WIPO Director General Meets Greek President, Other Senior Officials During Two-Day Visit

March 21, 2019

WIPO Director General Francis Gurry met with Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos on March 21, 2019, for bilateral discussions on a range of topics that included the importance of intellectual property for economic development in Greece and elsewhere.

The Director General also met Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Mr. Yannis Dragasakis, and Alternate Minister of Economy, Mr. Stergios Pitsiorlas, for discussions on expanding strong bilateral collaboration and promoting increased use of WIPO’s global intellectual property systems by Greek users.

On March 20, Mr. Gurry participated in Greece’s first-ever high level meeting on intellectual property , which was organized by the Ministry of Economy and Development – the parent ministry the Hellenic Industrial Property Organisation (OBI), which hosted Mr. Gurry for a visit. Mr. Gurry had bilateral discussions with Director General Ioannis Kaplanis of the Hellenic Industrial Property Organization.

The meeting, which included many Greek officials, explored how IP tools can promote economic development, and touched on research and innovation in general. Greek officials expressed enthusiasm and confidence about the country’s planned national IP Council, which aims to increase coordination among the different stakeholders and Government entities engaged in intellectual property.

Mr. Gurry also reviewed and welcomed plans for the establishment of the new Industrial Property Academy, supervised by the Hellenic Industrial Property Organisation. This new Greek institution aims to become a center of excellence for IP education and training, establishing itself as a catalyst for strengthening the Greek IP ecosystem.  The Greek authorities said they will seek collaboration and support from WIPO in areas such as specialized IP training for government and public sector officials, university partnerships and distance learning.