New Leadership of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

An extraordinary session of the WIPO Coordination Committee was held on December 3. Gennady Gatilov, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Office and Other International Organizations in Geneva, spoke on behalf of the regional group of countries of Central Asia, the Caucasus and Eastern Europe. Head of Rospatent Grigory Ivliev spoke at the meeting on behalf of the Russian Federation.

The WIPO Coordination Committee considered the appointment of new Deputy and Assistant Directors General in WIPO. Daren Tan, became Director General on October 1, 2020, suggested the following people to senior positions:

Deputy Directors General:

Binying Wang (China) – Brands and Designs Sector (the Madrid System for International Trademark Registration; the Hague System for International Design Registration; the Lisbon System for International Registration of Appellations of Origin and Organization’s programs related to legislative in the area of trademarks, industrial designs and geographical indications);

Lisa Yorgenson (USA) – Patent and Technology Sector (Patent Cooperation Treaty) and Organization’s programs in the area of patent law);

Sylvie Forbin (France) - Copyright and Creative Industries Sector (Organization’s programs in the area of Copyright and Related Rights, Organization’s support activities to the authors and creative industries);

Hasan Kleib (Indonesia) - the Organization's programs aimed at implementing the Development Agenda, using IP as an impetus to growth and development, and providing targeted support for the least developed countries.

Assistant Directors General:

Kenichiro Natsume (Japan) - Infrastructure and Platforms Sector (development, implementation and maintenance of various databases, tools and platforms of the Organization);

Edward Kwakwa - Global Challenges and Partnerships Sector (Traditional Knowledge, Traditional Cultural Expressions and Genetic Resources, cooperation with other UN agencies and international organizations on global cross-cutting themes);

Marco Aleman - Ecosystem and Innovation Sector (assisting researchers and SMEs to commercialize IP and use its potential for commercial development, as well as the IP emergence as a distinct asset class and providing legal and policy advisory services in these and other areas);

Andrew Steins - Administration, Finance and Management Sector (Law, Finance, Program Implementation and Budgetary Issues, Information and Communication Technology, Digitalization and Data, Procurement, Conference and Language Services, Security, Office Space and Infrastructure).

The new leadership of WIPO will assume their functions on January 1, 2021.