Tang, Daren
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) | Director General - Elect
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Mr Daren Tang, Chief Executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) has been officially appointed as the next Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). WIPO is a specialised United Nations (UN) agency based in Geneva, Switzerland, with 193 member states and an annual revenue in excess of S$600 million. Mr Tang will take over the helm of WIPO on 1 October 2020 for a term of six years. This marks the first time a Singaporean will lead a UN agency, and WIPO’s first Director General from Asia.
Mr Tang will relinquish his role as the Chief Executive of IPOS, a statutory board under the Ministry of Law, where he drove the strategic transformation of IPOS from an IP registry and regulator into an innovation agency that helps to build Singapore’s future economy. His term saw major updates to Singapore’s IP Hub Masterplan, legislative and policy reforms to the IP regime and a scaling up of international engagement. IPOS today has cooperation agreements with over 70 regional and international partners. Under his leadership, Singapore ranked second globally and top in Asia for the best IP protection in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report and IPOS was recognised as the world’s most innovative IP office by the World Trademark Review in 2020.
Mr. Tang holds a LL.B (2nd Upper, Hons) from the Faculty of Law of the National University of Singapore, and an LL.M (with distinction) from the Georgetown University Law Centre, where he was also a Fellow of the Institute of International Economic Law. He also attended the Advanced Management Programme at the Harvard Business School in 2013.
Mr Tang will relinquish his role as the Chief Executive of IPOS, a statutory board under the Ministry of Law, where he drove the strategic transformation of IPOS from an IP registry and regulator into an innovation agency that helps to build Singapore’s future economy. His term saw major updates to Singapore’s IP Hub Masterplan, legislative and policy reforms to the IP regime and a scaling up of international engagement. IPOS today has cooperation agreements with over 70 regional and international partners. Under his leadership, Singapore ranked second globally and top in Asia for the best IP protection in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report and IPOS was recognised as the world’s most innovative IP office by the World Trademark Review in 2020.
Mr. Tang holds a LL.B (2nd Upper, Hons) from the Faculty of Law of the National University of Singapore, and an LL.M (with distinction) from the Georgetown University Law Centre, where he was also a Fellow of the Institute of International Economic Law. He also attended the Advanced Management Programme at the Harvard Business School in 2013.