifications, etc. – are discussed in depth in the literature. This article takes a different perspective. It examines to what degree REACH promotes innovations for sustainability through nanomaterials. The question of how the regulation affects the manufacturers' approach to nanomaterials was the subject of a survey sent to companies which manufacture and/or use nanomaterials. The survey questioned 37 companies based in Germany. Besides the issues of registering for REACH and carrying out safety assessments, the main focus of interest was on the relationships between substance risks and innovation and between REACH and innovation. The findings obtained from the survey were augmented by telephone interviews on this subject and by the results of a workshop held in Darmstadt, Germany, in December 2011 with representatives from companies and industry associations and experts on the regulation of nanomaterials. Finally, this contribution refers to the results of a study carried out for the European Commission on the innovative effects of REACH on emerging technologies. This document summarises the most important results from the empirical data and, where the data permits, draws some preliminary conclusions for a possible adaptation of the legal framework for nanomaterials.

I Between the Dreamer and the Mandarin -- II Innovation as Learning -- III Innovation and Money -- IV Property Rights and Innovation -- V Intellectual Property and Information Theory -- VI Financing Information and Ideas -- VII Some Innovatory Initiatives -- VIII Creativity in Innovation and Law.

The paper considers how implementation strategies for the promotion of innovation implicate the forms of law in Western economies. Pursuing the example of computer software production, it traces the tension in the form of the law between liberalism and corporatism, property and administration, and rule and discretion. It examines developments in the law relating to copyright, proprietary information, trade practices, foreign investment, and government sponsorship and enterprise.