Panel of experts

Mr. Harald Alvestrand is Area Director for Operations & Management for the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and has actively participated in the IETF since 1991. Mr. Alvestrand currently works in the information technology field at EDB Maxware AS, following his work in this field at UNINETT. He has been widely published on issues of Internet technology and management. Mr. Alvestrand received his Diploma in Engineering and Electronics from the Norwegian Institute of Technology and is a national of Norway.

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Dr. Santiago Bustamante is President of the Inter-American Association of Industrial Property (ASIPI) and member of the Technical Assistance and Funding Subcommittee of the International Trademark Association (INTA). He is also Director of the Ecuadorian-American Chamber of Commerce and President of the Ecuadorian-Colombian Chamber of Commerce. He is a founding partner in the Industrial Property practice of the law firm, Tobar & Bustamante. Mr. Bustamante has served as Advisor to the World Bank and Professor of Commerce Law and Industrial Property at the Catholic University of Quito, Ecuador. Dr. Bustamante holds a Ph.D. from the Pontificia Catholic University of Ecuador and a Master of Laws from Harvard Law School, and is a national of Ecuador.

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Dr. Hisham El Sherif serves as a Commissioner and Member of the Steering Committee of the Global Information Infrastructure Commission (GIIC), which aims at promoting the development of a global information infrastructure and the private sector’s role in its establishment. Dr. El Sherif is co-founder of the Regional Information Technology and Software Engineering Center (RITSEC) and founder of the associated company, IT Investment, which has pioneered the development of IT usage in the African region in financial and on-line services. Dr. El Sherif is also the co-founder and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC), which since 1985 has developed IT/infrastructure projects in Egypt. In 1996, Dr. El Sherif chaired the Task Force which founded the African Information Society Initiative, since adopted throughout that region. Dr. El Sherif is also a member of the World Bank Technical Advisory Panel on Information for Development and a widely published and awarded Professor at the American University in Cairo. Dr. El Sherif holds a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Information and Decision Support Systems, and is a graduate of Alexandria University with a Masters Degree in Computer Science. Dr. El Sherif is a national of Egypt.

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Mr. Ken Fockler is founder and President of Tenac Consulting. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) and the Board of the CA*net Institute, which aims to develop Internet use to benefit all sectors of the Canadian public. Mr. Fockler has served as President of CA*net Networking Inc., a federally incorporated non-profit organization of regional Internet networks in Canada. Formerly, Mr. Fockler worked over 30 years in a variety of technical and marketing management positions with IBM Canada and was instrumental in founding NetNorth, a national university network connected to BITNET and EARN. Mr. Fockler co-founded and served as inaugural Chairman and President of the Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP). He has served as a Director of the Canadian Advanced Network for Research, Industry and Education, and on the Advisory Board of Canada's SchoolNet Project. In 1996, Mr. Fockler received the Chairman's award from the Canadian Business Telecommunications Association for his contribution to the telecommunications industry. Mr. Fockler is a national of Canada.

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Professor Michael Froomkin specializes in Internet Law and Administrative Law at the University of Miami School of Law in Florida, and is Chair of the American Association of Law Schools Section on Law and Computers. He is a Foreign Associate of the Royal Institute of International Affairs and a Fellow of the Cyberspace Law Institute. Professor Froomkin serves on the Advisory Boards of BNA Electronic Information Policy & Law Report, the Cyberlaw Abstracts of the Legal Scholarship Network, Privacy Exchange and the Journal of Online Law. He is also on the Editorial Board of Information, Communication & Society and Lex Electronica (Cybernews) and serves as a Consultant Editor of Amicus Curia, the journal of the Institute of Advanced Studies, London. Professor Froomkin received his J.D. from Yale Law School, and his M.Phil in International Relations from the University of Cambridge, England, and is a national of the United States of America.

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Mr. Geert Glas is Chair of the Internet sub committee of the International Trademark Association (INTA) and the INTA representative in the Policy Oversight Committee (POC). He is Vice-Chairman of Committee R (Computer and Technology Law) of the International Bar Association and sits on the Board of Directors of the Benelux Trademark Association. Mr. Glas is an editor of Intellectuele Rechten - Droits intellectuels and a country correspondent for the Computer and Telecommunications Law Review and for the Entertainment Law Review. Mr. Glas has a Masters Degree from the University of Illinois and a Law degree from the Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven. Mr. Glas currently practices at the Brussels bar and is a partner at the Benelux law firm Loeff Claeys Verbeke. Mr. Glas is a national of Belgium.

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Ms. Laina Raveendran Greene is founder and Manager of Global Empowerment Through Information Technology (GetIT), and has longstanding experience in regulatory, policy and business planning for governments, telecom companies and international organizations. Ms. Greene has worked with Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) and the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (INTELSAT), and has served as inaugural Secretary General of the Asia Pacific Internet Association. Ms. Greene's broad experience with international organizations includes work as a consultant with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), where she served as telecommunications expert to the ASEAN countries and as facilitator at the GATT-Uruguay negotiations. Ms. Greene has a Masters degree from Harvard Law School and a law degree the National University of Singapore, where she subsequently lectured in international telecommunications law. Ms. Greene is a national of Singapore.

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Mr. Roger Hicks is a Board Member of the Asia Pacific Internet Association, a trade association for Internet-related businesses. He is founding Chairman of the Internet Society of New Zealand and, as such, was responsible for major policy and organizational changes to the New Zealand domain. Mr. Hicks has longstanding experience with domain names and associated issues, including preparation of the APIA response to the United States Government's Notice on Enquiry and chairing the OECD policy session on domain names. Mr. Hicks serves as New Zealand's representative to a regional UNESCO committee and as a Member of the N.Z. UNESCO National Commission's Communications Committee. He works in a planning capacity with CLEAR Communications, a N.Z. telecommunications company, and is a national of New Zealand.

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Mr. Donald Heath, as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Internet Society, leads a broad spectrum of activities focused on the Internet’s development and associated technologies, its international growth, availability, education, policies and evolution. He also manages the Internet Society’s responsibilities for facilitating and coordinating Internet-related programs and initiatives around the world. Mr. Heath was Chair of the International Ad Hoc Committee (IAHC), a coalition of participants from the broad Internet community, working to satisfy the requirement for enhancements to the Internet's global Domain Name System (DNS). He is currently a member of the Advisory Committee on Telecommunications to the Government of Ireland. He is active in fostering efforts and initiatives for Internet self-governance and is a frequent speaker in international fora on that subject. Mr. Heath is a graduate of the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Mathematics degree, and is a national of the United States of America.

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Dr. Ousmane Kane is Executive Director of the African Regional Centre for Technology. He has served as Director General of the Institute for Food Technology of Senegal and is a member of the New York Academy of Sciences. Dr. Kane is a distinguished and long-serving member of many regional scientific organizations, including as founder-member and Honorary Chairman of the Association for Development of Podor, founder-member of the Researchers' Association of Senegal, and member of the Scientific Committee of the Dakar Technopole and of the Scientific Committee of the Science and Technology Biennial of Senegal. Dr. Kane is Associate Professor of the Centre de Recherce en Science Appliquées à l'Alimentation of the Armand Frappier Institute, University of Quebec, Canada. He holds a Master's Degree from the University Paul Sabatier, France and doctorates from the University Pierre & Marie Curie, France and from the University Laval, Canada. Dr. Kane is a national of Senegal.

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Mr. Tsugizo Kubo is Former Chair and now serves as Co-Chair of the Trademark Committee of the Japan Intellectual Property Association (JIPA), which is an organization consisting of approximately 720 Japan-based businesses. Mr. Kubo also serves on the Editorial Committee of the Journal of the Japanese Group of AIPPI, and has a background of interests in harmonizing the existing trademark laws and trademark-related issues throughout the world. Mr. Kubo currently practices as Senior Managing Officer of the Intellectual Property Department of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd in Japan. He studied U.S. intellectual property laws at George Washington University Law School, and in a commercial law firm in Washington D.C., and graduated with a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from the National University of Toyama, Japan. Mr. Kubo is a national of Japan.

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Frederick Mostert is President of the International Trademark Association (INTA) and Intellectual Property Counsel and Executive Director for the Richemont Group and is based in London. Dr. Mostert is a widely published international expert in trademarks and intellectual property, including as principal author and editor of "Famous and Well-Known Marks – An International Analysis". Dr. Mostert has provided expert testimony on behalf of INTA before the United States Congress and has acted, on an individual basis, as an expert witness in international trademark disputes, involving famous and well-known marks. He is a member of the New York Bar and has practised corporate and intellectual property law in New York City. He holds a LL.D. from RAU in Johannesburg and a Master’s Degree from Columbia University School of Law, New York City. Dr. Mostert is a national of South Africa.

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Mr. Boudewijn Nederkoorn is former Chair of the Policy Group of the RIPE CENTR project, which operates as a common channel of communication between 36 ccTLDs in the RIPE area and the Internet governing bodies. In this role he serves as Managing Director of SURFnet, the national research network of The Netherlands. Mr. Nederkoorn also chairs the Board of the Dutch Foundation for the registry of the .NL country code Top Level Domain. From 1994 until 1997 he was also director of DANTE, a Cambridge (UK) based company set up by 11 national research networks in Europe. He has managed an Electronic Data Processing division of an academic medical centre for a ten-year period and, subsequently, served as General Manager of the computing center of the University of Nijmegen. Mr. Nederkoorn is a national of The Netherlands.

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Mr. Kensuke Norichika is the Executive Director of the Software Information Center (SOFTIC) and was a Member of the Working Group for GATT-TRIPs of KEIDANDREN for the Trilateral Private Sector Forum. Mr. Norichika was a Member of the Studying Committee for Technology Transfer of the Fair Trade Commission of Japan and a Member of the Board of Directors of the Licensing Executive Society, Japan. He had also served as President of the Japanese Group of Pacific Industrial Property Associations and as President of the Japan Intellectual Property Association. Mr. Norichika is a Registered Patent Attorney and has had a long career in the Intellectual Property Division of Toshiba Corporation, including as General Manager and Assistant to the Senior Executive Vice-President. Mr. Norichika has a law degree from the Kyusyu University, and is currently a visiting Professor of George Washington Law School, Washington D.C. and of the Law School of Chyuo University, Tokyo. Mr. Norichika is a national of Japan.

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Mr. Mark Patridge has served as Chair of the Trademark Committee and Professional Programs Committee of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), Chair of the International Trademark Law Committee of the American Bar Association, and a Member of the Editorial Board of the "The Trademark Reporter" of the International Trademark Association. Most recently, he has been nominated to be a Member of the Board of Directors of AIPLA. Mr. Partridge is widely published and experienced as a speaker in the fields of international trademark, cyberspace and unfair competition law and intellectual property litigation, and has served as a mediator and litigator in trademark and unfair competition disputes. Mr. Partridge is a partner in the United States firm of Pattishall, McAuliffe, Newbury, Hilliard & Geraldson, and a faculty member of the John Marshall Law School. He holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Mr. Partridge is a national of the United States of America.

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Ms. Maryse Philbert is Director of the Trademarks Department of SYNTHELABO, France. Ms. Philbert has a background of specialized commercial practice in the field of trademark law, and is Vice-President of the European Community Trademark Association (ECTA) and a Member of the International Trademark Association (INTA). Within France, Ms. Philbert is a Member of the Association of Trademark Specialists (APRAM) and of COMIPI (Trademarks), a Commission organized by the Association of French Companies, MEDEF. Ms. Philbert graduated with a Law Degree from Paris University, and is currently an Assistant Lecturer at POITIER's High School of Commerce. Ms. Philbert is a national of France.

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Mr. Oscar Robles is the Chief and Technical Co-ordinator of the Mexican Network Information Center (NIC-Mexico), in the Monterrey Institute of Technology. Mr. Robles is Co-Founder and interim Chairman of the Latin American and Caribbean Top Level Domain Organization. He is an active member of the Mexican Chapter of the Internet Society and of the Latin American academic networks (ENRED). Mr. Robles has a Masters Degree in Management of Information Technologies and a Degree in Computer Sciences from the Monterrey Institute of Technology, and is a national of Mexico.

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Mr. Philip L. Sbarbaro is outside Chief Litigation Counsel to Network Solutions Inc., a registrar of domain names in .com, .net, .org and .edu top level domains on the Internet. Mr. Sbarbaro has overseen or appeared as counsel in 41 of the 43 suits brought against Network Solutions by various trademark owners and domain name holders around the world and has been involved with over 1,000 similar domain name-trademark disputes. He also serves as a member of the Advisory Board of the BNA Electronic Information Policy & Law Report. Mr. Sbarbaro, a member of the law firm Hanson and Molloy in Washington, D.C., is a 20-year trial lawyer specializing in corporate, commercial and Internet litigation. He is a member of the Bars of California, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Mr. Sbarbaro has served as counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr. Sbarbaro holds a LL.M. from Georgetown University, a J.D. from California Western School of Law, and a M.B.A. from Northwestern University. Mr. Sbarbaro is a national of the United States of America.

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Mr. Oscar Sznajder is a Co-founder and member of the Latin American and Caribbean Top Level Domains Organization (LACTLD) and is a Charter Member and Technical Head of NIC-Argentina. Mr. Sznajder has served as the Zone Contact of the Argentina (AR) ccTLD since 1989 and Administrative Contact of the AR ccTLD since 1993. Mr. Sznajder is the Deputy Coordinator responsible for managing the Systems and Data Networks for the UNDP Information Technology Project for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Argentina. Mr. Sznajder has longstanding and broad experience as an electronics engineer and has served as Technical Advisor to the Electronics Industry Commission at the Industry State Secretariat of Argentina. Mr. Sznajder is a national of Argentina.

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