Gurry was appointed by acclamation and subsequently made an acceptance speech.

He thanked the member states for appointing him as the director-general and confessed that the nomination and appointment process had been "a long, at times tense and always interesting one".

"I assure you that I will be working with, and for, all member states and doing whatever it lies within my competence to do to overcome divisions and to seek positions and decisions that can find the broadest possible support among the member states of the organisation," he said.

He added that he will call for more engagement by the Organisation in the dialogue and search for solutions that take place in the international community, and that he proposes to establish a division in the Secretariat that will have this engagement as its mission.

Francis Gurry, who was the deputy director-general before the appointment, was nominated as the candidate for the post of director-general by the Coordination Committee at its meeting on May 13.

He defeated rival José Graça Aranha of Brazil in a two-way vote after the other 12 candidates were either eliminated or withdrew. The tally in the final round was 42-41.

In his speech he touched upon crucial issues such as the evolution of technology, the Patent Cooperation Treaty, illegal downloading of music and films, and the role that IP plays in reducing the knowledge gap between the developed and developing world.

He was also optimistic of the progress made by WIPO's Development Agenda.

"For the Development Agenda to fulfil its promise, I believe that it is essential that we translate the political consensus into concrete and effective projects ... The Agenda offers equally an opportunity for WIPO to review the effectiveness of its service delivery in the area of capacity building," he said.

Gurry will succeed Kamil Idris, who is stepping down a year early, and he starts his six-year term as director-general from October 1.

Despite speculation that a few member states were going to initiate a voting procedure which could have led to a new nomination process, no such voting took place.

Gurry holds law degrees from the University of Melbourne and a doctorate of philosophy from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. He is also a vice president of the International Federation of Commercial Arbitration Institutions (IFCAI).

He will be the fourth director-general of WIPO following Georg Bodenhausen of the Netherlands (1970-1973), Arpad Bogsch of the United States (1973-1997) and Kamil Idris of Sudan (1997-2008).

Other matters to be considered at the meeting of the 36th General Assembly , which runs from Monday to Friday this week, are reports from the advisory committee on enforcement, the intergovernmental committee on IP and genetic resources, the committee on development and IP and the standing committee on copyright and related rights.

The October issue of Managing IP, available online next month, will include an exclusive interview with Francis Gurry.