[A2k] Reuters: Australian chosen to head UN patent body

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

Australian chosen to head UN patent body

Posted Wed May 14, 2008 5:22am AEST

Australian patent lawyer Francis Gurry won a tight ballot overnight to
take over later this year as head of the United Nations' World
Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

Mr Gurry, a deputy director-general since 2003 and at the trademarks
and patents agency since 1985, beat WIPO colleague and trademark
registration chief Jose Graca Aranha of Brazil by 42 votes to 41 in a
poll by a committee of 83 member states.

Earlier rounds of voting during the day had eliminated 12 other
candidates including, just before the final face-off, a well-placed
outsider, Pakistan's ambassador in Geneva and former foreign ministry
spokesman Masood Khan.

The final decision on whether Mr Gurry takes over from WIPO's current
chief, Kamal Idris of Sudan, will be taken by a general assembly of
all 184 agency countries, but officials expect it to be a formality.

Mr Gurry, a 57-year-old intellectual property lawyer, told members of
the committee after the final vote that he recognised the importance
of ensuring that WIPO's "development agenda" really boosted the
intellectual property capacity of poorer nations.

US ambassador Warren Tichenor, who played a prime role in a bid last
year to persuade Mr Idris to step down over allegations that he gained
an edge in promotion stakes by misleading WIPO about his age, said Mr
Gurry was the right person for the job.

Mr Tichenor says the Australian's nomination, "begins a very much
needed process of healing in the organisation," which was battered
from outside and within by controversy around Mr Idris, who originally
had US backing.

- Reuters

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Thiru Balasubramaniam
Geneva Representative
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
thiru@keionline.org


Tel: +41 22 791 6727
Mobile: +41 76 508 0997