WIPO’s Coordination Committee Nominates Singapore’s Daren Tang for Post of Director General; Press Release, World Intellectual Property Organization, March 4, 2020

Press Release, World Intellectual Property Organization;

WIPO’s Coordination Committee Nominates Singapore’s Daren Tang for Post of Director General

"The WIPO General Assembly will meet in an extraordinary session on May 7-8, 2020, to confirm the Coordination Committee’s nomination.

The process of electing a Director General is governed by the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization and “2019 Procedures for the Nomination and Appointment of Directors General of WIPO,” adopted by Member States in October 2019.

The Coordination Committee, which comprises 83 member states, met on March 4, and held two rounds of voting from an initial list of six candidates. Kazakhstan’s candidate withdrew her candidacy ahead of the first round of voting. Following the first round, the candidate with the least votes, from Peru, was eliminated.

Two other candidates – from Colombia and Ghana – withdrew their candidatures ahead of the second round of voting.

Mr. Tang prevailed in the second and final round of voting with 55 votes; Ms. Binying Wang of China received 28 votes.

Mr. Tang...is the Chief Executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore.

The term of the current Director General, Mr. Francis Gurry, ends on September 30, 2020."

Singaporean named to head intellectual property agency; AP via The Washington Post, March 4, 2020

Jamey Keaten | AP via The Washington Post; Singaporean named to head intellectual property agency

"A Singaporean official defeated a candidate from China in a leadership contest for the U.N.’s intellectual property body, which was swept into a rift between Washington and Beijing over claims of Chinese theft of technological know-how.

Daren Tang, 47, the CEO of Singapore’s intellectual property office, won a crucial nomination to become the next director-general of the World Intellectual Property Organization over China’s Wang Binyang, a veteran at the agency.

The “coordination committee” handed a 55-28 victory to Tang in a final round of voting that began Wednesday with five candidates vying to replace the agency’s outgoing chief, Francis Gurry of Australia...

WIPO’s general assembly has final say in May, but it has never rejected a committee nominee since the 192-country agency was created in 1967."

Singapore’s Daren Tang to Succeed Gurry as Next WIPO Director General; IPWatchdog, March 4. 2020

IPWatchdog; Singapore’s Daren Tang to Succeed Gurry as Next WIPO Director General

"Daren Tang has been elected to be the next WIPO Director General, succeeding Francis Gurry.
 
Tang is currently the Chief Executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS). He has served in this capacity since 2015. Prior to that he was Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Legal Counsel for IPOS and Senior State Counsel, International Affairs Division at the Singapore Attorney-General’s Chambers. He also has served as Chairperson for WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights."

China already leads 4 of the 15 U.N. specialized agencies — and is aiming for a 5th; The Washington Post, March, 3, 2020

Courtney J. Fung and Shing-Hon Lam, The Washington Post; China already leads 4 of the 15 U.N. specialized agencies — and is aiming for a 5th

Beijing is campaigning to lead the global intellectual property agency

"The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a U.N. agency specializing in intellectual property protection, will pick a new head this week. China now heads up four of the 15 U.N. specialized agencies — the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Telecommunication Union, the Food and Agriculture Organization, and the U.N. Industrial Development Organization.

Beijing is running a campaign to lead WIPO — despite U.S. and E.U. concerns about China’s lack of protection for intellectual property rights. China is also a huge user of the global intellectual property system, filing almost half of global patent applications in 2018."

China Vies to Run U.N. Patent Office in Bid for Fifth Leadership; Reuters via The New York Times, March 4, 2020

Reuters via The New York Times; China Vies to Run U.N. Patent Office in Bid for Fifth Leadership

"A Chinese lawyer is one of two Asian favorites to head the world patent office, a post that would give Beijing its fifth U.N. leadership role and, according to its critics, an unprecedented level of influence over new technologies.

Voting opened on Wednesday at the 193-member Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which shapes global rules for intellectual property and oversees a patent system in which China and its firms, like telecoms giant Huawei Technologies, have a growing stake.

The Coordinating Committee, a group of 83 countries chaired by France, met behind closed doors to choose a nominee. Whoever is chosen needs to be confirmed at a general assembly in May...

WIPO members vote by secret ballot and campaign videos have not been made public."