Rodolfo C. Rivas

Director Rodolfo Rivas, is the Assistant Deputy Permanent Representative at the World Trade Organisation working as a Frontline negotiator on four intergovernmental agreements, including the Trade Facilitation Agreement, expected to produce accrued global benefits of over US$1 trillion a year; the revised Government Procurement Agreement, with a market access coverage valued at US$100 billion per year; and the expansion of the Information Technology Agreement, with an estimated value of $1.3 trillion in added global trade per year. Director Rodolfo, is also negotiating the Intellectual Property waiver on the TRIPS Agreement on COVID-19 vaccines and medicines.

He is a member of the Management Board of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Pension Plan and member of the WTO List of Panellists to hear WTO disputes. A member of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) Database of Arbitrators. A Domain Name Panellist with over 40 Panel Decisions at the FORUM, Czech Arbitration Court, Canadian International Internet Dispute Resolution Centre (CIIDRC), Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Centre (ADNDRC), and the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC). He is also a URS Examiner at MFSD and is listed as Pro Bono Counsel at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

While at Israel’s Foreign Trade Administration - Ministry of Economy & Industry in Geneva, Switzerland, he serves as the Assistant Deputy Permanent Representative. In this role, he has created and launched the Trade Lecture Sessions @ the WTO an initiative to bring the latest academic research from the World's top Universities to the WTO with Twelve sessions, featuring the WTI of the University of Bern, Stanford Law School, Columbia Law School, the Hebrew University, and Université libre de Bruxelles. He also negotiates the comprehensive plurilateral Initiative on e-commerce under the auspices of the WTO, which aims to cover over 90% of the US$25 trillion global e-commerce market. He also negotiates the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement under UN's Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) goal 14.6. In this capacity, he successfully represented and defended Israel in its first Arbitration proceeding at the WTO.

As Senior Counsellor Legal & Economic Affairs, he ensured Israel's compliance with International Trade and Economic laws and regulations through training, evaluation, and developing processes and controls. He represented, defended, and advocated on behalf of Israel and its stakeholder’s interests in negotiations and executed Israel’s legal representation at the WTO and in 5 WTO dispute settlement proceedings as third party. He also negotiated the Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA), expected to eliminate tariffs in the global sustainable technologies market – currently valued at US$1.1 trillion, projected to grow to US$2.5 trillion by 2022.

In this role, he also negotiated the dispute settlement chapter of the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) – an agreement aimed at comprehensive services sector liberalization. OECD estimates services account for 68% of global GDP.

As Counsellor WTO Economic & Legal Affairs, he negotiated, concluded, and implemented the expansion of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA), with an estimated value of US$1.3 trillion in added global trade per year. He negotiated, concluded, and implemented the Trade Facilitation Agreement, with benefits of US$1 trillion a year and also negotiated and concluded WIPO’s Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin (AO) and Geographical Indications (GIs), setting a new framework for its global regulation.

In his capacity as the Legal Counsel & Trade Negotiator, he negotiated, concluded, and implemented the revised Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) – valued at US$100 billion per year. As the Legal Consultant at the Mission of Mexico to the WTO in Geneva, Switzerland, Director Rodolfo, represented Mexico in 4 WTO disputes – all with a successful outcome.

During his tenure as a Legal Staff at the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, he managed over 250 domain name disputes under strict deadlines, assigned over 3,000 cases to a multinational staff of 20 lawyers and supervised and trained multinational junior legal staff.

As General Counsel at Stewart Title Guadalajara, S.A. de C.V., Zapopan, Mexico Stewart Title Guadalajara (STG) – subsidiary of Stewart Title Latin America Inc. and Stewart Title Guarantee Company (third largest Title Insurance company in the US with over $2.16 US Billion Dollars in sales). He designed and implemented Stewart Title’s legal and business framework in Mexico and the Caribbean and ensured policy compliance while managing government affairs outreach activities. He also analyzed and assessed legislative/regulatory proposals and critical trends in the industry to identify and track the impact on business objectives and corporate positions. He also negotiated and drafted complex commercial contracts of domestic and international nature and supervised and trained over 30 professional staff members at Stewart Title’s six offices across Mexico.

As an Associate at Gomez Minakata, Romero Attorneys at Law, Guadalajara, Mexico, he prepared risk management strategy reports, represented clients in 20 mediations on financial services proceedings with a 95% success rate and he created and headed the IP department.

At Guevara & Guevara Attorneys at Law, Guadalajara, Mexico, as a Legal Staff, he represented successfully 43 cases before the Labor Attorney General, negotiated and drafted settlement agreements in employment matters and advised a team in Mexico’s top tier football league on general employment matters.

As the Creator, Producer and Host at The Rodolfo Rivas Project in Geneva, Switzerland, Director Rodolfo engages in candid and insightful conversations with talented individuals in International Geneva and beyond with three seasons so far and over 32.4K downloads. He listens to their stories and delves into their views on the challenges and their perspectives on their industries' future. He has hosted prominent persons like: Dr. Willy Mutunga (The Former Chief Justice Kenya), Dr. Chang-fa Lo (The Former Constitutional Court Justice), Dr. Grethel Aguilar (Acting Director General of International Union of Conservation of Nature), Jesus Seade (Mexico’s Undersecretary for North America), Ambassador. Angel Villalobos (Mexico to the WTO), Edward Kwakwa (Assistant Director General at the World Intellectual Property Organisation), David Zonana (a prominent filmmaker). All these episodes and more are available at: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon, SoundCloud, Google Podcasts, Pandora, Stitcher among others.

He is also a litigator, arbitrator, negotiator, translator, manager, author, podcaster, strategist, and policy & compliance professional possessed with a unique ability to manage multi-disciplinary projects and navigate complex challenges with strategic nous and creativity. Simply put, he has been leading and managing multicultural teams for over ten years and he understands business and how geopolitics affects it. He does not care who gets the credit as long as the job gets done. He believes that ideas are great, but execution is what matters, and that is what he does, execution!

An excellent listener, he excels under pressure and is always the calm one in the group. He is an expert in legal advice, negotiation, public policy, and government relations and well-versed in business with 18+ years’ international experience in the private & public sectors. Director Rodolfo, is a regular speaker in international academic and professional events on IP, Tech & Innovation, trade, and dispute settlement and an author of over 37 articles with over 10,500 downloads across various platforms. He is the Creator, producer, and host of The Rodolfo Rivas Project podcast with 3 seasons so far and over 20K downloads.

In his spare time, he writes and occasionally directs films. His specialties are International Trade, International Business, Policy & Negotiation, Management, Intellectual Property, Copyright, Trademarks, Domain Names, Compliance, Arbitration, and Mediation (ADR), Advocacy, Diplomacy, Corporate & Government Affairs.

Some of his publications include:

• The Headnote on the Convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, Oxford Public International Law (OXIO) (July 2021).

• Of International Cooperation, Trade, COVID-19 and Other Demons, Acuerdos revista de derecho internacional de Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism (MINCIT) (December 2020).

• Tarantinos in the Attic: A brief history of Quentin Tarantino’s use of trademarks in storytelling, Medium (July 2019).

• Book review of The Regulation of International Trade: Volume 1 GATT, Oxford Journal of International Economic Law (April 2018).

• To Outsource or to Keep In-House – That Is the Question: A Case Study of Nespresso and Keurig Coffee Pod Recycling Programs, SSRN (May 2017).

• Book review of Theories of International Politics and Zombies: Revived Edition, Oxford Journal of International Economic Law (December 2016).

• Quality Management as Implemented Through Intel’s ‘Copy Exactly!’, SSRN (October 20016).

• Dysfunctional leadership and its impact on organizational performance, SSRN (March 2015).

• Co-authorship with Serah Mutheu Mati, Corporate IP protection in Cyberspace, ABOGADO CORPORATIVO (May 2014).

• The WTO and the private sector: opportunities and benefits, ABOGADO CORPORATIVO (March 2013).

When he is not writing, he is directing short films, including an adaptation of a Stephen King’s story: "The Man Who Loved Flowers" or writing pieces about pop culture, cooking Italian cuisine with a Mexican twist, baking all kind of breads, drifting RC cars, creating elaborate home videos, attending fantastic cinema film festivals, and watching animated films with his daughters.

Director Rodolfo graduated from the University of London, London, United Kingdom 2019 with an MBA in International Management, from Stanford Law School, Palo Alto, California, USA 2010 with an LL.M. Law, Science & Technology, from Universitat d’Alacant, Alicante, Spain 2007 with an LL.M. in Intellectual Property (Magister Lvcentinvs) and from the Universidad Panamericana, Guadalajara, Mexico 2004 with a J.D. equivalent (Licenciado en Derecho). Read less