Daren Tang Heng Shim (born 1972) (Chinese: 邓鸿森) is the fifth and current Director General of the

World Intellectual Property Organization The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; french: link=no, Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle (OMPI)) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishi ...

(WIPO). He is also Secretary-General of the

International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants The International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants or UPOV (french: link=no, Union internationale pour la protection des obtentions végétales) is a treaty body (non-United Nations intergovernmental organization) with headquar ...

(UPOV). Tang previously headed the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) and was a trade lawyer for the government of Singapore.

Education

Tang holds a degree from the Faculty of Law of the National University of Singapore, and a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

(

LL.M A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

.) from the

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

Career

Lawyer

Tang served as a trade lawyer and was a lead Singapore negotiator for the eventual United States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement signed May 6, 2003. Tang also led IP negotiations for Singapore in the

Trans-Pacific Partnership The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), or Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, was a highly contested proposed trade agreement between 12 Pacific Rim economies, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Sin ...

, the

Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP ) is a free trade agreement among the Asia-Pacific nations of Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Sin ...

, and the European Union-Singapore free trade agreement.

Chief Executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore

From November 2015 to July 2020, Tang was Chief Executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS). While head of IPOS, Tang chaired WIPO's Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights.

World Intellectual Property Organization Director General

Candidacy

On 4 March 2020, Tang won the nomination for the post of Director General of the

(WIPO), with the backing of the United States and 54 other countries over China's preferred candidate, Wang Binying, who received 28 votes out of the 83 voting members of the WIPO Coordination Committee. On 8 May 2020, Tang was confirmed by the WIPO General Assembly before officially assuming his functions on 1 October 2020.

Tenure

Tang took office as

(WIPO) Director General on October 1, 2020, beginning a six-year term. In his acceptance speech, Tang said: ''“WIPO must work towards a vibrant and forward-looking global intellectual property (IP) ecosystem. It must help the world broaden its perspective of IP beyond its legal and technical aspects to its powerful role as a supporter of entrepreneurs and enterprises, catalyst for investments, driver of economic growth and a promoter of social vibrancy.”'' Tang's administration presented to WIPO's member states a medium-term strategic plan to guide the organization's work through 2026. Under the plan, the WIPO secretariat would work more closely with smaller enterprises and individual innovators and creators, who have previously been underserved by the global intellectual property ecosystem. Youth would be a particular focus. The plan aims for WIPO to continue the provision of high-quality international IP filing services for patents, trademarks, designs and other IP rights, while maintaining fiscal prudence and supporting Member States in their negotiations. Tang's administration launched a new “IP and Innovation Ecosystems Sector” to focus on 'intellectual property commercialization'.

''The ultimate purpose of IP is to change people's lives for the better, help entrepreneurs grow their businesses, improve society, and contribute to economic development.'' Daren Tang, 2021

Personal life

Tang is an accomplished

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

with a love of jazz. He has authored a book on tea under a pen name.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tang, Daren 1972 births Living people Singaporean civil servants National University of Singapore alumni Georgetown University Law Center alumni