Dr. Johannes Christian Wichard, LL.M. Deputy Director General, Global Issues Sector, World Intellectual Property Organization, Geneva

Johannes Christian Wichard, a national of Germany, is Deputy Director General, Global Issues, of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) since December 2009. His responsibilities include WIPO’s programs on Traditional Knowledge, Traditional Cultural Expressions and Genetic Resources, Intellectual Property (IP) and Global Challenges, IP and Competition Policy, Building Respect for IP, the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, Small and Medium Enterprises, Communications, External Relations, and WIPO’s relations with certain Countries in Europe and Asia, including Lithuania.

Prior to joining WIPO, he was, from August 2006, Deputy Director General in the German Federal Ministry of Justice in charge of IP law and policy and other economic and commercial law matters. Between November 1998 and July 2006, Mr. Wichard had already worked at WIPO, first in the Industrial Property Law Division, then in the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center. Before that, he was Deputy Head of Section in the German Federal Ministry of Justice dealing with Trademarks and Unfair Competition since 1996, after a brief career in teaching and research at the Faculties of Law of the Universities of Tübingen (since 1989) and Berlin (as of 1995).

Mr. Wichard holds law degrees from the state of Baden Württemberg (Germany), a doctorate degree in law from the University of Tübingen, a master’s degree from Harvard Law School, and was admitted to the New York Bar in 1993.