The New Year brings some new faces in the intellectual property world as several changes were announced at the end of 2015, in particular at the European Commission, in the private sector and non-governmental organisations. In Geneva, the coordination of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean countries changes, and the UN Plant Treaty is working on intersessional committees. And a leading light in the IP publishing world has retired.

Geneva Delegates

Bernadette Butler of the Bahamas mission in Geneva became the coordinator of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean countries (GRULAC) at the World Intellectual Property Organization. Butler started the coordination on 1 January and follows Brazil in the GRULAC coordination.

International Organisations

The Sixth session of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) Governing Body decided to reconvene some intersessional committees and establish new ones. Since the session in October, a number of experts have been advanced [pdf] by several regions, such as the Group of Latin American and Caribbean countries, Africa and Asia.

Governments

The European Commission announced on 15 December the nomination of Tiina Astola as a new Director-General for DG Justice. Astola is expected to take office on 1 February 2016. She has been Permanent Secretary at the Finnish Ministry of Justice since 2007. Three Deputy Directors-General were also nominated. They include Sixtine Bouygues, a French national, and Margaritis Schinas, a Greek national, both to take office on 16 December in DG Communication. The third is Claire Bury, a British national, who is moving from DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, to DG Communications Networks, Content and Technology, from 1 January 2016.

Patrick Ross has been appointed Acting Chief Communications Officer at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). He had assumed the position unofficially in mid-October and was formally appointed in early December. He previously was the USPTO Deputy Chief Communications Officer.

Private Sector

Jeremy Phillips, founding editor of the Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice (JIPLP), leading light behind the IPKat blog, and an overall force in IP publishing and events in the UK and elsewhere for decades, retired at the end of November. Among his many achievements, Phillips was the mastermind behind several April Fool’s Day articles written collaboratively with Intellectual Property Watch in past years.

Brian Noyes, former Executive Director of Strategy and Communications at the US Chamber of Commerce Global Intellectual Property Center, started a new venture: 3R Strategies, a public relations and grassroots firm based in Washington DC at the end of December.

The American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) announced on 7 January that Chen Wang will be joining the AIPLA on 18 January as new Deputy Executive Director for Regulatory Affairs. Wang is former Deputy Chief IP Counsel at E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. She is expected to be a senior advisor to the Executive Director and have responsibility for AIPLA’s international IP policy work.

The International Publishers Association (IPA) announced on 14 December the appointment of Ben Steward as its first Director of Communications and Freedom to Publish. Steward served as communications aid to senior management at MSC Cruises, and previously was Communications Officer for the European Broadcasting Union. He is expected to take up his post on 1 February.

Dan Durham was appointed Executive Vice President of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) on 7 January. Durham will lead BIO’s Health Policy Section. He comes from America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) where he served as Executive Vice President for Strategic Initiatives.

The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) announced on 9 December that Tiffany Moore has been named Vice-President of Congressional Affairs. Moore joins CTA after five years with TwinLogic Strategies, “a leading boutique government relation firm.” She previously served as Assistant US Trade Representative, Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison in the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR).

David Pridham, CEO of Dominion Harbor, is a new columnist for Forbes and writes a monthly “IP at Work” column for the online publication. Pridham is expected to show business leaders how to use IP. His first column was on 7 December “Intellectual Property (IP): The Secret Sauce of Great Products.”

Non-Governmental Organisations / Academics

David Hammerstein has announced he would be leaving his work at the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) at the end of December and said he is moving to new challenges and initiatives.

Jennifer Cohn has joined the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation as Director of Innovation, based in Geneva. Cohn is former Medical Director of Médecins Sans Frontières Access Campaign.

Public Knowledge announced that Virginia Lam Abrams, Moses Boyd, Laurent Crenshaw and Frank Torres have joined its board of directors. Lam Abrams is Senior Vice-President of Communications and Government Relations at Project Decibel. Boyd is a Founding Partner of Integrated Solutions Group and also a Founding Partner of the US Renewable Energy Group. Crenshaw is the head of Federal Public Policy for Yelp in Washington DC. And Torres is the Director of Consumer Affairs and a Senior Policy Counsel for Microsoft Corporation.

Public Knowledge also welcomed Maura Colleton Corbett as its new Chair of the Board of Directors. Colleton Corbett is the CEO and Founder of the Glen Echo Group.

James Love and Manon Ress from Knowledge Ecology International received the Joseph Callaway Award for Civic Courage for “Breaking Big Pharma’s Grip to Make Drugs Affordable for Poorer Countries and Revolutionizing Intellectual Property Rights,” on 30 November.

Fatima Amehri has been elected new president of the global alliance of geographical indications (the Organization for an International Geographical Indications Network) last November. Amehri is the President of the Moroccan Association for the geographical indication Argan Oil. Amehri takes this position after Ramón González Figueroa, Director General of the Tequila Regulatory Council (CRT), who had served since 2009.

Jacques de Werra, Professor of contract law and intellectual property law at the Law School of the University of Geneva, became Vice-Rector of the university, in particular in charge of scientific information, technology transfer, and relations with international organisations.

Law Offices

Former Intel Corporation Vice President and Associate General Counsel Dana Hayter joined Perkins Coie as partner in the firm’s Technology Transactions & Privacy practice. Hayter joins Perkins Coie at their new San-Francisco office and will focus on patent and licensing strategy.

Benjamin Hsing has joined BakerHostetler in New York as Partner, as a member of the Intellectual Property Group and Biotechnology, Chemical and Pharmaceutical team. Hsing, formerly with Kaye Scholer, is also a former patent examiner at the USPTO.

BakerHostetler also announced earlier in the fall that Shannon McCue was joining the Mechanical, Electrical, and Computer Science Prosecution team as partner in Cleveland. McCue comes to BakerHostetler from Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP, where he served as a member of the IP Leadership Council.