Dear Friends and Colleagues,
After a very successful Congress last year at the University of Tokyo, I am delighted that we will have the opportunity to gather again in person for the 42nd Congress at Luiss University in the beautiful city of Rome from 30 June to 3 July 2024.
This year, the Congress will explore how intellectual property laws and their enforcement need to be conceived and applied in order to foster ethical innovation and/or sustainability. In fact, increasing concerns for the environment, the respect of human values (e.g. dignity, free expression, privacy and diversity) and the quest for sustainable development have recently prompted a general reflection at national, European and International level on the effects of technology, and innovation more broadly, on present and future generations and the world we are (and will be) living in. Particular attention thus needs be devoted to the study of doctrines and principles which will ensure that non-economic values are taken into account in the innovation process, and which must therefore constitute the foundation of a fair and balanced IP framework.
The Congress will put an emphasis on the changing framework of the digital economy, in particular the rules that (will) apply to artificial intelligence-driven innovation, an area which is still in its early evolution. However, more traditional areas of creativity and innovation will be equally given space for closer scrutiny, with the aim to examine whether the social contract at the root of IP protection still holds true in the light of principles such as ethical innovation and sustainability principles.
ATRIP is extremely thankful to Luiss University and in particular its Rector Professor Andrea Prencipe and its Head of the Department of Law Professor Antonio Punzi for the support in hosting this year’s Congress. We are very much looking forward to seeing you soon in Rome!
Professor Christophe Geiger
ATRIP President (2022-2024)
