New Chair appointed to ICC Commission on Intellectual Property

ICC, through the policy work of its Commission on Intellectual Property (IP), is the voice of global business on IP issues, working closely with intergovernmental organisations such as the World Intellectual Property Organization and the World Trade Organization. The Commission’s flagship publication—the IP Roadmap—is widely considered to be the leading authoritative reference tool for IP practitioners and aspiring professionals.

This week, Ingrid Baele, Vice-President of Philips Intellectual Property and Standards (IP&S)—the organisation handling all Royal Philips’ IP matters—was appointed Chair of the ICC Commission on Intellectual Property. She takes over from David Koris, the former General Counsel and Head of IP for Shell International B.V. Ms Baele previously served as Vice-Chair of the Commission.

Mr Koris said: “Ingrid has proved herself year after year as a dedicated global visionary in the development, management and commercialization of intangible assets. Her leadership has been instrumental in managing and delivering the IP Roadmap—perhaps our most internationally-recognised product—to our global membership and the wider IP community.”

A Belgian national, Ms Baele joined Philips Research Laboratories in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, in 1987 before joining Philips IP&S in 1990 as IP Counsel and becoming a member of their management team in 1999. In her current position, she is responsible for all IP&S offices and operations worldwide. She has a background in physics from the University of Antwerp, Belgium.

Ms Baele said: “I am very honoured to be appointed in the role of Chair of the ICC IP Commission and I look forward to driving and further building upon our action plan with the entire team.”

The handover took place during the IP Commission meeting in Paris, where major IP developments throughout the world were discussed by nearly 60 delegates from 25 countries.

Read more about ICC’s work on IP on our website.