Francis Gurry of Australia appointed as DG of WIPO

Geneva , Sep 23 : The World Intellectual Property Organisation, one of the specialised agencies of the United Nations, today said Francis Gurry of Australia has been appointed as the Director General of the organisation.

The six-year term of Gurry would start from October 1, 2008, WIPO said in a statement.

"I would introduce a number of new initiatives to ensure that WIPO and the international intellectual property system contribute to promoting innovation and creativity in the face of many challenges," Gurry said.

Gurry replaces outgoing Director General Kamil Idris of Sudan, who served the international body since 1997.

"The challenges are even more fundamental," Gurry said, adding "the twentieth century model of returning value to creators, performers and their business associates, which relied on the distribution of physical packages containing the works, is under the most radical of threats from the convergence of expression in digital technology and the distributional power of the Internet".

Gurry would also hold the position of Secretary General of International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), an organisation that encourages the development of new plant varieties, it said.

Gurry, a law practitioner, joined the patent agency of the UN in 1985 and has served as Deputy Director General of the WIPO.