The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has appointed Laura Peter to a six-year term as deputy director general of the Patents and Technology Sector, effective 1 October.
Peter has been executive director of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s Office of Research Commercialization and Partnerships since April 2024.
Peter, who has more than 25 years’ experience in intellectual property, previously served as deputy director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) from November 2018 to January 2021.
At WIPO, she will be in charge of administering the Patent Cooperation Treaty, which enables inventors to file patent applications simultaneously in each of the participating countries.
She will also be responsible for WIPO’s programmes related to the law of patents and their application.
“I look forward to working with WIPO’s outstanding staff, member states, intellectual property offices, innovators, universities, and industry to advance a global IP system that is trusted, technically excellent, efficient, and accessible,” says Peter. “Together, we have an opportunity to strengthen international cooperation, expand opportunity, and ensure that the global intellectual property system continues to enable innovation for generations to come.”
John Squires, the United States under secretary of commerce for intellectual property and director of the USPTO, says Peter’s “expertise makes her uniquely qualified, including her experience in the private sector, academia, and her prior role as deputy director of the USPTO, where she helped oversee an organisation of 13,000 employees. Laura’s work will benefit patent stakeholders worldwide, and we look forward to working closely with her as WIPO deputy director general.”
