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Dr Francis Gurry Nominated as Next Director General of WIPO

1 July, 2008
Dr Francis Gurry, an Australian national, currently Deputy Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), has been nominated to become its next Director General.
Dr Gurry holds law degrees from the University of Melbourne in Australia and is a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

Before joining WIPO in 1985, Dr Gurry practiced as a lawyer in Melbourne and Sydney and taught law at the University of Melbourne. He is author of the well known textbook on the law of trade secrets and confidential information, entitled Breach of Confidence, published by Oxford University Press in the United Kingdom in 1984.

The current Director General of WIPO, Mr Kamil Idris, will stand down from the position on 1 October 2008 when the Director General-elect will assume duties of the position following appointment by the WIPO General Assembly at its next meeting scheduled from 22 to 20 September 2008.

Once confirmed as Director General of WIPO, Dr Gurry will be the third Australian who has served as head of a United Nations agency, following James Ingram, Executive Director of the World Food Programme from 1982 to 1992, and Richard E. Butler, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunications Union from 1983 to 1989.     
Jill Newton