Singaporean Defeats Chinese Candidate to Head UN Patent Office

The headquarter of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is pictured in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 3, 2020. Denis Balibouse/Reuters

GENEVA—A Singaporean beat a Chinese candidate in the race to lead the world patent office, heading off Beijing’s bid for a fifth UN leadership role.

Daren Tang defeated fellow legal expert Wang Binying in a closed-door vote on Mar. 4 by dozens of countries to become director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which shapes global rules for intellectual property.