Exclusive: AT&T chief reveals plans for new Global IP Alliance

First Georgia, then the US and now the world – that should be Scott Frank’s new maxim.

The CEO of intellectual property at AT&T, who spearheaded the Georgia IP Alliance (GIPA) in his home state in 2018 and then the US IP Alliance (USIPA) in 2020, told Managing IP this week that he plans to set up a Global IP Alliance with the help of WIPO by autumn 2022.

Frank says he will work closely with Lisa Jorgenson, the deputy director general for patents and technology at WIPO, who recently joined the USIPA’s board, to set up the new organisation.

“We’ve just formed a new committee called the global IP committee, and the goal now is to launch the Global IP Alliance with the aim of helping as many people as possible to improve their lives – and as we all know, IP plays a big part in improving lives,” he says.

“Everyone around the globe should be aware of IP – it is so fundamental to our existence that every single human being should understand what it means to them.”

He adds that GIPA and the USIPA, which the new worldwide organisation will be based on, have been incredibly successful and it is important to build on that momentum now.

The Global IP Alliance, like GIPA and the USIPA, will have a three-pronged mandate to drive awareness and education, enable ecosystem collaboration, and facilitate diversity and inclusion.

Frank says the new alliance’s first job will be to try to get every country involved and build a representative board.

For more information on the Global IP Alliance, listen to Managing IP’s corner office podcast with Frank, due to be published next week.

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