GENEVA - The General Assembly of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) opened on September 22, 2008 with the appointment by acclamation of Mr. Francis Gurry as Director General and the Director General-elect outlining his priorities for the Organization, according to a press release by WIPO.
Mr. Gurry joined the Chairman of the WIPO General Assembly, Ambassador Martin I. Uhomoibhi, who is also Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, as well as delegates in paying tribute to outgoing Director General, Dr. Kamil Idris, for his 25-year long career at WIPO.
Dr. Kamil Idris, who has served as Director General since November 1997, thanked member states for their support and “unfailing commitment to WIPO” as well as all other constituencies, namely, users of the IP system – industry groups and civil society members and NGOs – for their fruitful contributions”.
Dr. Idris said, “Upon taking up my term of office, I had a vision to open up the Organization and to make it increasingly relevant to users and beneficiaries of the IP system as well as the public at large. Central to this vision was the need to forge close cooperation with Member States. The concrete results of that vision are clear for all to see, and I think we can all be proud of how far WIPO has come in the past decade.”
In his acceptance speech, Mr. Gurry pointed to the need for “continual analysis and reflection on the best means of making IP work to the advantage of all countries, regardless of their level of development.” He highlighted his intention to better equip the Organization with the resources for economic research and statistical data. Such empirical data, he said, would provide management with the means of identifying future strategic developments that may impact on the Organization.
Mr. Gurry has held a number of positions at WIPO since he joined in 1985. Mr. Gurry is the fourth Director General of WIPO following Mr. Georg Bodenhausen of the Netherlands (1970-1973) Mr. Arpad Bogsch of the United States (1973-1997) and Dr. Kamil Idris of Sudan (1997-2008). Mr. Gurry, as Director General of WIPO, also becomes Secretary-General of International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV). By virtue of a cooperation agreement between WIPO and UPOV, an international organization that encourages the development of new plant varieties, the Director General of WIPO is also the Secretary-General of UPOV.