Francis Gurry of Australia led the straw poll securing 24 first choice votes and 11 second choice votes. He was followed by Brazilian nominee José Graça Aranha with 13 first choice and two second place votes and Pakistani contender Masood Khan who won 10 first place and 11 second choice votes.

After the straw poll, Hilda Skorpen, the Chair of the Coordination Committee, held a few formal consultations with member states and subsequently initiated the first round of voting. The two candidates with the least votes were Bojan Pretnar of Slovenia and Macedonian nominee Gjorgji Filipov who received one vote each and were eliminated from the race.

Gurry also won the most votes in this round with 24 votes followed closely by Aranha (16) and Khan (13).

The second round of voting is taking place this afternoon and there will be a gradual elimination of the lower-scoring candidates until a shortlist of three is reached.

Managing IP will post another update at the end of the day with the results of day one of voting.

The elections are following the rules set out in the paper Policies and Practices for the Nomination and Appointment of Directors General, which was prepared by WIPO's Coordination Committee in 1998.

Hilda Skorpen, the chair of the Coordination Committee, will communicate the name of the winning to the chairperson of the General Assembly. The new director-general will start his/her term at this year's General Assemblies, scheduled to take place from September 22 to 30.

In the March issue Managing IP contacted all 15 candidates and interviewed them about their experience and their aims for WIPO - as well as posing a few questions about their life outside intellectual property. Subscribers and triallists can read the article online.