At UN's Wipo, Daren Tang strives to create an equal music for haves and have-nots

S'porean helming agency works to simplify intellectual property and strike a balance

- Ravi Velloor

Shortly after he took over as director-general of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (Wipo) five years ago—the first Singaporean to head a major UN agency—an ambassador from an African nation had this to say to Mr Daren Tang.

"The problem with intellectual property, DG," he told the former government lawyer, "is that it is too intellectual."

The 53-year-old Mr Tang, who in an earlier career avatar had been involved in some of the trickiest trade negotiations on behalf of Singapore, took the message to heart.

In the five years he has helmed Wipo, he has worked to reduce the "cheem" ("difficult to understand" in Singlish) factor in intellectual property (IP) and bring it closer to the ground—something that accompanies people in their daily lives.

"I wanted to make IP relevant to not just 1 per cent of the world but also for the remaining 99 per cent," he tells The Sunday Times. "Of course, IP is a legal right, but it is also about technology, about branding, music, arts and culture. IP should support those innovating and creating, wherever they are in the world."

The world's surface rumblings latterly may be all about rising protectionist instincts, particularly in its biggest economy. But below that is unprecedented innovation as the human capacity to imagine and invent and share soars like never before.

Every minute, more than 40 IP applications are filed somewhere in the world. Since 2018, over 20 million applications have been made each year, including more than 23 million in 2023. These days, seven in 10 of those IP applications are from Asia, Africa and Latin America—up from 50 per cent from these regions a decade ago.

This trend will only increase as investments in intangible assets—think brands such as Yakun and Gojek or SIA's golden bird and sarong kebaya—grow nearly four times faster than investments in tangible assets.