GENEVA (Reuters) – A Singaporean candidate is ahead of a Chinese lawyer in a race to head the world patent office as Beijing seeks its fifth U.N. leadership role in a move critics say would give it an unprecedented level of influence over new technologies.
Voting opened on Wednesday at the 193-member Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which shapes global rules for intellectual property and oversees a patent system in which China and its firms, like telecoms giant Huawei Technologies [HWT.UL], have a growing stake.
The Coordinating Committee, a group of 83 countries chaired by France, met behind closed doors to choose a nominee.
After a first round of voting, Singapore’s Daren Tang was leading with 37 votes versus 19 for China’s Wang Binying, a senior manager at the agency, two sources said. Ghana was third with 16.
Under the leadership of outgoing Australian Director-General Francis Gurry, WIPO has overseen an explosion in patent filings and has begun…
Source Reuters Tech News
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