Entrepreneurship and Innovation: Brands’ Opportunities in Today’s Economy

SYNOPSIS

New technologies and business models are creating numerous opportunities and challenges for today’s brands, and in turn for lawyers managing these brands. From e-commerce to fintech and the “sharing” economy, entrepreneurship and innovation are at the heart of today’s successful start-ups and for established players looking to address up-and-coming competition. According to a McKinsey Global Institute study, “disruptive” technologies will add up to $625 billion in annual economic value in Southeast Asia by 2030. How do companies harness the power and potential of their burgeoning intangible assets to grow and build a lasting brand, confront novel regulatory environments, and compete in a fierce marketplace? Moreover, what is the role of the law, and lawyers, in this changing landscape?

Join us for an in-depth discussion of these and other questions facing Singapore and Southeast Asia’s innovative brands, entrepreneurship and legal landscape, with leading academics, industry professional, including in-house legal counsel and law firm attorneys, and officials.

PANELLISTS AND MODERATORS (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)

Irene CALBOLI is Lee Kong Chian Fellow, Visiting Professor, and Deputy Director of the Applied Research Centre for Intellectual Assets and the Law in Asia, School of Law, Singapore Management University. She is also Professor of Law at Texas A&M University School of Law, and Fellow at the Transatlantic Technology Law Forum at Stanford Law School. She is a prolific scholar, and her recent scholarship focuses on IP laws in ASEAN with a specific interest on trademarks, geographical indications, and cultural assets. She is, inter alia, an elected member of the American Law Institute and an associate member of the Singapore Academy of Law. She serves in several leadership roles, including as member of the Council of the International Law Association (Singapore Branch), Chair-Elect of the Art Law Section of the Association of American Law Schools, and member of the Legislation and Regulation Committee of the International Trademark Association.

Samuel CAMMISS is Director of the Deloitte South East Asia Team, an innovation unit that accelerates new products and services, builds new capabilities, and enables open innovation. Sam’s experience spans service, product, process, and system centred innovation projects in the Digital, Urban, and Sustainability space. Understanding and responding to the opportunities and threats of disruption are a particular focus of Sam’s work, with current projects focussing on cognitive systems and advanced analytics. In the field of Innovation, Sam works on: digital transformation, focussing on cognitive technologies; seeding and enabling innovation cultures; gearing new ventures and new collaborations. In his work, Sam draws on a diverse range of past experiences, with past roles including: innovation consultant, lecturer in digital innovation and analytics (National University of Singapore), economist specialising in innovation investment, chemical engineer, and biomedical researcher.

Gladys CHUN is the General Counsel of Lazada Group, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group. As the GC, Gladys leads the Legal and Compliance department for Lazada Group and is responsible for all legal and compliance matters across all countries where Lazada has a local presence including Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Russia. She supports the management by providing strategic guidance in commercial strategies and risk management across various business units including Lazada (B2C platform) and LEX (logistics business). Gladys started her career in corporate/commercial and tax practice before moving in-house into retail, franchising and now, technology. In terms of her accolade, in 2017, she was the  Recipient of the following awards: ACC’s Top 10 30 Somethings in New Orleans, USA; Most Innovative Team of the Year, Asian Legal Business South East Asia Awards 2017; In-House Counsel of Distinction, The Asia Legal Awards 2017; Legal Department of the Year, The Asia Legal Awards 2017; and Deal of the Year, The Legal Asia Awards 2017 for Alibaba-Lazada Deal. 

Candra DARUSMAN first joined the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Geneva, in April 2001, as Consultant, and is now the Deputy Director at the WIPO Office in Singapore. Prior to 2001, he was the General Manager of the Indonesian Collective Management Organization (KCI), and the Secretary General of the Indonesian Musicians Foundation (YAMI). He is a graduate (SE – PhD. candidate) from the Faculty of Economics, University of Indonesia, where he served as a researcher, lecturer and as Assistant Professor from 1982 to 1985. He also served as Director of the Indonesian Guild of Composers, member of the Indonesian National Copyright Council, the Director of the Indonesian Musicians Cooperative (KOSMINDO), and a member of the Anti-Piracy Coalition of the Indonesian copyright industries.

Samir DIXIT has a wealth of experience across global business and brand strategy, research, IP management, valuation, corporate communication, PR, global brand management, balanced scorecards, M&A branding, brand architecture, advertising, brand governance, etc. Previously, as a global brand controller at Standard Chartered Bank, Samir managed the global brand agenda with strong focus on global brand strategy, brand and business integration and brand architecture & alignment during M&A. Samir is an external speaker, a certified senior PMC, on the advisory committees with government bodies across ASEAN for brand and IP related matters, contributes to teaching and curriculum inputs at management institutes. He has also presented at various brand conferences in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Hong Kong.

Seth HAYS manages INTA’s Asia-Pacific operations and works with INTA members to develop INTA’s policy portfolio in the region. Before coming to INTA, Seth worked in the finance and healthcare research industries. Seth is a member of the New York State Bar, has an MA in Asian Studies from the University of Hawai’i, and a BA from Vassar College. He speaks Mandarin and has lived and worked in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai. He is currently based in Singapore at INTA’s newly established Asia-Pacific office. 

Candice KWOK has been practicing law since 2000 in Singapore. Candice is admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore, and a member of the State Bar of California. Candice advises clients in the selection, registration, protection, maintenance and enforcement of their trademarks. Candice is also experienced in civil litigation and international commercial arbitration, and serves on the Famous and Well-Known Marks Committee of the International Trademark Association. Candice is described by the World Trademark Review 1000 2016 as a counsel who “consistently delivers pragmatic, on-point advice in tricky prosecution and strategy engagements”, and has been recommended every year since 2013. Candice has been named as an 'IP Star' by Managing Intellectual Property in its annual rankings since 2014. Candice was also listed as a "Trademark Leader" by the World IP Review Leaders in 2016 and 2017.

Pey Woan LEE is currently Associate Professor and Associate Dean (Undergraduate Teaching and Curricumlum) of the School of Law. Pey Woan teaches Corporate Law but her research interests encompass company, private and commercial law. She has published widely in local as well as leading international journals including the Modern Law Review, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, Law Quarterly Review, Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly as well as Journal of Business Law. She has also co-authored text books on Contract Law, Tort Law and Company Law. Pey Woan graduated with from King’s College London and subsequently obtained the Bachelor of Civil Law from Oxford University.

Kung-Chung LIU holds LL.B. and LL.M. from National Taiwan University and a Doctorate from the Ludwig Maximilian Universitaet (University of Munich). He was a Research Fellow at Academia Sinica, Taiwan until 2017. In 2003,  he was a Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Law of the National University of Singapore and  Visiting Senior Research Fellow for the IP Academy of Singapore. Professor Liu has served as one of the founding Commissioners of the National Communications Commission in Taiwan between 2006 and 2007. In 2014-15, he was a Visiting Professor at the School of Law, Singapore Management University, and the Founding Director of the Applied Research Centre for Intellectual Assets and the Law in Asia (ARCIALA). In addition, he has been co-appointed Professor at the Renmin University, China (2017), and the Graduate Institute of Technology, Innovation & Intellectual Property Management, National Chengchi University, Taiwan (since 2010).

Nathaniel MANGUNSONG is the Senior Vice President – Group Head of Legal & Compliance of GO-JEK. GO-JEK is an on-demand app company with operations in 50 cities in Indonesia which include among others ride-sharing and payments. He lead the legal and compliance department, which matters include corporate commercial, M&A, dispute, compliance, and regulatory issues. He received a Sarjana Hukum (Bachelor degree equivalent) in Business Law from the Faculty of Law, University of Indonesia and a Master of Law (LL.M.) degree in Corporation from the New York University School of Law. He is admitted as an Indonesian advocate and a member of the Indonesian Bar Association (PERADI).

Isabelle TAN is the Director of the Registry of Trade Marks at IPOS. Prior to that, Isabelle was a Trade Mark Examiner for more than ten years before she left to take on a variety of appointments in IPOS. Over the last few years, Isabelle’s rotation to various departments within IPOS gave her opportunities to work with government agencies on their IP management while she was with the (former) EnterpriseDevelopment Department, curating IP courses as a programme manager in IP Academy, setting up IPOS’ first and one‐stop customer service centre, IP101 and establishing and maintaining relationships with international stakeholders while in the International Engagement Department. Isabelle returned to the Registry of Trade Marks in July 2016 with a breadth of experience and exposure to build on the work of her predecessors.

Ryan Nathaniel TAN is the Junior Legal Counsel of RedMart, Singapore’s fastest growing e-commerce grocery and logistics player. He serves as Christopher Chan’s (General Counsel of RedMart) right hand, handling matters ranging from TMT, IP, Commercial, Marketing, Data Privacy, Compliance and Automation Projects. Prior to joining RedMart, Ryan interned at the Lazada Group and was later promoted to Legal Assistant where he spearheaded automation projects, which were integral in aiding the Lazada Legal Team winning Most Innovative Team of the Year at the Asian Legal Business South East Asia Awards 2017. Ryan graduated from the University of Manchester and subsequently went on to do his Legal Practice Course with LLM (focusing on Intellectual Property) at the University of Law in Manchester. Ryan was also called to the Singapore Bar in August 2016, after successfully completing his training at a reputable boutique firm specialising in Litigation with work ranging from Family, Criminal, Probate, Employment, Commercial and Debt Recovery. In his free time, Ryan is a keen music and aeroplane enthusiast.

Victoria THOMPSON (nee Lamb) is the currently the Head of Technology Operations and IP Group legal for DBS Bank Ltd. Victoria is an experienced senior technology and intellectual property commercial lawyer with a wealth our experience in intellectual property matter management. Prior to joining DBS Victoria worked as senior group counsel within Barclays’ technology operations commercial legal team and was seconded to the Barclays Innovation Team to assist in the development and delivery of cutting edge digital products and services. In her current role Victoria oversees legal support for all digital innovation projects in the banks technology operations environment (ranging from cloud adoption to the Bank’s API programme) and manages all IP assets of the Bank globally. Before moving in-house Victoria worked at top tier TMT and IP private practices at DLA Piper and Hogan Lovells in the UK. Victoria is a passionate and pragmatic lawyer with special interests in digital innovation and design thinking approaches to product development. 

Public CPD Points - 2.5 points 

This programme is an Accredited CPD Activity under the SILE’s CPD Scheme. Participants who wish to claim CPD Points are reminded that they must comply strictly with the Attendance Policy set out in the CPD Guidelines. This includes signing-in on arrival and signing-out at the conclusion of the activity in the manner required by the organiser, and not being absent from the entire activity for more than 15 minutes. Participants who do not comply with the Attendance Policy will not be able to obtain CPD Points for attending the activity. Please refer to http://www.silecpdcentre.sg for more information.
 

Click here for the newsletter and registration link.