Singapore official set to head UN intellectual property agency says focus is on staying ‘neutral’

Daren Tang beat China’s Wang Binying in a vote earlier this year and Singapore moved to make clear he was not Washington’s proxy

The 48-year-old says he intends to ‘call out’ unilateralism and be a bridge between countries while helming the World Intellectual Property Organisation

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Singaporean Daren Tang said the World Intellectual Property Organisation would continue to be “neutral and professional” in its efforts to safeguard global intellectual property and patents. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 8:30pm, 19 May 2020Updated: 11:05pm, 19 May 2020

Corrected [10:06pm, 19 May, 2020]

[10:06pm, 19 May, 2020]
An earlier version of this story said Wipo "currently has 43 million patents in its database". The article has been amended to say "According to its February report, it has approximately 14 million active patents and 49.3 million trademarks as of 2018".

The Singaporean set to head the United Nations agency overseeing intellectual property issues says his focus will be to “call out” unilateral behaviour as more countries display protectionist tendencies and the US-China feud deepens.

Daren Tang Heng Shim, 48, who was earlier this month appointed to the role after he beat China’s Wang Binying in a vote, said the World Intellectual Property Organisation (Wipo) would continue to be “neutral and professional” in its efforts to safeguard global intellectual property and patents.

He rejected the suggestion that his appointment – something the United States had lobbied for to push back against China’s efforts to gain influence in international bodies – would raise questions about his independence.

Daren Tang, who will be Wipo’s next director general, speaks to the media at its Geneva headquarters in March. Photo: EPA-EFE

“The election results speak for themselves. It wasn’t a candidacy that was backed by one part of the world or a region,” Tang said, pointing to how the 55 votes he received against Wang’s 28 came from a mix of developed and developing countries.

“We made it clear that we are going to bring that Singapore ability to build bridges and that’s what’s needed at Wipo,” he told This Week in Asia in an interview.