Singaporean Daren Tang Becomes the New Director-General at WIPO

Mr. Daren Tang from Singapore has now officially become the Director-General at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Mr. Tang, at present, is the Chief Executive at the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS). He will now helm WIPO, which is one of the specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN) for a term of six years starting from 1st October 2020.

It is the first time in history when a person from Singapore is going to lead a UN agency. Moreover, Mr. Tang is now the first Director-General at WIPO from Asia.

The confirmation for the post of the Director-General comes after Mr. Tang had officially won the nomination for the position in Geneva by beating five other candidates.

In their joint release, the Ministry of Law and IPOS stated that with this new appointment, Mr. Tang shall now relinquish his role as the Chief Executive at the IPOS. The two bodies further said that during his time at the IPOS, Mr. Tang successfully and strategically drove the transformation of the statutory board from an IP regulator and registry to an innovative and creative agency for building the future economy of Singapore.

Dr. Stanley Lai, the Chairman of the IPOS board, and Edwin Tong, the Senior Minister of State for Law, congratulated Mr. Tang on becoming the first Singaporean to lead a UN agency as the Director-General at WIPO. They also said that it is indeed a momentous occasion for Singapore.

Mr. Tang, in his acceptance speech, talked about the global challenges faced by people in the present era, which include the deeper forces of parochialism and unilateralism. He urged the member states to respond to the same by working closely together through a mutual and global effort. He outlined his plans for WIPO by expressing the need to build a balanced, inclusive, forward-looking, and vibrant global ecosystem for Intellectual Property (IP), while paying due attention to the countries that require more assistance and guidance. He further said that there is a dire need to work well with the IP offices all around the world for supporting stakeholders, startups, enterprises, creators, and artists within countries. According to Mr. Tang, WIPO must look forward to expanding the global perspective of IP beyond the technical aspects and become a driver of economic growth, a supporter of entrepreneurs, and a promoter of social vibrancy. He also noted that WIPO should leverage its role as a professional, neutral, and global agency so that the IP offices can conveniently come up to discuss their challenges and share the best practices. He mentioned some other priorities as well for making better operational decisions at WIPO and improving the overall international registration system for Intellectual Property Protection.

In the end, he thanked the Government of Singapore, the chair of WIPO’s assembly, the chair of the coordination committee, and all the member states for their immense support, trust, and loyalty. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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