Geneva, July 9, 2024
PR/2024/922

WIPO Director General Daren Tang opened the WIPO’s Assemblies annual meetings with a call for delegates to work in a spirit of consensus and build on a recent diplomatic breakthrough in support of a transformation of WIPO and the global intellectual property (IP) ecosystem.

Some 1,400 delegates, including close to 20 Ministers, from WIPO’s member states registered to join the WIPO Assemblies, running from July 9 to 17, 2024, the largest number ever.

Delegates will review the Secretariat’s work over the past year and determine future activities according to a strategic direction for WIPO approved by member states in 2022. They will also convene to examine WIPO treaties, which form the backbone of the global IP ecosystem that supports innovators and creators around the world.

“The work of transforming the global IP ecosystem is beginning to show results, not just shaping global IP standards and gaining attention of leaders, but also reaching deeper to the ground, and touching the lives of more people than ever,” said Mr. Tang in an opening address.

“So let us continue as one WIPO community to put in place the right practices, norms, standards, policies and projects so that we can make IP part of the journey of every innovator and creator, and make IP a catalyst for growth and development for every country in the world,” he said.

Read the full text of Director General Tang’s address

The Assemblies follow on a May 2024 Diplomatic Conference, where member states approved by consensus a new Treaty related to IP and Indigenous Peoples, marking a multilateral advancement ahead of a second late-stage treaty negotiations in the year, scheduled for November in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  

“Two months ago, a historic new treaty was concluded at WIPO after 25 years of negotiations. This new, 27th, WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge has sent a strong signal that even in difficult areas with high emotions and strong differences of views, it is possible for the global community to arrive at consensus – if we approach negotiations in the spirit of collaboration, pragmatism, transparency and inclusiveness. The result was not just a victory for the Indigenous Peoples and local communities and a more inclusive IP ecosystem, but also for multilateral negotiations,” said Mr. Tang.

“I urge member states to continue this spirit of working as one, not only as we approach negotiations for a new Design Law Treaty in November, but as we continue the critical task of strengthening WIPO’s work around the world.”

In other activities during the WIPO Assemblies meetings, WIPO will present the nine winners of the 2024 edition of the Global Awards program (on July 12), which recognizes exceptional enterprises and individuals using IP to make a positive impact at home and abroad.

Throughout the Assemblies, member states and others will hold events to celebrate culture, innovation, technology and the importance of relationships in the world of international collaboration for the common good.

The General Assembly is being chaired by Ambassador Alfredo Suescum Alfaro, Panama’s Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization.