Jess Honculada

Essential Hague for Practitioners Seminar Guest Lecturer

Jess Honculada is happy to be living through the most creative period of human history where innovation drives solutions to multiple and complex challenges.  It is therefore no surprise that she finds professional fulfillment in working at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the global forum for IP services, policy, information and cooperation.

 

As a lawyer with over 20 years of experience, Jess has worked in the private and public sectors and in the national and international scene. She first practiced law in Manila.  Eager to go into public service, she subsequently joined the Office of the President of the Philippines witnessing, first hand, the making of national politics at the core of executive leadership.  Her first international posting was with the United Nations Compensation Commission in Geneva.  That was back in 1996.  Since then, she has adopted Geneva as home, raised two daughters into strong women and made the mythical Swiss alps her favorite leisure and passion. From the UN, she moved to WIPO, serving first at the Office of the Legal Counsel where she enjoyed the thrilling challenge of establishing WIPO Lex, now the leading global resource on IP legal intelligence. She then joined WIPO’s Human Resources Management Department where among others, she led the review and revamp of WIPO’s internal justice system and played a key role in developing the organizational policy on flexible working arrangements for staff.  In her current role as Head of the Hague Development and Promotion Section of the Hague Registry, Jess is responsible for outreach, promotion and effective information dissemination relating to the Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs, ensuring its continued geographic expansion and business development.  She also manages customer relations and sees to it that Hague System customer-facing tools deliver a seamless customer journey. Regular yoga practice, hiking, ski touring and biking help Jess keep a balanced perspective of the essentials of work and well-being.