Sorin Mierlea , President of InfoCons Consumer Protection for Intellectual Property , attends the first day of the Global Forum on IP and AI, organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization – WIPO
Sorin Mierlea , President of InfoCons Consumer Protection for Intellectual Property , attends the first day of the Global Forum on IP and AI, organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization – WIPO
Sorin Mierlea, President of InfoCons, attends today, November 9, 2026, the first day of the Global Forum on IP and AI, organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization – WIPO.
The Forum takes place on November 9 and 10, 2026, in a hybrid format, at WIPO Headquarters in Geneva and online. The event addresses the legal and policy implications of artificial intelligence across the full spectrum of intellectual property rights, including patents, copyright, trademarks, industrial designs and trade secrets.
The program brings together representatives of WIPO Member States, government officials, intellectual property experts, researchers, creators, innovators and private-sector representatives for a dialogue on how the intellectual property system should evolve in the context of the rapid development of artificial intelligence.
The discussions during the first day focus both on the opportunities created by artificial intelligence for research, innovation and creativity and on the challenges concerning rights, ownership, responsibility, the protection of human identity and the use of human creations to train AI systems.
Agenda of the first day – November 9, 2026
10:00–10:10 – Keynote Opening
Opening remarks by:
- Daren Tang, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization – WIPO.
10:10–10:45 – Ministerial-level Remarks
Participants:
- Kim Yong Sun, Minister of Intellectual Property, Republic of Korea;
- Edwin Tong, Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs, Singapore;
- Mari-Leena Talvitie, Minister of Science and Culture, Finland;
- Ziyambi Ziyambi, Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Zimbabwe;
- Liisa-Ly Pakosta, Minister of Justice and Digital Affairs, Estonia;
- Hesham Azmi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Egyptian Intellectual Property Authority, Egypt;
- Kasai Yasuyuki, Commissioner, Japan Patent Office, Japan;
- Kamal Shehadi, Minister of State for Technology and Artificial Intelligence and Minister of Displaced, Lebanon.
10:45–10:50 – Chair Remarks
- Kairat Torebayev, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the World Trade Organization and international economic organizations.
10:50–11:00 – Tech Radar: “Ready or Not – AI’s Next Frontier”
The presentation explores the future development of artificial intelligence and the potential impact of its advancing capabilities on societies, economies and governments.
Speaker:
- Ren Ito, Co-founder and Chairman, Sakana AI, Japan.
11:00–11:15 – Showcase 1: “AI in Action – From Ideas to Real-World Impact”
The session showcases how artificial intelligence can contribute to addressing global challenges, accelerating research and developing solutions with the potential to benefit communities worldwide.
Speaker:
- Anant Madabhushi, Executive Director of the Emory Empathetic AI for Health Institute and Robert W. Woodruff Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Emory University, United States of America.
11:15–11:35 – Coffee Break
11:35–12:45 – Super Session: “Back to First Principles – Is the IP System Fit for the Age of AI?”
The panel examines whether the foundations of the current intellectual property system remain suitable for the AI era and how the balance between encouraging creativity, competition, access to knowledge and the public interest can be maintained.
Moderator:
- Stanley Lai, Head of the IP Practice, Allen & Gledhill LLP, Singapore.
Speakers:
- Jennifer Tauli “Jing” Corpuz, Chair, Indigenous Caucus, Philippines;
- Caroline Gueye, Visual Artist, Senegal;
- Myrtha Hurtado Rivas, General Counsel, Nestlé Waters & Premium Beverages, Switzerland/Peru;
- Cédric Manara, Director, Head of Copyright, Google, France;
- Chijioke Okorie, Associate Professor of Law, University of Pretoria, Nigeria;
- Gaétan de Rassenfosse, Associate Professor of Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Belgium;
- Antony Taubman, Honorary Professor, Queen Mary University of London, and Senior Fellow, University of Melbourne, Australia.
12:45–13:00 – Insight: “Painting by Numbers – The Power of IP Data”
The presentation highlights how intellectual property data can reveal the direction of AI development, the concentration of innovation and the emergence of new technologies.
Speaker:
- Andrew Toole, Associate Professor of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, United States of America.
13:00–15:00 – Lunch Break
14:30–15:00 – Optional Side Event: “My Robot Roommate”
The session explores the integration of AI-powered robots into everyday life and the intellectual property and governance questions that may arise as these technologies become more widely used.
Speaker:
- Emily Kate Genatowski, AI Domestic Robotics Researcher and PhD candidate in Digital Humanities, University of Vienna, United States of America.
15:00–15:10 – Showcase 2: “AI in Action – From Ideas to Real-World Impact”
The session presents how small and medium-sized enterprises are using artificial intelligence to address concrete challenges and develop solutions adapted to local communities.
Speaker:
- Cristian León, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Drovid Technologies, Chile.
15:10–16:10 – “One-Stop Shop: Keeping up with IP and AI”
The session provides an overview of key legal, legislative and commercial developments concerning artificial intelligence and intellectual property, including court decisions, regulations, licensing models and emerging business models.
Speakers:
- Rachel Free, Partner, CMS, United Kingdom;
- Andres Guadamuz, Reader in Intellectual Property Law, University of Sussex, Costa Rica;
- Edward Lee, Professor of Law, Santa Clara University School of Law, United States of America;
- Daryl Lim, H. Laddie Montague Jr. Chair in Law and Associate Dean for Research and Strategic Partnerships, Penn State Dickinson Law, United States of America;
- Elena Perotti, Executive Director, Public Affairs and Media Policy, WAN-IFRA, France;
- Wang Qian, Professor of Law, East China University of Political Science and Law, China.
16:10–16:25 – Coffee Break
16:25–17:25 – “Protecting What Makes Us Human – Is IP the Answer?”
The panel examines the protection of a person’s name, image, likeness, voice and biometric data in the context of increasingly realistic synthetic representations created through artificial intelligence.
Moderator:
- Natalie Corthésy, Associate Dean of Teaching and Learning and Senior Lecturer in Law, The University of the West Indies, Jamaica.
Speakers:
- Marco Bassini, Assistant Professor of Fundamental Rights and Artificial Intelligence, Tilburg University, Italy;
- Imogen Heap, Recording Artist and Technologist, United Kingdom;
- Jakob Plesner Mathiasen, Partner, Gorrissen Federspiel, Denmark;
- Anderson Rocha, Full Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Forensics, University of Campinas, Brazil;
- Kalpana Tyagi, Assistant Professor of Innovation Laws, Maastricht University, India.
17:25–17:55 – Floor Interventions from Member States and Observers
17:55–18:00 – Closing Remarks
The participation of the President of InfoCons in the Forum is part of the organization’s activities concerning Consumer Protection for Intellectual Property, new technologies and the promotion of a transparent, fair and human-centred digital environment that respects fundamental rights.
InfoCons holds observer status at WIPO and is the only consumer protection organization in Romania accredited to this international organization.
Signature: InfoCons Consumer Protection for Intellectual Property Department