Chief Executive of IPOS nominated for WIPO Director General position

6 March 2020

Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (“IPOS”), to be the next Director General (“DG”) of WIPO. Selected from a slate which originally comprised 10 candidates, Mr Tang’s nomination will have to be confirmed by the WIPO General Assembly when it convenes on 7 to 8 May 2020. If confirmed, Mr Tang will be the fifth DG of WIPO, and the first Singaporean to assume a top role in a UN organisation.

The DG-nominee confirmed by the General Assembly will assume official duties on 1 October 2020 for a six-year term.

As IPOS Chief Executive

Mr Tang was appointed the Chief Executive of IPOS with effect from 16 November 2015. As Chief Executive of IPOS, Mr Tang transformed IPOS from an IP registry and regulator into an innovation agency contributing to Singapore’s future economy. There have been major updates to Singapore’s IP Hub Masterplan, legislative and policy reforms to the IP regime and a scaling up of international engagement. Currently, IPOS has cooperation agreements with over 70 regional and international partners.

IPOS has been recognised as Asia’s most innovative IP office and ranked 2nd in the world by the World Trademark Review in 2019. Singapore has also been ranked 2nd in the world for IP protection by the World Economic Forum (2018/2019), and one of the top 10 countries in WIPO’s annual Global Innovation Index since 2015.

Mr Tang has also served as Chairperson to its Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights since May 2017 and was re-elected as Chairperson for a second term in 2019.

Before he joined IPOS, Mr Tang was a Senior State Counsel with the International Affairs Division of the Attorney-General’s Chambers, where he advised the Singapore Government on numerous complex international law issues.

What this nomination means for Singapore

We congratulate Mr Tang as well as the many agencies of the Singapore Government that made this historic milestone possible. The nomination also demonstrates the significant esteem that countries hold for Singapore and our commitment to effective protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights, in support of innovation, research and enterprise. We are proud of this strong achievement.