AUSTRIA FULLY SUPPORTS USG ON WIPO DG ELECTION

UNCLAS VIENNA 000635 SIPDIS FOR U.S. MISSION GENEVA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AORC WIPO KIPR ETRD PREL AU SUBJECT: AUSTRIA FULLY SUPPORTS USG ON WIPO DG ELECTION REF: STATE 47559 ¶1. On May 7, emboffs delivered reftel talking points to Robert Ullrich, Head of the Patent Office's Legal Department, a part of the Ministry of Transportation, Innovation and Technology. Ullrich will represent Austria at the WIPO Coordination Committee May 13-14. We also conveyed the USG position to the Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs. Ullrich assured us that the Austrian position was fully coordinated within the GoA. ¶2. Ullrich stated that Australia's Francis Gurry was the GoA's preferred candidate for the DG post. The GoA's second (unnamed) choice also came from the USG's list of top five candidates. Regarding the voting intentions of other governments, Ullrich opined that EU Member States might support the Polish or the French candidates, while the Italian candidate, following the results of the Italian elections, was no longer a viable candidate. The GoA believes that many developing countries are leaning towards the Pakistani or Brazilian candidate. In Ullrich's opinion, Kenya's James Otieno Odek enjoys some support, but, with an African currently in the position, there may be a preference to rotate the DG position to another region. ¶3. According to Ullrich, Austria fully shares the USG position that WIPO must regain its role as a strong voice in Intellectual Property (IP) discussions and decision-making. Ullrich criticized the tendency in recent years to assign lead roles to organizations such as WHO and UNCTAD on certain IP issues, to the detriment of WIPO. KILNER#