US set to ‘withdraw’ WIPO funding

The US is reportedly set to withhold part of its funding to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) due to concerns over a delayed investigation into alleged misconduct.

The amount in question is reported to be $370,000, understood to be 15% of the amount the US gives annually to the UN organisation.

According to Fox News, the move is in relation to a probe into allegations by a former WIPO deputy, James Pooley, against the organisation’s director general Francis Gurry.

Pooley claimed in a report of misconduct filed in April last year that Gurry, an Australian, had ordered a series of burglaries of workers’ offices in order to obtain samples of their DNA.

Gurry, according to the allegations, had suspected that some of the workers may have been behind anonymous letters that alleged financial impropriety.

In October last year WIPR reported that WIPO was being investigated externally over the allegations levied against Gurry. That investigation, which was carried out by Netherlands-based Labyrinth Risk Consulting and professional services firm KPMG, determined that a more detailed investigation was required.

According to Fox News, it was not until April this year that the Organization of Internal Oversight Services, the UN’s internal oversight body, announced it would be investigating the claims.

It has been reported that the delay in starting an investigation is the reason for withholding the funding, which comes from the US Department of State.

When the allegations were first published Gurry told Fox News that they were “without foundation”.

He also stated that he has not seen any allegation that is substantiated and that every single allegation is a repetition of a previous allegation.