Matthijs Geuze is the former Head of the Lisbon Registry (Geographical Indications – GIs) at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). He worked for WIPO in the negotiations on the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications.
Mr. Geuze started his career in the Dutch Patent Office, being its the General Secretary. As member of the GATT Secretariat during the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations, he was involved in the negotiations that resulted in the TRIPS Agreement of the WTO. In the WTO Secretariat, he was Secretary of the Council for TRIPS and was also involved in dispute settlement proceedings on intellectual property matters.
In WIPO, he was Head of the Legal Division of the International Registration Systems and member of the Cabinet of the Deputy Director General responsible for the Brands and Designs Sector.
Matthijs holds a Law degree from the University of Leyden.