The EIRA Conference

The Eira Initiative, a project of the Berkeley Policy Institute, will hold its inaugural live event in Washington DC on October 16-17, 2025.  Leading economists, legal academics, policymakers, and practitioners will assess the role played by intellectual property rights in driving innovation, entrepreneurship and investment in the U.S. biopharmaceutical ecosystem. 

Eira Launch Webinar

Engines of Innovation: The Critical Functions of Intellectual Property in the Biopharmaceutical Ecosystem

Monday, December 9, 2024, at 12-1:30pm (Eastern Standard Time)

The Eira Initiative was founded by Professors Jonathan Barnett and Bowman Heiden to cultivate an intellectual space for developing fact-based and economically-informed innovation policy in the biopharmaceutical ecosystem.  The Initiative is a project of the Berkeley Policy Institute (formerly known as the BRG Institute), founded and led by Prof. David Teece of the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business.

At the webinar, Professors Barnett and Heiden, together with a panel of distinguished scholars and policymakers, will discuss the Initiative’s report, “Engines of Innovation: The Critical Functions of Intellectual Property in the Biopharmaceutical Ecosystem,” and key intellectual property and innovation policy issues facing the biopharmaceutical community at the onset of the new administration.  

Watch the Webinar here

Event Speakers

Hon. Paul Michel

Former Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

David Kappos

Partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP and former Under Secretary of Commerce and Director of the U.S. PTO

Prof. Kristina Acri

Ph.D., Colorado College (Economics and Business)

Prof. Erika Lietzan

University of Missouri-Columbia, School of Law and former partner, Covington & Burling

Prof. Jonathan Barnett

University of Southern California, Gould School of Law, and Director, USC Entertainment, Media & Technology Law Program

Prof. Walter Copan

Vice President for Research and Technology Transfer, Colorado School of Mines, and former Under Secretary of Commerce and Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology

Prof. Bowman Heiden

UC Berkeley, Haas School of Business, Tusher Strategic Initiative for Technology Leadership, and University of Gothenburg, CIP