Law
Daren Tang
Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization
Born 1972
Photo: Jennifer Jacquemart / European Union · CC BY 4.0
Daren Tang leads the World Intellectual Property Organization, the United Nations agency that administers the international patent and trademark systems. He previously ran Singapore's intellectual property office.
Key achievements
- Director General of WIPO since 2020
- First Singaporean to head a UN specialised agency
- Turned Singapore's IP registry into an innovation agency
Universities
- Nanyang Technological UniversityProfessor
Singapore, Jurong West
Has taught intellectual property law as an adjunct at Singapore universities including NTU.
- National University of SingaporeGraduate
Singapore, Kent Ridge
Took his law degree at the National University of Singapore.
Facts
- He is the first Singaporean to head a United Nations specialised agency.
- He has argued that intellectual property policy should serve small businesses and creators, not only large corporations.
- He began his career as a government lawyer negotiating international trade agreements.