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WIPO General Assemblies Open

Geneva, September 20, 1999
Press Releases PR/1999/187

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) opened the meetings of its General Assemblies on Monday with the election of Mr. Marino Porzio (Chile) as Chairperson. Mr. Porzio succeeds Mrs. Sheila Batchelor (Canada) as Chairperson of the Assemblies. The Assemblies also elected Mr. Ian Heath (Australia) as First Vice Chairperson and Mr. Alexander D. Korchaguine (Russian Federation) as Second Vice Chairperson. The General Assemblies will meet in Geneva from September 20 to 29, 1999.

In a speech to the Assemblies, Mr. Porzio, Principle Advisor on Intellectual Property to the Minister of External Relations of Chile, said the work of WIPO has acquired increasing importance in light of the revolution taking place in the area of information technologies. "Intellectual property as it has developed...is now more than ever facing a revolution that is based on information technology development. The changes that have been produced because of this new technology are real and tangible and this has given rise to new activities mainly in the area of services which will have a decisive influence in many of the traditional institutions of intellectual property."

Mr. Porzio, a former Deputy Director General of WIPO in the 1980s, said a key feature of the new digital era is the speed of change of technologies. This poses a challenge to WIPO in its work to promote the protection of intellectual property through international cooperation. The technologies are changing at a much quicker pace than the formulation of rules to protect that same technology. "Perhaps the key feature of the era that we are embarking on is the dynamism - the speed of change - and this is a challenge in many areas of intellectual property and particularly for this Organization based, as they are, on a legal tradition that can not always achieve the same speedy shift as new technology," Mr. Porzio said.

Globalization, Mr. Porzio said, has given rise to the internationalization in the production of goods, services and trade and has demonstrated the interdependence of markets. "It has obliged us to look at intellectual property with new eyes and to see that the institutions involved in intellectual property must change if they are to continue to provide the services that are expected of them." The Chairperson said that WIPO is at present in a "pivotal position" to assist countries in meeting the challenges posed by the digital era in relation to intellectual property. Mr. Porzio said the solutions must be "modern, economic and appropriate in order to resolve development issues."

Mr. Porzio commended WIPO Director General Dr. Kamil Idris and his vision for the future of the Organization. He praised Dr. Idris' efforts to modernize the Organization "to make it better able to meet the challenges of the years to come."

During the course of their meetings, the Assemblies of the member States of WIPO are set to approve the Program and Budget for 2000-2001. They are also expected to endorse the convening of a Diplomatic Conference on the Proposed Patent Law Treaty in May-June 2000. The Assemblies are expected to approve a further reduction in the fees of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), as well as a reduction in contributions of member States. A full agenda (document A/34/1 Prov.2) is available on the WIPO website (https://www.wipo.int).

At a ceremony on Monday September 20, 1999 at WIPO, two of the WIPO headquarters buildings will be renamed as a tribute to two former Director Generals. The main tower will be named the "Arpad Bogsch Building" and the adjacent structure, currently referred to as BIRPI (the French acronym for the United International Bureaux for the Protection of Intellectual Property) will be renamed the "Georg Bodenhausen Building." The late Mr. Bodenhausen, a Dutch national, was the first Director General of WIPO from 1970 to 1973, after having been Director of BIRPI, the predecessor Organization to WIPO, since 1963. Dr. Bogsch, a national of the United States of America, was Director General of WIPO from 1973 to 1997.

For further information, please contact the Media Relations & Public Affairs Section at WIPO:

  • Tel: (00 41 22) 338 81 61 or 338 95 47;
  • Fax: (41 22) 338 88 10;
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  • publicinf@wipo.int

     

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