Alumnus Daren Tang to head UN patent agency WIPO for second term

Congratulations to our alumnus, Mr Daren Tang ’97, on being reappointed Director General of the United Nations’ patent and innovation agency for a second six-year term.

He is the first Singaporean to lead a major UN agency, when he was first appointed to the role in October 2020. The World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO’s) 194 member states reappointed Mr Tang during the agency’s general assembly, and Mr Tang’s second term will run from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2032.

From Student Leader to Global Visionary

Mr Tang’s journey from the classrooms of NUS Law to the helm of a major United Nations agency in Geneva is a testament to the versatility of a legal education.

Long before he was a global diplomat, Mr Tang was a familiar, vocal presence on campus. As Law Club President in his final year, he wasn’t afraid to “light a few little fires” for the student body—initiating the school’s first Law Careers Fair and advocating for curriculum reviews. Reflecting on those years, he noted that the rigour of his legal training at NUS Law provided the logical and methodical foundation necessary for any field, be it government, diplomacy or business.

He said, “One of the great advantages of a legal education is that it trains you to analyse any situation … and then to express yourself succinctly and concisely.”

Mr Tang graduated from NUS Law in 1997 and later obtained an LLM (with distinction) from Georgetown University, where he was also a Fellow of the Institute of International Economic Law. He also attended the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School in 2013.

A Trajectory of Excellence

Mr Tang’s career is a masterclass in professional evolution. He began as an international lawyer with the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), serving as Senior State Counsel with the International Affairs Division of the AGC, advising on complex international disputes. His shift to intellectual property was what he jokingly called an “arranged marriage”—his first contact with IP law began when he was doing his postgraduate studies at Georgetown, and that grew into a passion. As Chief Executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), he transformed the organisation from a traditional IP registry into a dynamic innovation agency, setting the stage for his move to Geneva in 2020 and, now, his continued leadership for a further six years.

Impact and Vision

In his first term at WIPO as the fifth WIPO Director General, Mr Tang championed IP as a catalyst for jobs, investment and growth, ensuring it serves as a driver for enterprise.

As he prepares for his second term, he said, “For the second term, this work will continue, so that WIPO’s IP systems are efficient and effective in serving users, global IP standards continue being updated to meet the needs of innovators and creators in a fast-changing world driven by AI, IP continues to be protected and used by millions around the world and harnessed to address global challenges, and IP moves from the periphery to the centre.”