Q2/2020 - WIPO

The WIPO consultation on intellectual property policy and artificial intelligence (Draft Issues Paper on IP Policy and AI) has come to a hold due to the pandemic. On 21 May 2020, WIPO published a revised version of its “Issues Paper on Intellectual Property Policy and Artificial Intelligence”^[1]. The new paper takes up the more than 200 submissions WIPO has already received on the first version and includes proposals for nine themes that are within the range of WIPO’s mandate: Definitions, patents, copyright, data, design, trademarks, trade secrets, capacity building and accountability. Starting from 7 July 2020, the new Issues Paper shall be discussed in a series of virtual consultations^[2].

On 8 May 2020, Daren Tang from Singapore was elected new Director General of WIPO. Prior to that, he was Chief Executive of the Singapore Intellectual Property Office. The 48-year old lawyer holds degrees from the Harvard Business School and the Law Center of Georgetown University. He will follow Francis Gurry on 1 October 2020. Gurry, an Australian lawyer, was elected Director General of WIPO in 2008. Before he took over that function, Gurry was actively involved in the global Internet governance debate. He has been instrumental in the development of ICANN's UDRP.