[NYCInfoLaw] Nanotechnology, Law and Policy: How our Legal System Handles Emerging Technologies

[Joshua L. Simmons]

Do Good Things Really Come in Small Packages?
Nanotechnology, Law and Policy: How our Legal System Handles Emerging
Technologies

Thursday, June 25, 2009, 6 - 8 PM
House of the Association, 42 West 44th Street
Registration:
This program is free of charge, however registration is required.

Nanotechnology deals with structures 100 nanometers or smaller in
size, and involves developing materials or devices within that size.
It is a diverse field, ranging from novel extensions of conventional
device physics, to completely new approaches based upon molecular
self-assembly, to developing new materials with dimensions on the
nanoscale, even to speculation on whether we can directly control
matter on the atomic scale. There is much debate on the implications
of nanotechnology, since it has the potential to create new materials
and devices with wide-ranging applications, such as in medicine,
electronics and energy production. Nanotechnology also raises many of
the same issues as with any introduction of new technology, including
concerns about toxicity, the environmental impact of nanomaterials,
and their potential effects on global economics and other areas.

These concerns have led to debates on whether special regulation of
nanotechnology is warranted. As nanotechnology revolutionizes fields
as diverse as health care, clean energy and the environment, the
question arises as to how law and policy can shape the way the public
might benefit from advances in this new technology and whether our
legal system may need to guard against risks to public health and
safety posed by such scientific advances.

Moderator:
ERIC M. KRAUS, Partner, Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold LLP

Speakers:
DAN ABRAHAMS, PhD, Director, Morningside/Lamont Licensing at Columbia
University's Science and Technology Ventures; former VP and Chief
Technologist, GE's Technology Licensing Group
PROF. EDWARD CHENG, Associate Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School
PROF. GREGORY MANDEL, Professor of Law, Temple University's Beasley
School of Law
JOHN WEINER, Associate Director for Policy in FDA's Office of
Combination Products, FDA

Sponsored by:
Committee on Science and Law, Stephanie Mann, Chair

Members of the Association, and their guests are all welcome.

2009 The Association of the Bar of the City of New York. All rights reserved.
42 West 44th Street New York, NY 10036
(212) 382-6600