Francis Gurry was appointed Director General of WIPO in October, 2008. 

  • Born: May 17, 1951
  • Family: Married, three children
  • Nationality: Australian
  • Languages: English, French

Academic qualifications

Year Qualifications
1974 Bachelor of Laws, University of Melbourne
1975 Qualified legal practioner, Australia
1976 Master of Laws, University of Melbourne
1980 Doctor of Philosophy, University of Cambridge

Professional experience

Year Role
1974 - 1976 Practice as legal attorney in Melbourne and Sydney (1984)
1979 – 1984 Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Melbourne
1982 – 1983 Visiting Professor of Law, University of Dijon, France
1985 – 2008 Various positions in the Secretariat of WIPO, including Legal Counsel, Assistant Director General and Deputy Director General
2008 – 2020 Director General, WIPO
2008 – 2020 Secretary General, International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV)

Other appointments

  • Chair, High-Level Committee on Management (HLCM) of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board (CEB) (2012-present)
  • Member, Consultative Commission for International Geneva (Commission consultative sur les relations de la Genève internationale)

Publications

  • Breach of Confidence (1984), Oxford University Press, Clarendon, pp i-xxvii, 1 – 487 (now published as Gurry on Breach of Confidence. The Protection of Confidential Information, Second Edition by Tanya Aplin, Lionel Bently, Phillip Johnson, and Simon Malynicz, Oxford University Press, Clarendon, 2012)
  • With Frederick M. Abbott and Thomas Cottier, International Intellectual Property in an Integrated World Economy (2007), Aspen, New York, pp. 1-683 (Second Edition, 2011, Aspen Casebook Series, New York, pp. 1-824)
  • Various chapters in books and articles and interviews in journals and newspapers (list available)

Honours and distinctions

Year Honours and distinctions
1980 Yorke Prize, Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge
2001 Honorary Professorial Fellow, University of Melbourne, Australia
2009 Honorary Professor, Peking University, China
2012 Honorary Professor, Eurasian National University, Kazakhstan
2009 Honorary Doctorate, University of National and World Economy, Bulgaria
2010 Honorary Doctorate, Haifa University, Israel
2010 Honorary Doctorate, National Technical University of Ukraine (Kyiv Polytechnic Institute)
2010 Honorary Doctorate, Renmin University, China
2011 Honorary Doctorate, University of Akron, USA
2012 Honorary Doctorate, Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
2012 Honorary Member of the University Council of the Arts (Claustro Universitario de las Artes), University of Alcalá, Spain
2008 Member, European Academy of Sciences and Arts
2012 Fellow, Australian Institute of International Affairs

Advisory, editorial, other boards

  • Campaign Patron, Campaign for the University of Melbourne
  • Honorary Chair, Board of Management, Centre for China Innovation Index Research, Peking University
  • Advisory Board, Geneva LL.M. in International Dispute Settlement (MIDS), University of Geneva and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies
  • Honorary Advisory Board, Melbourne Journal of International Law
  • Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law, Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
  • Intellectual Property Forum
  • Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia, Faculty of Law, University of Melbourne, Australia
  • Indian Journal of Intellectual Property
  • SCRIPT-ed- A Journal of Law, Technology & Society (University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom)