15 Candidates To Vie For WIPO Director General Post

By William New
Fifteen top officials will compete to be the next director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization, according to WIPO.

Most if not all of the candidates, all but one of whom is male, have strong backgrounds in Geneva policymaking, and many would be considered WIPO insiders. Candidates range from senior WIPO officials to journeyman top-shelf diplomats to national IP officials. Every geographic region within WIPO except China appears to be represented.

The WIPO Coordination Committee, the executive body composed of 83 of WIPO’s 184 member states, will meet on 13-14 May to nominate one candidate to be appointed by the annual WIPO General Assembly, scheduled for 22-30 September.

The 15 candidates submitted by the 13 February deadline are (in alphabetical order):

Alicia Adamczak (Poland), president of Patent Office

Toufiq Ali (Bangladesh), former ambassador to the WTO and UN in Geneva

Jorge Amigo (Mexico), director, Mexican Institute of Industrial Property

José Graça Aranha (Brazil), WIPO director of the International
Registrations Department, sector of trademarks, industrial designs and
geographical indications

Gjorgji Filipov (Macedonia), ambassador to Germany

Francis Gurry (Australia), WIPO deputy director general responsible for patents, the Arbitration and Mediation Center, and global IP issues, and former general counsel

Masood Khan (Pakistan), ambassador to the UN

Enrique Manalo (Philippines), [corrected] undersecretary for policy, Department of Foreign Affairs, former ambassador to the UN and chair of the WIPO General Assembly

Mauro Masi (Italy), professor and Ministry of Foreign Affairs delegate for intellectual property in Geneva

James Otieno Odek (Kenya), managing director, Kenya Industrial Property Institute

Philippe Petit (France), WIPO deputy director general responsible for general affairs and administration

Bojan Pretnar (Slovenia), WIPO deputy director for policy development, Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Development

Boris Simonov (Russia), director general of the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks (Rospatent)

Yoshiyuki Takagi (Japan), WIPO executive director at Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Development and Worldwide Academy

José Delmer Urbizo (Honduras), ambassador to the UN

[Note: some candidates’ biographies are posted to the WIPO website, click here]

The director general position will open one year ahead of schedule following the announcement by current DG Kamil Idris that he will leave early.

According to WIPO, the process of selecting a director general is governed by the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization and “The Procedures for the Nomination and Appointment of Directors General of WIPO,” adopted by the General Assembly of WIPO in September 1998.

William New may be reached at info@ip-watch.ch.