WASHINGTON, September 11 /PRNewswire/ --

- SIIA & Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute to host stellar joint program benefiting IP Communities Across Europe and the U.S.

The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), in collaboration with Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute, is pleased to host an intriguing one-day symposium entitled Software Cultures, Hardware Laws, slated for October 2, 2008, in Central London.

"We are very pleased to be co-hosting Software Cultures, Hardware Laws in concert with our colleagues from Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute," noted Ken Wasch, president of SIIA. Our goal is to highlight B2B cultures in a digital world through very relevant panels on public policy, competition, enforcement and commercial strategy," Wasch continued.

Specifically, panels to be presented during the symposium include: Digital Publics, Digital Ties, Digital Territories, and Digital Strategies.

"One of the highlights of the day's events includes the Meet the Jurists session, scheduled to be held just prior to the start of the symposium," confirmed Keith Kupferschmid, Senior Vice President for Intellectual Property Policy and Enforcement at SIIA. "This meeting will provide a public forum for audience dialogue with senior lawyers and judiciary, as a very interactive approach to starting the day's events. It will involve the chair interviewing the distinguished panel in roundtable discussion before taking questions from the floor," Kupferschmid added.

The London-based meeting is SIIA's third annual Intellectual Property symposium, with the first two meetings held at U.S.-based George Washington University and Columbia University, respectively.

"Our goal for these events is to educate the public and policy makers on the important role that strong intellectual property protection plays in the global success of the software and information firms that SIIA represents," Kupferschmid concluded.

For a speaker roster, to obtain more information about this symposium, or to register for attendance, please visit:

http://www.qmipri.org/softculturehardlaw.htm

About SIIA

The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) is the principal trade association for the software and digital content industry. SIIA provides global services in government relations, business development, corporate education and intellectual property protection to more than 500 leading software and information companies. For further information, visit http://www.siia.net.

Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click appropriate link.

Keith Kupferschmid http://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=40837

Web site: http://www.siia.net http://www.qmipri.org/softculturehardlaw.htm

Eileen Bramlet of Software & Information Industry Association, +1-202-789-4469, ebramlet@siia.net, or Beth Dozier, +1-202-429-1833, bethdozier@rationalpr.com, for Software & Information Industry Association; Note to Editors: For press inquiries and/or media event registration, please contact: Eileen Bramlet at EBramlet@siia.net