Four candidates, including Gurry, to run for WIPO leadership

Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Gardens, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2026

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Four candidates, including Gurry, to run for WIPO leadership

Four candidates will run for the Director General post at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), including the current Director General, Australian Francis Gurry.

The other three candidates whose names were received by the deadline at 5pm Geneva time today were Geoffrey Onyeama from Nigeria, Jüri Seilenthal from Estonia, and Alfredo Suescum from Panama.

Despite speculation from some IP professionals that WIPO deputy director general Jim Pooley of the US might be in the running, he was not on the list.

One of the candidates will be nominated in March 2014 by the WIPO Coordination Committee, made up of representatives from 83 member states. The winning candidate will then be appointed by the WIPO General assembly in May.

The selection of the director general is governed by WIPO’s procedures.

more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

This year’s IP STARS Americas rankings reveal that firms are expanding their capabilities, particularly in trade secrets and life sciences
Law firms’ expanding IP capabilities are driving broader industry recognition across a wider range of practice areas
As specialist boutiques challenge traditional firm models, major disputes involving Disney, Ericsson, Siemens and Dolby highlight the firms winning work before the UPC
The firm has added two leading damages specialists as it expands beyond technical analysis and deepens its role in the economics of IP litigation
Josh Seidenfeld, partner at DLA Piper, outlines the emerging legal trends that drive the future of life sciences innovation and how stakeholders can prepare for the future
South Korea's One Law Partners is combining with boutique firm Minwho Law Group to leverage global expansion of K-content and build a broader offering spanning IP, tech and regulatory advisory work
Russell Kennedy's Gina Tresidder on juggling matters, delivering hard truths, and why IP ownership is rarely as simple as people think
Attorney Oran Friar and trainee attorney Harry Cunliffe at Reddie & Grose, share that patent filings for clinical LLMs are surging, but success in the UK and Europe hinges on demonstrating technical innovation
Implementers can use the UK courts to seek FRAND terms for patent pool licences
The first credible UPC spinouts are growing, and they are coming from elite patent litigation teams, suggesting specialist litigators may no longer need large platforms to compete
Gift this article