Daren Tang | |
|---|---|
邓鸿森 | |
 Tang in 2024 | |
| 5th Director General of theWorld Intellectual Property Organization | |
| Assumed office 1 October 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Francis Gurry |
| Chief Executive ofIntellectual Property Office of Singapore | |
| In office November 2015 – July 2020 | |
| Succeeded by | Rena Lee |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1972 (age 52–53) |
| Education | National University of Singapore (LLB) Georgetown University (LLM) |
Daren Tang Heng Shim (Chinese:邓鸿森;[1] born 1972[2]) is the fifth and currentDirector General of theWorld Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). He is also Secretary-General of theInternational Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV). Tang previously headed theIntellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) and was a trade lawyer for the government of Singapore.
Tang holds a degree from theFaculty of Law of theNational University of Singapore, and aMaster of Laws (LL.M.) from theGeorgetown University Law Center.[3]
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 theTrans-Pacific Partnership, theRegional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, and theEuropean Union-Singapore free trade agreement.[4]
From November 2015 to July 2020, Tang was Chief Executive of theIntellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS).[5][6][3] While head of IPOS, Tang chaired WIPO's Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights.[7]
He was succeeded as CEO of IPOS byRena Lee.
On 4 March 2020, Tang won the nomination for the post of Director General of theWorld Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), with the backing of the United States[5][6][8][9] and 54 other countries over China's preferred candidate,Wang Binying,[10] who received 28 votes out of the 83 voting members of the WIPO Coordination Committee.[11] On 8 May 2020, Tang was confirmed by the WIPO General Assembly before officially assuming his functions on 1 October 2020.[12]
Tang took office asWorld Intellectual Property Organization (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.”[13]
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[peacock prose] international IP filing services for patents, trademarks, designs and other IP rights while maintaining fiscal prudence and supporting Member States in their negotiations.[14] Tang's administration launched a new “IP and Innovation Ecosystems Sector” to focus on 'intellectual property commercialization'.[15]
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[16]
Tang is an accomplishedpianist with a love of jazz.[17] He has authored a book on tea under a pen name.[18]
| Positions in intergovernmental organisations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Director General ofWorld Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) 2020– | Succeeded by Incumbent |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
