Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, IS

Asta Valdimarsdottir was a Director in the Madrid Registry, Brands and Designs Sector of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) from 2010 until July 2019.

Asta Valdimarsdottir was previously the Director General of the Icelandic Patent Office from November, 2001 – October, 2010. Prior to that she was Head of Legal Affairs at the Icelandic Patent Office, and worked in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, responsible for preparing Iceland’s accession to many international agreements in the field of IP, the TRIPS agreement, the Patent Co-operation Treaty, the Madrid Protocol, etc. Subsequently she worked on Iceland’s Accession to the EPC (European Patent Convention) and the implementation of the Convention in Iceland which took place in 2004.

Asta Valdimarsdottir has been representing Iceland in international organizations in the IP field. She has been Head of delegations participating in WTO, WIPO, EPO, EFTA meetings and other international forums. She worked on establishing the Nordic Patent Institute, NPI (an International Search Authority for PCT) and was a member of the Board from 2008 – 2010. From 2007-2010 she was a member of the Board for the Administrative Council in EPO and a member of the Supervisory board for the European Academy.