This committee will be run as a double delegation committee.

Topic Summary

As information has become increasingly digitized, economic espionage has become easier than ever, allowing companies and governments to steal information with unprecedented ease. At the same time, as the global economy has become more and more dependent upon technological development, the incentives for economic espionage have only become more significant for developing nations to grow their economies and improve the humanitarian situation of their people. A projected 250 million USD is stolen using economic espionage each year, and this problem is likely to continue growing in the coming years. While prior action has attempted to mitigate this rapid growth in economic espionage, attempting to create an international arbitration system which nations can appeal to, little headway has been made in actually solving the problem, with economic espionage only becoming yet more rampant since significant action was last taken to mitigate the issue in 1994. It is important to remember the complex nature of this issue, with any solution demanding both a recognition of the incentives that lead corporations and governments in developing nations to engage in economic espionage as well as the rights of copyright holders and the increasingly large threat to their IPs. Whether we can find a solution that allows us to recognize both these seemingly contrary rights is an open question.

Director Letter

Dear Delegates,

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the World Intellectual Property Organization for the 2025 session of Harvard National Model United Nations! I am honored to have the opportunity to see all of you and serve as your Director. I am excited for our hopefully lively and cooperative discussions on these deep and important issues.

My name is Jason Morganbesser. I am a rising sophomore living in Quincy House planning to concentrate in Philosophy. I have been involved in Model UN since my Sophomore year in High School, first competing while in high school and then judging in college. I was previously Assistant Director of the UNHRC at HMUN 2024 and of ASEAN at HNMUN 2024. This year, I am excited to direct the IMF committee at HMUN as well as this committee. I hope my experience as both a former competitor and a director will allow me to facilitate an intellectually rewarding, substantive, and successful committee.  

Model UN has been an incredibly rewarding and valuable part of my life since I started down this path four years ago, and I hope that I can continue to support that experience for you as well. As a chair, I value the quality of the ideas put forth by delegates, their ability to both address the complexities of the issue at hand with bold ideas as well as to be practically effective and feasible. I also value a close connection between the stated position of the delegate and the actual position of the country. 

With rapid growth in the technological discovery that stimulates economic growth and humanitarian development, the issues we will be discussing could not be more pressing. Widespread economic espionage to the tune of 250 billion USD a year forces us to consider how we can continue to support the rapid humanitarian and economic improvement that we have seen throughout the developing world while respecting the rights of IP holders. I hope that through our session, we will be able to arrive at collaborative solutions that take into account the complex ground and importance of these areas.

I am excited to be able to work with you at our annual conference and would be happy to support you on any stage of the process, from researching to the end of the conference. Please reach out with any questions or concerns, and I’m excited to work with you all!

Sincerely,

Jason Morganbesser

Director, World Intellectual Property Organization