Board changes at the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore

1.     The Ministry of Law (MinLaw) today announced board appointment changes at the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS). These appointments will take effect from 1 April 2022.

Appointment of New Board Members

2.     MinLaw has appointed the following new members to the Board of IPOS for a term of two years.

• Ms Usha Chandradas, Co-Founder, (Plu)ral Art LLP

• Mr Edgar Hardless, Chief Executive Officer, Singtel Innov8

• Professor Susanna Leong, Vice Provost (Masters’ Programmes & Lifelong Education) and Dean (School of Continuing and Lifelong Education), National University of Singapore

• Mr Lim Der Shing, Partner and Co-Founder, AngelCentral Pte Ltd

• Dr Lim Jui, Chief Executive Officer, Singapore Innovate Pte Ltd

• Ms Lorraine Anne Tay, Joint Managing Partner and Head of IP Group, Bird & Bird ATMD LLP

• Ms Winnie Tham, Director, Amica Law LLC
  
  

Reappointment of Chairman

3.     Dr Stanley Lai, Partner and Head of IP Practice, Allen & Gledhill LLP, will continue as Chairman of the Board, a position he has held since April 2013.

Out-going Board Members

4.     The following members will be stepping down upon the completion of their current term of office on 31 March 2022.

• Mr Douglas Foo, Chairman, Sakae Holdings Ltd

• Dr Lim Kuo-Yi, Managing Partner, Monk’s Hill Ventures Pte Ltd

• Mr Suresh Sachi, Deputy Chief Executive (Corporate) and General Counsel, Agency for Science, Technology and Research

• Professor Tsui Kai Chong, Former Provost, Singapore University of Social Sciences

• Ms Audrey Yap, Managing Partner, Yusarn Audrey
  
  

Existing Members

5.     The following members will continue to serve on the Board.

• Mr Nicky Tan, Chief Executive Officer, nTan Corporate Advisory Pte Ltd

• Mr Ali Ijaz Ahmad, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Makara Capital Partners Pte Ltd

• Mrs Rena Lee, Chief Executive, Intellectual Property Office of Singapore

• Mr Calvin Phua, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Law

• Mr Tan Pei-En, Divisional Director (Planning Division), Ministry of Education

• Mr Ted Tan, Enterprise Fellow, Enterprise Singapore

• Mr Eric Teo, Consultant of Business Valuation & Advisory, Southeast Asia, Savills Singapore; and Adjunct Associate Professor (Division of Accounting), Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University

6.     MinLaw and IPOS would like to thank all IPOS board members for their service and contributions.

7.     A brief write-up on the new members and the full list of IPOS board members are attached in Annex A and Annex B respectively.

MINISTRY OF LAW

31 March 2022

Media Contacts

(Ms) Amelia Leong
Email: Amelia_Leong@mlaw.gov.sg
DID: 9026 6111

Annex A: New Board Members

Ms Usha Chandradas
Co-Founder, (Plu)ral Art LLP

Ms Usha Chandradas is the co-founder of (Plu)ral Art LLP, an arts publishing entity. She serves as a part-time lecturer at the Nanyang Technological University’s Nanyang Business School), and is a Member of the International Monetary Fund’s Panel of Experts (Legal Department). She is also an Independent Director of OUE Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust and OUE Lippo Healthcare Limited, and a Council Member of Singapore Red Cross. Prior to founding (Plu)ral Art LLP, Ms Chandradas was Legal Officer at the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS), Partner in the Tax Practice Group of Allen & Gledhill LLP, and Director, Community Relations & Outreach of Law Society’s Pro Bono Services Office.

Mr Edgar Hardless
Chief Executive Officer, Singtel Innov8

Mr Edgar Hardless is currently the CEO of Singtel Innov8. Prior to Singtel Innov8, he was Vice President, Strategic Investments at Singtel. Before Singtel, he spent almost seven years with British Telecommunications (BT), the largest telecommunications service provider in the United Kingdom, working in a number of strategy and corporate finance roles across the BT Group, both in the United Kingdom and Asia Pacific. He is an associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales.

Professor Susanna Leong
Vice Provost (Masters’ Programmes & Lifelong Education) and Dean (School of Continuing and Lifelong Education), National University of Singapore

Professor Susanna Leong is currently the Vice Provost (Masters’ Programmes & Lifelong Education) and Dean of the School of Continuing and Lifelong Education at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Her research interests are in IP and technology-related laws, and she has published in international and local academic journals. She is the author of ‘Intellectual Property Law of Singapore’ published as part of the Law Practice Series by Academy Publishing. She is a member of The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Centre’s Domain Name Panel. Professor Leong is also a member of the Singapore Copyright Tribunal.

Mr Lim Der Shing
Partner and Co-Founder, AngelCentral Pte Ltd

Mr Lim Der Shing is Partner and Co-founder at AngelCentral, an angel investment network for angel investors in Singapore and Southeast Asia. Prior to this, he co-founded JobsCentral Group, a platform for career and employment matters, which was acquired by US-based CareerBuilder in 2011. He currently serves as a Board member on the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) and is a member of the Pro-Enterprise Panel (PEP). He was a member of the main committee for the Committee on the Future Economy and co-led the Subcommittee on Future Corporate Capabilities and Innovation (Startups). Mr Lim also volunteers in the SkillsFuture Advice Functional Committee of SouthWest Community Development Council as Chairman.

Dr Lim Jui
Chief Executive Officer, Singapore Innovate Pte Ltd

Dr Lim Jui is currently the CEO of SGInnovate, a company wholly owned by the Singapore government to develop the Deep Tech economy through talent development, equity investments, and community building. While he trained in medicine, Dr Lim has spent most of his professional life in the business of science and innovation. Before joining SGInnovate, he was the CEO of NTUitive, the innovation and enterprise company of the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), where he oversaw the commercialisation of NTU’s R&D outcomes. His other prior positions include serving as Executive Director of the Medical Engineering Research and Commercialisation Initiative (MERCI) at NUS; Programme Director of the Singapore-Stanford Biodesign Programme; CEO of Merlin Medical, a medical device startup that developed an approved (CE Mark) intracranial stent for the treatment of cerebral aneurysms; and Director of Investments, EDB Investments (EDBI). Dr Lim has been on the Board of IPOS International, the business arm of IPOS, since 2019, and was previously on the Board of the Building and Construction Authority (BCA).

Ms Lorraine Anne Tay
Joint Managing Partner and Head of IP Group, Bird & Bird ATMD LLP

Ms Lorraine Tay is the Joint Managing Partner of Bird & Bird ATMD, and head of its IP Group in Singapore. She acts as a trusted IP advisor to many clients, focusing primarily on general IP advisory and brand management matters. She is often involved in commercial IP transactions in the context of mergers and acquisitions, licensing and franchising. Ms Tay is an active Committee Member of the International Trade Mark Association (INTA), and has served as an IP adjudicator with IPOS. She is also a registered Singapore patent agent.

Ms Winnie Tham
Director, Amica Law LLC

Ms Winnie Tham is currently the Co-Founder and Director of Amica Law, a boutique law firm specialising in IP and technology practice. She has been practising in the IP field since 1993, and has a multi-disciplinary background encompassing both legal and technical expertise. She recently completed her term as the Chair of Harmonization of Trade Mark Law and Practice Committee of the International Trade Mark Association (INTA), and is a Committee Member of the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI) Singapore Group. She was President of the Asian Patent Attorneys Association (APAA) from 2018 to 2021.

Annex B: Board Members of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (as of 1 April 2022)

Dr Stanley Lai (Chairman)
Partner and Head of IP Practice
Allen & Gledhill LLP

Mr Nicky Tan (Deputy Chairman)
Chief Executive Officer
nTan Corporate Advisory Pte Ltd

Mr Ali Ijaz Ahmad
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Makara Capital Partners Pte Ltd

Ms Usha Chandradas
Co-Founder
(Plu)ral Art LLP

Mr Edgar Hardless
Chief Executive Officer
Singtel Innov8

Mrs Rena Lee (Ex Officio)
Chief Executive
Intellectual Property Office of Singapore

Professor Susanna Leong
Vice Provost (Masters’ Programmes & Lifelong Education) &
Dean (School of Continuing & Lifelong Education)
National University of Singapore

Mr Lim Der Shing
Partner & Co-Founder
AngelCentral Pte Ltd

Dr Lim Jui
Chief Executive Officer
Singapore Innovate Pte Ltd

Mr Calvin Phua (Ex Officio)
Deputy Secretary
Ministry of Law

Mr Tan Pei-En
Divisional Director, Planning Division
Ministry of Education

Mr Ted Tan
Enterprise Fellow
Enterprise Singapore

Ms Lorraine Anne Tay
Joint Managing Partner and Head of IP Group
Bird & Bird ATMD LLP

Mr Eric Teo
Consultant of Business Valuation & Advisory, Southeast AsiaSavills Singapore; and
Adjunct Associate Professor (Division of Accounting), Nanyang Business School Nanyang Technological University

Ms Winnie Tham
Director
Amica Law LLC