New Geneva Delegates For Canada, Panama

New delegates have arrived to Geneva just in time for the annual Assemblies of the World Intellectual Property Organization and the World Trade Organization trade ministerial.

Geneva Delegates

Zoraida Rodríguez, Deputy Permanent Representative to the World Intellectual Property Organization and the World Trade Organization for the mission of Panama, has left the mission. She is replaced by Krizia Matthews, legal counsellor. Matthews will follow WIPO and the WTO.

Frédérique Delaprée joined the Permanent Mission of Canada as First Secretary and is following WIPO and the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Her previous assignment was in the IP Trade Policy Division at the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development in Ottawa. She replaced Sophie Galarneau.

International Organisations

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Nigerian Minister of Finance, was appointed Chair-elect of Gavi, the vaccine alliance. She is expected to take up the position of Chair from January 2016. Okonjo-Iweala currently serves on the board of the Rockefeller Foundation, and is chair of African Risk Capacity. She held several key positions at the World Bank, most recently as Managing Director.

The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) Council elected Professor Sijbrand de Jong as its President for one year, starting on 1 January 2016. This term is renewable twice. He is currently active in astroparticle physics, participating in cosmic ray research at the Pierre Auger Observatory. He takes over from Professor Agnieszka Zalewska, after a three-year tenure.

Roberto Viola has become the new Director General of the European Commission’s Communications Networks, Content and Technology Directorate General (DG Connect). He previously was the Deputy Director General of DG Connect.

Barbara Ann Clay, formerly vice president for communications at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), has been appointed Director of Communications at the US Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and the Campaign to Fix the Debt.

Governments

Vaughan Turekian has been named new Science and Technology Adviser to the United States Secretary of State. Turekian was formerly the Chief International Officer at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and in this new capacity will advise the Secretary of State and the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment on international environment, science, technology, and health matters affecting the foreign policy of the United States.

The US Food and Drug Administration appointed Robert Califf as FDA Deputy Commissioner for Medical Products and Tobacco. Califf is expected, when he joins the FDA at the end of February, to lead the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, the Center for Devices and Radiological Health and the Center for Tobacco Products. He is also expected to oversee the Office of Special Medical Programs in the Office of the FDA Commissioner. Califf is currently vice chancellor of clinical and transitional research at Duke University (US).

Baisheng An, Deputy Director of the Research Institute of World Economy, has moved from the Department of the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) to the China Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, a research agency affiliated with MOFCOM.

NGOs

The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) announced that Matthias Kirschner has been elected President of the foundation, and Alessandro Rubini Vice-President. Reinhard Müller was re-elected as Financial Officer. All will serve a two-year mandate. Kirschner has been with the FSFE since 2009.

Law Offices

Two marquee intellectual property partners joined the New York office of Arent Fox, the firm announced. Linda Shudy Lecomte and Michelle Mancino Marsh were both previously partners with Kenyon & Kenyon LLP. Marsh led the Fashion, Apparel and Footwear practice, Lecomte was co-chair of the Video Game Law group.

Ian Whitfield has joined the Manchester office of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Wilson Gunn. Whitfield joined Wilson Gunn from a private practice IP firm in London where he trained as a patent attorney.

Seyfarth Shaw LLP announced the launch of its Global Privacy & Security (GPS) Team. The team includes over 35 lawyers spending a majority of their practice advising clients on privacy-related issues, according to the firm.

Private Sector

Arvin Patel was hired by European licensing powerhouse Technicolor in September. He has been appointed Chief IP Officer of the company. He was previously senior VP of IP and licensing at Rovi.

Plainlegal, an IP management software-as-a-service company, became Alt Legal in September. According to Business Wire, Alt Legal was started by Nehal Madhani, a lawyer previously with Kirkland & Ellis.

The United Kingdom IP strategy and consultancy firm ClearViewIP announced in September that it is extending its international reach and establishing an Australian office, in Sydney. ClearViewIP’s international expansion is being managed by Chhavi Bhandari, who has been with the company for three years and is a former consultant with Ernst & Young.

ChinaEU, a public-private partnership for ICT, announced that it signed an agreement with China Information Technology Industry Federation and the Nanjing government to promote the International Symposium on China’s “Internet Plus” and Smart Manufacturing.

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