IFIA HISTORY

During the first International Inventors Conference held on 11 July 1968 in London, the first effective international cooperation between the national inventors’ associations was fostered and the International Federation of Inventors’ Associations was formed. The representatives of seven inventor associations from Denmark, Finland, West Germany, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland were present at the conference.

For some years, Mr. Harald, Director of the Swedish Inventions Office in collaboration with Mr. Leif Nordstrand collected information and made contacts in other countries and worked quietly away preparing the ground for the formation of international inventors bodies.
The first Statutes were drafted on 27 June 1968, circulated prior to the conference, and approved during the General Assembly meeting.

The first President of the newly established inventors' federation was elected to be Mr. W.A. Richardson, chairman of the British Institute of Patentees and Inventors. The vice presidents were Dr. F. Burmester (West Germany), S. Green (Great Britain), F. Pfaffli (Switzerland), H. Romanus (Sweden) and the chairman was S. Green (Great Britain). IFIA Secretariat was opened in 207 Abbey House, 2-8 Victoria Street, Westminster, London, and Mr. A. L. T. Cotterell, Secretary of the British Association was elected as the Secretary of the Federation.

The council of the Institute of Patentees and Inventors, London, gave a dinner on Thursday, 11 July at the Hotel Café Royal, Regent Street, London, to commemorate the inauguration of the new Federation.
The first bulletin was published in September 1968 including a message from the president declaring the objectives of the federation formation. The first international symposium on the situation of inventors was jointly organized by the International Federation of Inventors' Associations and World Intellectual Property Organization from May 21 to 24, 1984 in WIPO headquarters in Geneva.