This conference aims to look at the relationship between intellectual property and its physical materialisations, with a particular focus on the issue of access and the challenges of new technologies. Though intellectual property protects the intangible, it is indisputable that intellectual property goods classically had to be physically materialised in order to been joyed or used. This materialisation can, however, challenge our theoretical notion of the intangible and the tangible as constituting discrete forms of property and can have serious consequences on access to intellectual property goods. Our aim is to address the divide between the intangible and the tangible from the perspective of issues of access and problems relating to new technologies.

Programme

Friday, 23 January

08.30 – 09.00 Registration and Coffee
09.00 – 09.15 Welcome Address, FELIX BOMMER, Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Lucerne

09.15 – 09.30 Introduction, JESSICA C. LAI AND ANTOINETTE MAGET DOMINICÉ

09.30 – 11.00 Panel 1: Theoretical Reflections on the Im/material Divide
Chair: VAIOS KARAVAS, Professor of Law, University of Lucerne

• MIKE MADISON, Professor of Law, University of Pittsburgh, Access as Knowledge Commons
• ALAIN POTTAGE, Professor of Law, London School of Economics, Meaning and Embodiment: The Case of the LEGO Block
• DAN BURK, Chancellor’s Professor of Law, University of California, Irvine, Copyright and the New Materialism

11.00 – 11.30 Coffee Break

11.30 – 13.00 Panel 2: Challenges Posed by Digital Technologies
Chair: GREGOR WILD, Lecturer, University of Lucerne

• PETER YU, Kern Family Chair in Intellectual Property Law, Drake University, The Copy in Copyright
• MARTIN KORRODI, PhD Candidate, University of Lucerne, Immaterialities in Property Law and Art
• GIORGIO SPEDICATO, Adjunct Professor, University of Bologna, Digital lending and (Meta)Physical Frictions

13.00 – 14.30 Lunch

14.30 – 16.00 Panel 3: The Im/material in Museums and Collections
Chair: ANTOINETTE MAGET DOMICÉ, Lecturer, University of Lucerne

• MARIE CORNU, Director of Research, CNRS, Paris, Access to Works in the Public domain
• ANNE LAURE BANDLE, Guest Lecturer, London School of Economics, MARIE PFAMMATTER, Lecturer, University of Geneva, Museum Selfies: Engaging with Museum Collections or Infringing Copyright?
• CHRISTIAN KAUFMANN, Honorary Research Associate, University of East, Anglia, What the Aura of an Object is Hiding: Who Should have Rights to the Intangible in Melanesia?

16.30 – 18.00 Guided Tour of the Rosengart Collection

18.00 – 21.00 Apéritif followed by the Conference Dinner (sponsored by Swisslex), “Le Chalet”, Ameron Hotel Flora

Saturday, 24 January

09.00 – 10.15 Panel 4: Traditional Knowledge and Intellectual Property
Chair: SUSAN CORBETT, Professor of Accounting and Commercial Law, Victoria University of Wellington, 

• CATHERINE BELL, Professor of Law, University of Alberta, LAURA SKORODENSKI, Lawyer, Kutz Olson Law, Calgary, In/Tangible Heritage, Intellectual Property & Museum Policy: Exploring Methods for Respecting Indigenous Legal Traditions
• MICHAEL BLAKENEY, Winthrop Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Western Australia, Commodifying the Knowledge of Traditional and Indigenous Peoples

10.15 – 10.45 Coffee Break

10.45 – 12.15 Panel 5: Biotechnology and Biobanks
Chair: BERNHARD RÜTSCHE, Professor of Law, University of Lucerne

• PIERRE HEUZE, PhD Candidate, University of Geneva, Exhaustion of IP Rights on Biotechnological Materials: Where to Draw the Line
• RAINER WARTH, CEO, Foundation biobank‐suisse, Intellectual Property Rights and Biomaterial from Biobanks
• AISLING MCMAHON, Lecturer, Newcastle University, Patents, Human Biobanks and Access to Health: Bridging the Public and Private Divide

12.15 – 12.30 Conference Close, JESSICA C. LAI AND ANTOINETTE MAGET DOMINICÉ

12.30 – 13.30 Lunch