Singapore's intellectual property chief Daren Tang is set to be the new director-general of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)
By Tommy Koh, Published The Straits Times, 12 Mar 2020
On March 4, the 83 members of the coordination committee (CC) of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) chose Mr Daren Tang of Singapore over a candidate from China by a vote of 55 to 28 for the post of director-general (DG).
The CC's recommendation will be considered by WIPO's General Assembly in May. If endorsed by the General Assembly, Mr Tang will be the first Singaporean elected to head a United Nations agency.
WIPO is a UN specialised agency created in 1967 "to encourage creativity, to improve the protection of intellectual property throughout the world". It has 193 members. It administers 26 international treaties. It earns very substantial revenues from the fees it collects from facilitating the processing and registering of designs, trademarks and patents.
Historically, WIPO can trace its roots back to the 1883 Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, the 1886 Berne Convention and the 1891 Madrid Agreement.
WIPO's importance is growing because the world economy is being driven increasingly by innovation and creativity. It is not an exaggeration to say that, for some countries, their most important economic resource is their inventions, innovations and creativity - that is, their intellectual property (IP).
ELECTION OF THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL
The head of WIPO's secretariat, the DG, is elected once every six years.
The current DG, Dr Francis Gurry of Australia, will step down in September, after 12 years. Singapore put forward Mr Tang, chief executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), to succeed him.
Nine other countries had also nominated candidates for the post.
This was the first time that Singapore had put forward a candidate to head a UN agency.
IPOS was established as a statutory board in 2001. Its mandate is to use its IP expertise and networks to drive Singapore's future growth, and to build Singapore as a hub where innovative enterprises use IP and intangible assets to grow.
IPOS is highly regarded for its cutting-edge programmes, competence, efficiency and pro-business policies. Its academy trains Singaporeans and the nationals of Asean and other countries.
Singapore is regarded as having the top IP regime in Asia and one of the best globally, making us a credible country to offer a candidate for the WIPO post.
SINGAPORE'S CANDIDATE
The candidate we put up was Mr Tang, whom I have known for about 20 years. He is an excellent lawyer, a skilful negotiator and a consummate diplomat.
I was Singapore's chief negotiator for the free trade agreement with the United States. Although Mr Tang was then a very young team member, I appointed him to be one of our lead negotiators in trade in services. He did very well.
We subsequently worked together on the legal dispute between Singapore and Malaysia over Pedra Branca. I was the agent of Singapore. Mr Tang rendered valuable service to the team, both in preparing our written submissions and in the oral arguments at the International Court of Justice at The Hague.
He was appointed chief executive of IPOS in 2015. During the past five years, he has transformed IPOS into an innovation agency.
His agenda is to harness the use of IP to grow our economy, to support innovation, and to help our small and medium-sized enterprises to expand their business and create jobs.
At WIPO, he has been the chairman of the standing committee on copyright and related rights. He is therefore very familiar with WIPO.
He has a vision for WIPO. His vision is to work with all 193 member countries and help them to use IP to meet their national priorities.
Mr Tang is intellectually brilliant, yet humble. He is open-minded and consultative. He is a consensus builder. He understands the points of view of countries in the north and in the south, in the east and in the west. He is able to act as a bridge and unite a diverse family. He has the qualities of a good leader.
THE ELECTION PROCESS
The process to elect the DG has several steps. The first step is for the 193 member states to nominate their candidates. At the close of nomination, there were 10 candidates altogether.
Singapore was the second country to nominate its candidate, after Kazakhstan.
The second step is the "beauty parade", which was held at WIPO in February. By then, two candidates had withdrawn, so the eight remaining candidates were invited to make presentations to the WIPO family in Geneva, and respond to their comments and questions.
The third step is for the CC to elect one candidate. By March 4, only five candidates remained in the race.
The fourth step is for the General Assembly to approve the candidate, recommended by the CC, in May.
In the first round of voting, the results were:
• Singapore: 37 votes
• China: 19 votes
• Ghana: 16 votes
• Colombia: seven votes
• Peru: four votes
After the first round of voting, Peru was eliminated, and Ghana and Colombia withdrew. In the second and final round of voting, the results were:
• Singapore: 55 votes
• China: 28 votes
UK, U.S. MEDIA REACTIONS
The Financial Times and The New York Times have reported the election of Singapore's candidate as a "big win for Washington" and as "a victory for the Trump administration", respectively.
Why did the British and American media get the story so wrong? I think it was for two reasons.
First, because they suffer from a big-country complex and cannot imagine how a candidate from a small country could have defeated a candidate from a big country. They therefore jumped to the conclusion that Singapore's victory must be due to the Americans.
We are, of course, very grateful to the US for its support. However, we are not an American proxy.
We are also not anti-China. China is our largest trading partner, and Singapore is China's largest foreign investor.
The US is Singapore's largest foreign investor, and Singapore is the US' largest Asian investor.
Singapore enjoys very good relations with both the US and China. Singapore's foreign policy is to be close to all the major powers, but not to be aligned with any of them.
Second, they were unaware of the success of Singapore's diplomacy. For example, on Sept 28 last year, Singapore was re-elected to the council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation for the sixth consecutive time.
Two months later, on Nov 29, Singapore was elected to the council of the International Maritime Organisation for the 14th consecutive term. The moral of the story is that, sometimes, a small country can have more credibility and support than a bigger country.
SUCCESS OF SINGAPORE'S CAMPAIGN
The success of Singapore's campaign was due to the following seven factors.
First, Mr Tang's candidature had the support of the Prime Minister, ministers and the whole of Government.
One of our ministers, Mr Edwin Tong, went to Geneva to lead Singapore's campaign.
Second, an effective lobbying campaign was orchestrated by IPOS and the ministries of Law, Trade and Industry and Foreign Affairs.
Third, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent four of its best veteran ambassadors, namely Ms Karen Tan, Mr T. Jasudasen, Mrs Mary Seet-Cheng and Mr A. Selverajah, as special envoys to 21 countries around the world, to ask them for their support.
Fourth, our ambassadors and non-resident ambassadors worked hard to persuade the countries they are accredited to, to support Mr Tang's candidature.
Fifth, Singapore's mission in Geneva, where WIPO is located, was extremely active in engaging other missions and in soliciting their support.
Sixth, my colleague Stanley Loh and I hosted a number of working lunches to introduce Mr Tang to the diplomatic corps in Singapore.
Seventh, and finally, Mr Tang himself travelled extensively and visited 27 countries and spoke to three regional groups.
His fluency in Chinese and his sincerity in learning French were assets. A lot of the credit must be given to him and to his special adviser, Mr Geoffrey Yu, a Singaporean diplomat who had previously served as deputy DG of WIPO.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, I would attribute the success of the campaign to elect Mr Tang as the first Singaporean DG of WIPO to three reasons.
First, he is the best qualified of the 10 candidates for the post.
Second, he comes from a country that has an impeccable record on IP.
Third, Singapore may be a small country but it has many friends in the world.
This is the result of the good work of our leaders and diplomats over the past 55 years.
Professor Tommy Koh, rector of Tembusu College, National University of Singapore, was Singapore's permanent representative to the United Nations from 1968 to 1971, and from 1974 to 1984. He was president of the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea (1980 to 1982), and chaired the preparatory and main committees of the UN Conference on Environment and Development (The "Earth Summit") from 1990 to 1992.
By Tommy Koh, Published The Straits Times, 12 Mar 2020
The CC's recommendation will be considered by WIPO's General Assembly in May. If endorsed by the General Assembly, Mr Tang will be the first Singaporean elected to head a United Nations agency.
WIPO is a UN specialised agency created in 1967 "to encourage creativity, to improve the protection of intellectual property throughout the world". It has 193 members. It administers 26 international treaties. It earns very substantial revenues from the fees it collects from facilitating the processing and registering of designs, trademarks and patents.
Historically, WIPO can trace its roots back to the 1883 Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, the 1886 Berne Convention and the 1891 Madrid Agreement.
WIPO's importance is growing because the world economy is being driven increasingly by innovation and creativity. It is not an exaggeration to say that, for some countries, their most important economic resource is their inventions, innovations and creativity - that is, their intellectual property (IP).
ELECTION OF THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL
The head of WIPO's secretariat, the DG, is elected once every six years.
The current DG, Dr Francis Gurry of Australia, will step down in September, after 12 years. Singapore put forward Mr Tang, chief executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), to succeed him.
Nine other countries had also nominated candidates for the post.
This was the first time that Singapore had put forward a candidate to head a UN agency.
IPOS was established as a statutory board in 2001. Its mandate is to use its IP expertise and networks to drive Singapore's future growth, and to build Singapore as a hub where innovative enterprises use IP and intangible assets to grow.
IPOS is highly regarded for its cutting-edge programmes, competence, efficiency and pro-business policies. Its academy trains Singaporeans and the nationals of Asean and other countries.
Singapore is regarded as having the top IP regime in Asia and one of the best globally, making us a credible country to offer a candidate for the WIPO post.
SINGAPORE'S CANDIDATE
The candidate we put up was Mr Tang, whom I have known for about 20 years. He is an excellent lawyer, a skilful negotiator and a consummate diplomat.
I was Singapore's chief negotiator for the free trade agreement with the United States. Although Mr Tang was then a very young team member, I appointed him to be one of our lead negotiators in trade in services. He did very well.
We subsequently worked together on the legal dispute between Singapore and Malaysia over Pedra Branca. I was the agent of Singapore. Mr Tang rendered valuable service to the team, both in preparing our written submissions and in the oral arguments at the International Court of Justice at The Hague.
He was appointed chief executive of IPOS in 2015. During the past five years, he has transformed IPOS into an innovation agency.
His agenda is to harness the use of IP to grow our economy, to support innovation, and to help our small and medium-sized enterprises to expand their business and create jobs.
At WIPO, he has been the chairman of the standing committee on copyright and related rights. He is therefore very familiar with WIPO.
He has a vision for WIPO. His vision is to work with all 193 member countries and help them to use IP to meet their national priorities.
Mr Tang is intellectually brilliant, yet humble. He is open-minded and consultative. He is a consensus builder. He understands the points of view of countries in the north and in the south, in the east and in the west. He is able to act as a bridge and unite a diverse family. He has the qualities of a good leader.
THE ELECTION PROCESS
The process to elect the DG has several steps. The first step is for the 193 member states to nominate their candidates. At the close of nomination, there were 10 candidates altogether.
Singapore was the second country to nominate its candidate, after Kazakhstan.
The second step is the "beauty parade", which was held at WIPO in February. By then, two candidates had withdrawn, so the eight remaining candidates were invited to make presentations to the WIPO family in Geneva, and respond to their comments and questions.
The third step is for the CC to elect one candidate. By March 4, only five candidates remained in the race.
The fourth step is for the General Assembly to approve the candidate, recommended by the CC, in May.
In the first round of voting, the results were:
• Singapore: 37 votes
• China: 19 votes
• Ghana: 16 votes
• Colombia: seven votes
• Peru: four votes
After the first round of voting, Peru was eliminated, and Ghana and Colombia withdrew. In the second and final round of voting, the results were:
• Singapore: 55 votes
• China: 28 votes
UK, U.S. MEDIA REACTIONS
The Financial Times and The New York Times have reported the election of Singapore's candidate as a "big win for Washington" and as "a victory for the Trump administration", respectively.
Why did the British and American media get the story so wrong? I think it was for two reasons.
First, because they suffer from a big-country complex and cannot imagine how a candidate from a small country could have defeated a candidate from a big country. They therefore jumped to the conclusion that Singapore's victory must be due to the Americans.
We are, of course, very grateful to the US for its support. However, we are not an American proxy.
We are also not anti-China. China is our largest trading partner, and Singapore is China's largest foreign investor.
The US is Singapore's largest foreign investor, and Singapore is the US' largest Asian investor.
Singapore enjoys very good relations with both the US and China. Singapore's foreign policy is to be close to all the major powers, but not to be aligned with any of them.
Second, they were unaware of the success of Singapore's diplomacy. For example, on Sept 28 last year, Singapore was re-elected to the council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation for the sixth consecutive time.
Two months later, on Nov 29, Singapore was elected to the council of the International Maritime Organisation for the 14th consecutive term. The moral of the story is that, sometimes, a small country can have more credibility and support than a bigger country.
SUCCESS OF SINGAPORE'S CAMPAIGN
The success of Singapore's campaign was due to the following seven factors.
First, Mr Tang's candidature had the support of the Prime Minister, ministers and the whole of Government.
One of our ministers, Mr Edwin Tong, went to Geneva to lead Singapore's campaign.
Second, an effective lobbying campaign was orchestrated by IPOS and the ministries of Law, Trade and Industry and Foreign Affairs.
Third, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent four of its best veteran ambassadors, namely Ms Karen Tan, Mr T. Jasudasen, Mrs Mary Seet-Cheng and Mr A. Selverajah, as special envoys to 21 countries around the world, to ask them for their support.
Fourth, our ambassadors and non-resident ambassadors worked hard to persuade the countries they are accredited to, to support Mr Tang's candidature.
Fifth, Singapore's mission in Geneva, where WIPO is located, was extremely active in engaging other missions and in soliciting their support.
Sixth, my colleague Stanley Loh and I hosted a number of working lunches to introduce Mr Tang to the diplomatic corps in Singapore.
Seventh, and finally, Mr Tang himself travelled extensively and visited 27 countries and spoke to three regional groups.
His fluency in Chinese and his sincerity in learning French were assets. A lot of the credit must be given to him and to his special adviser, Mr Geoffrey Yu, a Singaporean diplomat who had previously served as deputy DG of WIPO.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, I would attribute the success of the campaign to elect Mr Tang as the first Singaporean DG of WIPO to three reasons.
First, he is the best qualified of the 10 candidates for the post.
Second, he comes from a country that has an impeccable record on IP.
Third, Singapore may be a small country but it has many friends in the world.
This is the result of the good work of our leaders and diplomats over the past 55 years.
Professor Tommy Koh, rector of Tembusu College, National University of Singapore, was Singapore's permanent representative to the United Nations from 1968 to 1971, and from 1974 to 1984. He was president of the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea (1980 to 1982), and chaired the preparatory and main committees of the UN Conference on Environment and Development (The "Earth Summit") from 1990 to 1992.
Singaporean Daren Tang poised to take helm of global intellectual property agency
By Royston Sim, Deputy Political Editor, The Straits Times, 5 Mar 2020
Singapore’s intellectual property chief is poised to head the global intellectual property office, after becoming the first Singaporean to be nominated to helm a United Nations agency.
Mr Daren Tang, 47, on Wednesday (March 4) received the nomination to become the next director-general of the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), which shapes global rules for intellectual property and oversees patents.
He was selected by the agency’s 83-member coordination committee from a slate which originally comprised 10 candidates. In the final round of voting last night, he garnered 55 votes against China’s candidate, lawyer Wang Binying, who received 28 votes.
The nomination of Mr Tang, who is chief executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), will have to be confirmed by the WIPO general assembly when it convenes on May 7 and 8 this year.
WIPO’s general assembly has the final say, and has never rejected a committee nominee since the agency was created in 1967.
If confirmed, he will be the fifth director-general of WIPO, succeeding Australian Francis Gurry, and the first Singaporean to assume a top role in a UN organisation. He would then begin his six-year term from Oct 1.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong congratulated Mr Tang on his nomination last night.
PM Lee said in a Facebook post: “Am grateful the WIPO Coordination Committee supported Daren. We look forward to WIPO’s General Assembly approving Daren’s appointment as Director General in May 2020.”
He added: “This was a team effort by officers in IPOS, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Law, Ministry of Trade and Industry, all our overseas missions, non-resident Ambassadors and special envoys. Well done for flying the Singapore flag high!”
Mr Tang said he was humbled and honoured by the nomination.
He noted in a statement issued by MinLaw and IPOS that the nomination process was a team effort across many government agencies, all of whom worked hard over many months to promote his candidature.
“There were many well-qualified candidates who contested through a fair, open and transparent process, and this shows how important WIPO is to the global community,” Mr Tang said.
“I look forward to the confirmation of the nomination by the WIPO General Assembly in May 2020, and to jointly write the next chapter of WIPO’s future.”
Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Law Edwin Tong said the country is “very grateful for the strong show of support from the WIPO Coordination Committee”.
Mr Tong noted that WIPO’s support when Singapore was still a young country in its formative years had enabled the Republic to develop a strong intellectual property (IP) regime.
“I am confident that, if approved by the WIPO General Assembly in May, Daren will serve WIPO’s interests well, connecting countries and regions across the world,” he said.
As chief executive of IPOS, Mr Tang drove the strategic transformation of the agency from an IP registry and regulator into an innovation agency that helps build Singapore’s future economy, the statement said. His term also 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 more than 70 regional and international partners.
Mr Tang had also served as chairman to WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights since May 2017, and was re-elected for a second term last year.
Before joining IPOS, Mr Tang was the lead negotiator and legal counsel for Singapore in the IP chapters of several important free-trade agreements, and was part of Singapore’s legal team in the dispute with Malaysia over Pedra Branca, which was argued before the International Court of Justice.
* IPOS chief Daren Tang becomes first Singaporean to helm global intellectual property agency
By Grace Ho, The Straits Times, 8 May 2020
Singapore's intellectual property chief has been appointed head of the global intellectual property office, becoming the first Singaporean to helm a United Nations agency.
Mr Daren Tang, 47, was made director-general of the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) on Friday (May 8). The organisation is responsible for shaping global rules for intellectual property and oversees trademarks, designs and patents.
He will begin his six-year term on Oct 1 and will relinquish his role as chief executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS).
During a final round of voting by the body earlier in March, Mr Tang garnered 55 votes against China's candidate, lawyer Wang Binying, who received 28 votes.
He had been selected by the agency's 83-member coordination committee from a slate of 10 candidates prior to the vote.
Mr Tang's appointment was approved on Friday at an extraordinary session of the WIPO General Assembly (GA). This makes him the fifth director-general of WIPO, succeeding Australian Francis Gurry - who held the post for 12 years - and the first Singaporean to helm a UN agency. He is also WIPO's first Asian head.
In his acceptance speech, Mr Tang said that unilateralism and parochialism are threatening to undermine multilateral institutions and urged members to work together in a common global effort.
Laying out his plans for the agency, he stressed the need to build an inclusive, balanced, vibrant and forward-looking global intellectual property (IP) ecosystem.
This would include giving more support to less developed countries, leveraging WIPO's IP data for policy insights, using IP to connect innovators and artists to markets and communities and partnering international organisations seeking solutions to global challenges, such as climate change and public health.
Calling Mr Tang's appointment "a momentous occasion for Singapore", Senior Minister of State for Law and Health Edwin Tong said that during Mr Tang's term as IPOS' chief executive, Singapore had risen through the ranks to become second-best globally and the top performing country in Asia in terms of IP protection, according to the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report.
"I wish Daren all the best in leading (WIPO) towards building a more vibrant IP community internationally," he said.
IPOS board chairman Stanley Lai said: "Having worked with him for several years, the board is certain that the global IP community will be served by a director general who is exceptionally attuned to the interests of countries, economies, and also equipped with a deep understanding of IP and its forceful impact on innovation and global development, especially during these challenging times.
"These qualities will serve WIPO, her member states and the larger IP community well."
By Royston Sim, Deputy Political Editor, The Straits Times, 5 Mar 2020
Singapore’s intellectual property chief is poised to head the global intellectual property office, after becoming the first Singaporean to be nominated to helm a United Nations agency.
Mr Daren Tang, 47, on Wednesday (March 4) received the nomination to become the next director-general of the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), which shapes global rules for intellectual property and oversees patents.
He was selected by the agency’s 83-member coordination committee from a slate which originally comprised 10 candidates. In the final round of voting last night, he garnered 55 votes against China’s candidate, lawyer Wang Binying, who received 28 votes.
The nomination of Mr Tang, who is chief executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), will have to be confirmed by the WIPO general assembly when it convenes on May 7 and 8 this year.
WIPO’s general assembly has the final say, and has never rejected a committee nominee since the agency was created in 1967.
If confirmed, he will be the fifth director-general of WIPO, succeeding Australian Francis Gurry, and the first Singaporean to assume a top role in a UN organisation. He would then begin his six-year term from Oct 1.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong congratulated Mr Tang on his nomination last night.
PM Lee said in a Facebook post: “Am grateful the WIPO Coordination Committee supported Daren. We look forward to WIPO’s General Assembly approving Daren’s appointment as Director General in May 2020.”
He added: “This was a team effort by officers in IPOS, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Law, Ministry of Trade and Industry, all our overseas missions, non-resident Ambassadors and special envoys. Well done for flying the Singapore flag high!”
Mr Tang said he was humbled and honoured by the nomination.
He noted in a statement issued by MinLaw and IPOS that the nomination process was a team effort across many government agencies, all of whom worked hard over many months to promote his candidature.
“There were many well-qualified candidates who contested through a fair, open and transparent process, and this shows how important WIPO is to the global community,” Mr Tang said.
“I look forward to the confirmation of the nomination by the WIPO General Assembly in May 2020, and to jointly write the next chapter of WIPO’s future.”
Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Law Edwin Tong said the country is “very grateful for the strong show of support from the WIPO Coordination Committee”.
Mr Tong noted that WIPO’s support when Singapore was still a young country in its formative years had enabled the Republic to develop a strong intellectual property (IP) regime.
“I am confident that, if approved by the WIPO General Assembly in May, Daren will serve WIPO’s interests well, connecting countries and regions across the world,” he said.
As chief executive of IPOS, Mr Tang drove the strategic transformation of the agency from an IP registry and regulator into an innovation agency that helps build Singapore’s future economy, the statement said. His term also 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 more than 70 regional and international partners.
Mr Tang had also served as chairman to WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights since May 2017, and was re-elected for a second term last year.
Before joining IPOS, Mr Tang was the lead negotiator and legal counsel for Singapore in the IP chapters of several important free-trade agreements, and was part of Singapore’s legal team in the dispute with Malaysia over Pedra Branca, which was argued before the International Court of Justice.
* IPOS chief Daren Tang becomes first Singaporean to helm global intellectual property agency
By Grace Ho, The Straits Times, 8 May 2020
Singapore's intellectual property chief has been appointed head of the global intellectual property office, becoming the first Singaporean to helm a United Nations agency.
Mr Daren Tang, 47, was made director-general of the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) on Friday (May 8). The organisation is responsible for shaping global rules for intellectual property and oversees trademarks, designs and patents.
He will begin his six-year term on Oct 1 and will relinquish his role as chief executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS).
During a final round of voting by the body earlier in March, Mr Tang garnered 55 votes against China's candidate, lawyer Wang Binying, who received 28 votes.
He had been selected by the agency's 83-member coordination committee from a slate of 10 candidates prior to the vote.
Mr Tang's appointment was approved on Friday at an extraordinary session of the WIPO General Assembly (GA). This makes him the fifth director-general of WIPO, succeeding Australian Francis Gurry - who held the post for 12 years - and the first Singaporean to helm a UN agency. He is also WIPO's first Asian head.
In his acceptance speech, Mr Tang said that unilateralism and parochialism are threatening to undermine multilateral institutions and urged members to work together in a common global effort.
Laying out his plans for the agency, he stressed the need to build an inclusive, balanced, vibrant and forward-looking global intellectual property (IP) ecosystem.
This would include giving more support to less developed countries, leveraging WIPO's IP data for policy insights, using IP to connect innovators and artists to markets and communities and partnering international organisations seeking solutions to global challenges, such as climate change and public health.
Calling Mr Tang's appointment "a momentous occasion for Singapore", Senior Minister of State for Law and Health Edwin Tong said that during Mr Tang's term as IPOS' chief executive, Singapore had risen through the ranks to become second-best globally and the top performing country in Asia in terms of IP protection, according to the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report.
"I wish Daren all the best in leading (WIPO) towards building a more vibrant IP community internationally," he said.
IPOS board chairman Stanley Lai said: "Having worked with him for several years, the board is certain that the global IP community will be served by a director general who is exceptionally attuned to the interests of countries, economies, and also equipped with a deep understanding of IP and its forceful impact on innovation and global development, especially during these challenging times.
"These qualities will serve WIPO, her member states and the larger IP community well."
Lunch With Sumiko: Daren Tang, Singapore's IP Man in Geneva, on his to-do list
By Sumiko Tan, Executive Editor, The Straits Times, 13 Dec 2020
When Daren Tang was packing to move from Singapore to Switzerland for his new job posting, he decided to ship his trusted Yamaha piano along as well.
Music - in particular, jazz - is a big love for the lawyer who made history when he became the first Singaporean to head a United Nations agency.
Another passion, not quite as lyrical, but with a connection to music, is intellectual property (IP).
In October, Mr Tang took up the position of director-general of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (Wipo), which is headquartered in Geneva.
Wipo is one of the United Nations' 15 specialised agencies. Others include the World Health Organisation and International Civil Aviation Organisation.
The agency currently has 193 member states, including the United States and China. Among other things, it ensures the protection of IP and also the use of IP to support innovation and creativity to benefit the world.
Prior to this, Mr Tang was chief executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (Ipos), a statutory board which helps innovators use IP to take their ideas to market.
In that role, Mr Tang had served on a committee at Wipo. With Australian lawyer Francis Gurry retiring as Wipo director-general this year, Singapore nominated Mr Tang for the top job.
This was approved by Wipo's general assembly in a closely watched race. Other countries, including China, had also offered candidates.
We're meeting virtually in late November. The time difference means he will be having lunch while I will be eating dinner.
His people have arranged for him to do a Zoom call from Wipo's impressive studio, complete with three camera angles and a virtual backdrop showing a sunny Alpine scene of mountains and lake. I'm told it's a photograph of what he sees from his office window.
I'm calling in from The Straits Times' recreation room in our much less picturesque newsroom in Toa Payoh.
He appears on screen at our arranged time and settles into the studio chair. You have a nice view from your office, I remark.
"But today it's not sunny and brilliant like that," he laughs, referring to the virtual backdrop. "Today is cloudy and foggy. The temperature is about 5 deg C."
Over the computer screen 10,482km away, the 48-year-old is amiable - "call me Daren" - and has the careful, courteous manner one often sees in a diplomat.
He's having cream of pumpkin soup. It's what he normally has over there - "it's convenient and it keeps me warm". To add a Swiss touch, there's a plate of Swiss chocolates.
I've decided to go Swiss myself with a fondue. I'd gone to Carousell to buy a mini fondue set. It's filled with a gruyere cheese dip I made, and I've also prepared a plate of bread, vegetables and fruit.
"Bon appetit," he says.
Go with the flow
His Wipo role wasn't something he had foreseen. "I don't try to structure my life in a very planned way," he says.
He has a go-with-the-flow attitude, and this has given him space to enjoy different experiences.
What he has discovered is that "later on in life, all those past experiences will enrich you and put you in a position where you can do your current work in the best possible way".
He grew up in a four-room flat in Commonwealth Avenue West.
His father, now 74, is Eurasian-Peranakan. He was a businessman and ran a dental studio that made dentures, and is now a tour guide.
His housewife mother, who died 18 years ago, was Cantonese, and he has a younger brother in the food and beverage industry.
Mr Tang says he's grateful for his multicultural heritage. "My dad's side, they enjoy life, and from my mum's side, I got the discipline and the commitment to studying and all that. So it's the best of both worlds."
Another advantage of his background is how he grew up with lots of good food from both sides of the family.
One of the things he and his wellness consultant wife made sure to take along to Geneva was ikan bilis for making soup, and another was chicken powder for use in stir-frying. He has three children - daughters aged 20 and 10, and an 18-year-old son.
He studied at Henry Park Primary, then Raffles Institution, where he was in the scouts, and Raffles Junior College.
He was always interested in music and had piano lessons, although he found music much more enjoyable without a teacher and exams.
Jazz has been a large part of his life, and he helped start the NUS Jazz Band when he was studying law at the National University of Singapore.
He's also a founding member of the Thomson Jazz Club and Thomson Jazz Band. "I don't think I studied very much in law school," he says with a chuckle.
A law schoolmate remembers him in the faculty band. "In between Madonna's Like A Virgin and Material Girl, he would quietly run through bits of jazz standards. I never quite found out if he was amusing or consoling himself. But there he was, a gifted jazz pianist playing rock and metal at boozy faculty jam and hops."
The schoolmate also remembers Mr Tang's dry and laconic sense of humour "plus a first-class poker face, so you can never quite tell when he is pulling your leg".
"He'll be going on about something very serious, like the Peloponnesian War, in that very serious way of his and everybody will be listening intently. And just when everyone is completely hooked, he will suddenly start guffawing. That's when you realise you've just been pranked by Daren."
At NUS, he did constitutional law and international law - not IP law - and thought he would enter private practice.
In his third year, he went on an exchange programme at McGill University in Montreal for a year. He had an amazing time there, but when he returned to his final year, all the pupillage places at law firms had been given out.
"I didn't really have that many choices left. So I thought, why not join the Government? It's going to be an interesting experience."
He joined the Attorney-General's Chambers, was a deputy public prosecutor for a while, then transferred to the international affairs division, where he later became senior state counsel.
He was posted to the Ministry of Trade and Industry to help negotiate the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and was also part of the legal team which argued Singapore's case in the dispute with Malaysia over the sovereignty of Pedra Branca.
Working with experienced diplomats and civil servants gave him a "broader, more holistic view of the law", he says.
The experiences also taught him about diplomacy, managing relationships and understanding geopolitics - all of which have come in useful.
In 2012, he moved to Ipos as deputy chief executive. "That started my arranged marriage with IP, but I've gone on to fall in love with it quite deeply", is how he puts it. He became chief executive in 2015.
Creating jobs
Mr Tang will be the first to agree that IP is not a topic people find exciting. Most see it in legal technical terms, like trademarks, copyright and patents.
"But when you see it in its broader context, when you see how it impacts our lives, it suddenly becomes alive," he says.
He declares, with feeling: "I don't talk about patents, I talk about technology. I don't talk about trademarks, I talk about brands. I don't talk about industrial designs, I talk about design and packaging. I don't talk about copyright, I talk about content."
IP creates jobs, drives enterprise growth and spurs economic development. He points out how Singapore household names like Ya Kun Kaya Toast have been able to make it overseas because they are protected by trademark.
He refers to how Singapore's ST Engineering came up with the Air+ Smart mask, which has a unique microventilator. IP allows the invention to be sold globally and protected from being copied.
The coronavirus pandemic has also amplified the relevance of IP.
The German company BioNTech, which worked with Pfizer to push out a Covid-19 vaccine, has filed close to 70 patents using Wipo's and other systems, he says.
In recent years, Asia has become a big driver of IP, and not just North-east Asia but also South-east and South Asia, like in Vietnam and India. Six out of 10 IP filings with Wipo now come from Asia, compared with four out of 10, 20 years ago.
"You see more and more countries looking at innovation as a way of driving economic growth."
His term at Wipo, which has 1,500 employees and a biennial budget of about $1 billion, is for six years.
It comes at a time of continuing US-China tensions. The pandemic and race to develop vaccines and treatments have also resurfaced issues like pharmaceutical monopolies, IP protection and wider public access to medicine.
I ask what's on his to-do list. He has many and lists them all, but high up there is to help innovators and creators take their ideas to market.
What does being a Singaporean bring to his UN role?
Singapore, he says, does well in world rankings on IP systems. "We are regarded highly for the development of our IP systems, so we are seen as being technically competent in this area."
Singapore is also viewed as a very neutral party that is a bridge builder between different countries.
The Republic's multi-ethnic background - and his own - allows him to connect to different parts of the world too.
Any downsides?
"Singaporeans sometimes think that the technical solution is the only facet of a problem, and that once you arrive at a good technical solution, the problem can get solved," he offers.
"We tend to forget that the relational aspects are very important. We tend to downplay the political parts of it. That, I think, needs to be adjusted."
His background in international work, however, has taught him the requirements needed of a leader operating on the world stage.
Ambassador-at-large Tommy Koh says Mr Tang was an "outstanding colleague" when they worked on Pedra Branca and the US-Singapore FTA.
"He is a good lawyer, a good diplomat, a good team player and a conciliator. I am confident that he would be a very successful director-general of Wipo and bring great credit to Singapore," Professor Koh tells me when I ask for a quote.
Mr Tang and I wrap up the meal and he heads for more meetings. His days have been packed since he arrived and, no, he hasn't had time to play his piano.
We aren't able to take a portrait of him, so his office gets a photo done and e-mails it to me.
I couldn't tell from our Zoom call, but beneath his suit he has on cheeky, multicoloured socks.
I write to thank him for the photo and ask: Are colourful socks a trademark?
"Hahaha," comes his e-mail reply. "It wasn't deliberate, but a bit of flair does no harm at all in an agency that supports innovators and creators!"
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