As published by Bloomberg
Professor Daryl Lim, director of the Center for Intellectual Property, Information Technology & Privacy Law at The John Marshall Law School, spoke at the International Legal Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia on May 18-21.
Organized under the auspices of the Russian Ministry of Justice, the International Legal Forum brings together heads of governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, the judiciary and leading law firms. Last year 3,500 people attended from over 80 countries, and the event was streamed live to 20,000 more.
This year’s speakers included the Russian Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, and law ministers from Austria, India and China. Academics included law professors from Cambridge, Harvard, Melbourne, Peking, Wisconsin and University College London. Also speaking was World Intellectual Property Organization Director General Francis Gurry.
Lim was invited by University College London and the Skolkovo Institute for Law and Development to participate in a lively discussion on the implications of globalization of food markets on competition and innovation.
He noted that “food security is an existential issue for all of us. Governments need to find sustainable solutions to ensure a stable supply of food to feed a hungry world. A key issue is finding the right balance between promoting innovation in agro-biotechnology on the one hand, and safeguarding the rights of farmers and consumers on the other.”
“There is a deep divide between developed and developing countries as to where that balance lies, and whether competition law is the right tool to effect industrial and social change. Much remains to be done, and venues like the Forum provide important opportunities to broker a consensus.”
Lim is considered one of the young leaders in the fields of antitrust and patent law. His book,Patent Misuse and Antitrust Law: Empirical, Doctrinal and Policy Perspectives, has been cited by lawyers in a recent U.S. Supreme Court case and lauded by many others, including the World Competition Law and Economics Review, a leading journal focusing on competition law. He has also written 15 articles and spoken at nearly 40 conferences.
John Marshall’s nationally ranked intellectual property program is one of 42 law schools in the country to participate in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Law School Clinic Certification Program. It is the only law school in Illinois whose USPTO program offers both patent and trademark legal services to independent inventors and small businesses on a pro bono basis.
With more than 50 specialized IP courses, John Marshall’s program draws students from around the U.S. and across the globe. It has partnered with IP lawyers in the People’s Republic of China for 20 years. It also conducts an ABA-approved summer program in China directed exclusively to IP issues.