The Coordination Committee, which represents 83 of the Organisation’s 184 member states, approved the appointments yesterday.
The new team of deputy directors-general will be: Geoffrey Onyeama (Nigeria) who will be responsible for development; James Pooley (US) in charge of patents; Binying Wang (China), the only woman appointee, who will look after trade marks, industrial designs and geographical indications; and Johannes Christian Wichard (Germany) who will have responsibility for the new portfolio of global issues, which includes external relations and communications.
The three assistant directors-general will be Trevor C Clarke (Barbados), in charge of copyright and related rights; Ramanathan Ambi Sundaram (Sri Lanka), responsible for administration and management; and Yoshiyuki Takagi (Japan), who will take care of the new sector, global IP infrastructure.
The appointments are effective from December 1 and will last for five years. However, Pooley will take up the vacant appointment with responsibility for patents immediately.
The existing deputy directors general are Philippe Petit, Narendra Sabharwal and Michael Keplinger, and the assistant directors-general Ernesto Rubio, Geoffrey Onyeama and Binying Wang.
The appointments were drawn from a list of 20 people nominated by member states. Gurry said his proposals were based first and foremost on the candidates’ experience and skills but also took account of the need to recruit on a broad geographical basis.
