Gurry faces major challenges as he prepares to take the reins at WIPO

We can be pretty sure that Francis Gurry is as old as he says he is. That in itself is progress for the World Intellectual Property Organisation, the UN’s beleaguered IP agency of which the 57-year-old Australian will take leadership at the end of September. Unlike Kamil Idris,the man whom he succeeds, the professional past of WIPO’sdirector-general designate is fully transparent and very well known. There will be no surprise revelations once the reins of power have been handed over.