Appointment of new Chief Executive, Intellectual Property Office of Singapore

06 NOV 2015

6 Nov 2015 Posted in Press releases

  1. Mr Tang Heng Shim Daren will assume the appointment of Chief Executive (CE) of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) with effect from 16 November 2015. He succeeds Mr Tan Yih San, who has served as CE, IPOS since June 2011. Mr Tan will join the private sector.

  2. Tang Heng Shim Daren holds a LL.B (2nd Upper, Hons) from the Faculty of Law of the National University of Singapore, and an LL.M (with distinction) from the Georgetown University Law Centre, where he was also a Fellow of the Institute of International Economic Law. He also attended the Advanced Management Programme at the Harvard Business School in 2013.

  3. Mr Tang has been the Deputy Chief Executive (Dy CE) of IPOS since 1 August 2012. He oversees the Registries Cluster and has been responsible for the development of Singapore’s IP regulatory regime, as well as for the overall operations of IPOS’ Registries. He is also responsible for all international IP negotiations, including at the World Intellectual Property Office and in our Free Trade Agreements.

  4. Mr Tan played an instrumental role in shaping the IP landscape in Singapore during his tenure as CE. He changed Singapore’s patents regime to a positive grant system, and developed a new ability for IPOS to be able to examine patents in-house. These changes were key in IPOS’ appointment last year by WIPO as ASEAN’s first International Search Authority/International Preliminary Examination Authority. He put in place the IP Competency Framework, to ensure that Singaporeans have a chance to be trained or know how to qualify for good, well-paying jobs in the IP sector. He established a new customer service centre, called IP 101, to better service the public, businesses and professionals. Under his leadership, international rankings of Singapore’s IP regime remain one of the best worldwide and the top in Asia.

  5. Mr Tan also chaired a grouping of senior ASEAN IP officials from 2013 – 2015 to improve IP regimes across the region. He established IP pathways with our key export markets so that our businesses would find it easier to secure patent protection in those markets. In addition, he reached out and engaged actively with other international stakeholders, foreign IP offices as well as the World Intellectual Property Organization to establish IPOS as a constructive and credible participant in the international IP scene.

  6. The Ministry of Law and IPOS deeply appreciate Mr Tan’s four years of dedicated service and contributions to IPOS, and wish him continued success and fulfilment in his future endeavours. We welcome Mr Tang, as IPOS embarks on its next phase of development to build Singapore as an IP hub and work with other stakeholders to help drive innovation in Singapore.

  7. The write-ups of Mr Tan and Mr Tang are given at the Annex (0.1MB).

MINISTRY OF LAW
06 NOVEMBER 2015

Last updated on 09 Nov 2015