WIPO Director General Daren Tang wrapped up a two-day visit to Brussels on April 11, 2025 where he met European Commission Executives and Members of the European Parliament, as well as Belgium’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Employment, Economy, and Agriculture David Clarinval.
During the visit, Mr. Tang addressed the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) and participated in a broad and lively exchange on issues such as IP and AI, enforcement, WIPO’s projects on the ground and the WIPO’s online platform CLIP, that aims to raise creator’s awareness of IP rights and related management practices.
Photo: European Union / Alain Rolland
Discussions with Ms. Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice President for Tech Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy and Director General Roberto Viola, Directorate General CONNECT, centered on the potential of AI and frontier technologies in shaping the future of innovation and the key role played by IP to remunerate creators and innovators. The role of WIPO as a global and impartial forum could offer important synergies as rights owners, industry and governments work to define balanced best practices and standards at the crucial interplay between AI and IP.
In a meeting with Ms. Ekaterina Zaharieva, EU Commissioner for Startups, Research, and Innovation, focused on initiatives for SMEs, startups, and Technology and Innovation Support Centers, the Director General highlighted WIPO initiatives aimed at translating research and innovation into marketable products and services and fostering access to finance using IP as a collateral. The Commissioner and Mr. Tang emphasized the key role of projects on the ground to promote sustainable growth through IP and agreed to extend their collaboration in this field.
The Director General noted that the EU has made significant strides in integrating IP into its broader innovation strategy, ensuring that IP plays a central role in fostering economic growth and supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Talks with Mr. Clarinval, Belgium’s Deputy Prime Minister, focused on the role of IP in supporting economic growth, with a particular emphasis on support to SMEs from different angles, including financing, awareness raising and tech transfer. They also covered the challenges posed by AI, as well as the importance of promoting respect for IP globally. Both emphasized the need for continued collaboration to address global challenges and ensure that IP contributes to a sustainable global economy.
Photo: Ministry of Employment, Economy and Agriculture