The International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property or AIPPI, an acronym for Association Internationale pour la Protection de la Propriété Intellectuelle in French (formerly International Association for the Protection of Industrial Property [1]), is a non-profit international organisation (NGO) whose members are intellectual property (IP) professionals, academics, owners of intellectual property and others interested in the subject. AIPPI was established in 1897 and is based in Zurich, Switzerland. It played an active role in the work which led to the successive revisions of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of 1883. It continues to play a major role in harmonising IP laws around the world.
AIPPI operates by conducting studies of existing national laws and proposing measures to achieve harmonisation of these laws on an international basis after consultation and input from its members Groups around the world. It is currently involved in a number of topics to be discussed at its Forum/ExCo in Buenos Aires in October 2009 and continues to work jointly, with other NGOs and WIPO on issues relating to privileged communications between clients and their intellectual property advisors.
The current President is Yoon-Bae Kim from Korea and the Vice-President is John Bochnovic from Canada. The current Reporter General is Thierry Calame from Switzerland and the current Secretary General is Stephan Freischem from Germany. Gunnar Baumgärtel is the current Treasurer general, from Germany. [2]