Pushpendra Rai a national of India, heads the Intellectual Property and Economic Development Division in the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Geneva.

Mr. Rai is responsible for coordinating activities related to intellectual property and economic development; supervising analytical exercises to examine the relationship between intellectual property and various economic variables; implementing programs to assist developing countries and countries with economies in transition in making strategic use of intellectual property for development; facilitating strategic dialogues at the international level on issues of public policy, and for strengthening contacts with other international organizations and specialized agencies to develop synergies in these areas. He is also responsible for coordinating the process for establishing and implementing the WIPO Development Agenda

Mr. Rai has also worked in the WIPO Worldwide Academy, where apart from academic activities he was responsible for the institution’s external relations with Members States, international organizations and educational institutions, and also for concluding framework agreements of cooperation with other institutions for joint organization of courses and programs.

Before joining WIPO in 1999, as a member of the Indian Administrative Service, Mr. Rai worked for several years at the policy formulation and implementation levels in India. He has worked as Sub-divisional Magistrate; District Magistrate; Commissioner and Secretary to the State Government in various fields, including rural development, economic planning and energy management. At the Central level, he has worked in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, dealing with pricing mechanisms, international trade and cooperation.

His last appointment in the Government of India was Joint Secretary, Ministry of Industry, in which capacity he supervised the office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks. He was the Secretary of the National Expert Group on IPRs; Chairman of the National Committee for Amendment of Patent Rules; Member Secretary, Foreign Investment Promotion Council; Alternate Director for India at the Asian Productivity Organization and Nodal Officer for India for two disputes at the World Trade Organization (WTO), in the area of TRIPS. He has represented India in various bilateral and multilateral economic and trade negotiations for several years.

Mr. Rai has a bachelor’s degree and postgraduate degree in Economics from the University of Lucknow, India, a postgraduate degree in Public Administration from Harvard University, USA and a Ph.D. in intellectual property rights from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.