Singaporean defeats Chinese candidate to head UN patent office

UN patent office geneva

GENEVA: A Singaporean beat a Chinese candidate in the race to lead the world patent office, heading off Beijing's bid for a fifth U.N. leadership role, much to the satisfaction of the United States.

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