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Yvonne Tang

Director, Intellectual Property

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Practice Areas

Qualifications

  • LL.B. (Hons), National University of Singapore (1998)
  • Admitted to the Singapore Bar (1999)
  • Admitted as a Solicitor in England and Wales (2004)
Overview

Yvonne actively practices in all aspects of Intellectual Property (IP) work. She has more than 20 years of legal experience in IP matters, and her clients include multinational companies alike. 

On contentious matters, Yvonne's key areas include trade marks and copyright infringement, and passing off.  She is regularly involved in trade mark opposition proceedings, and has handled criminal raids of counterfeit goods as well domain name recovery claims under the Singapore Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (SDRP).

Yvonne’s legal experience extends to trade mark and patent registration, searches and strategic advisory work as well as corporate IP matters, such as the drafting and review of licensing and franchise agreements relating to IP assets.

She has been appointed by the Singapore Institute of Legal Education as a Facilitator for the Intellectual Property Law Practice of the Bar Admissions and Examinations (Part B) Course, and has also contributed to a number of articles on IP, including Atkin’s Court Forms – Singapore, Copyright, Lexis Nexis.

Yvonne is co-Editor of the Asian Patent Attorneys Association (“APAA”) e-newsletter Group, and a member of the Executive Committee of the APAA, Singapore Group, and the Institute of Singapore Trade Mark Agents. She is also a Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators, and a Certified Patent Valuation Analyst.

Yvonne has handled various matters in court. Here is a sampling of her high profile matters:

1. adidas International Marketing BV v Lutong Enterprise Corp, HC/TA15/2018 (unreported) – Successfully represented adidas in an appeal to the High Court, against the opposition decision of the Trade Marks Registry. In this publicised case, not only was adidas successful in blocking the other party’s application of a trade mark that was similar to the adidas “adidas.png” mark, the High Court recognised that the adidas mark was a well-known trade mark in Singapore.

2. The Scotch Whisky Association vs Isetan Mitsukoshi Ltd [2019] SGHC 200 – Represented Isetan in the Trade Marks Registry and High Court, in defending trade mark opposition proceedings brought based on geographical indication rights claimed over “Tartan”.​
 
3. Hai Tong Co (Pte) Ltd v Ventree Singapore Pte Ltd and another appeal [2013] SGCA 260 – Successfully assisted in representing Hai Tong in the High Court and Court of Appeal in a trade mark infringement / passing-off action against Ventree Singapore Pte Ltd and SKY (sued as a firm), to stop them from infringing Hai Tong’s “Rose Lady” mark by using the mark “Lady Rose” for the same products.

4. Virtual Map (Singapore) Pte Ltd v Singapore Land Authority and Anr [2009] SGCA 2 – Successfully assisted in representing Singapore Land Authority in the High Court and Court of Appeal. In this highly publicised case, Yvonne assisted in defending SLA in Virtual Map’s appeal against judgments that its online maps infringed SLA’s copyright. This matter was one of Asia IP’s Landmarks of the Year: The Cases and Decisions Making Headlines in 2008.

5. Future Enterprises Pte Ltd v McDonald’s Corporation [2007] SGCA 18 – Successfully assisted in defending McDonald’s in an appeal to the Court of Appeal. Future applied to register the “MacCoffee” mark but McDonald’s had an earlier registration for “McCAFE”.

Chambers Asia-Pacific
Intellectual Property: Domestic: Litigation 2023 – Band 3 for 2 consecutive years

"Yvonne Tang is skilful and a capable director."
"I always have interesting legal IP discussions with Yvonne."
"Yvonne is very responsive to our legal questions and reverts with good and timely advice."

The Legal 500 Asia Pacific
Intellectual Property 2023 – Recommended Lawyer for 6 consecutive years

Sources say that Yvonne “possess strong legal knowledge in patent law, and offer advice from a commercially pragmatic perspective.”
‘Yvonne Tang is very helpful and quick to answer any queries we might have.’
“Yvonne Tang is a big name in trade mark opposition proceedings.”
“Yvonne is commended for her knowledge of patent law” 

Managing IP
Voted as IP Star 2022 – Trade mark Star for 4 consecutive years
Identified as Top 250 Women in IP for 3 consecutive years (2020 to 2022)

World Trade Mark Review 1000 
Enforcement and Litigation 2023 – Gold band
Silver band (2020 to 2022); Recommended Lawyer (2018 and 2019)
Prosecution and Strategy 2022 – Gold band; Silver band (2020 to 2022)
Transactions 2023 – Recommended Lawyer for 4 consecutive years

“Yvonne is someone I have absolute trust in – she gives practical and sensible, yet creative advice that is alive to the nuances of my institutional needs.”

Yvonne Tang is commended as an “all-rounder” and “invaluable asset” in the squad. “Her advice is always comprehensive, in tune with business goals and objectives and delivered with lightning responsiveness.“  

"The much-respected Yvonne Tang is an online virtuoso who specialises in recovery claims under the Singapore Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy."

“Yvonne Tang is always in high demand among the fashion and luxury crowd. She performs with alacrity on a mix of registration, brand management, civil and criminal infringement and opposition matters.”

IAM Patent 1000
Prosecution 2022 – Highly Recommended Lawyer; Silver band in 2021 and 2020; Recommended Lawyer in 2019
Transactions 2022 – Recommended Lawyer for 3 consecutive years

“All-rounder Yvonne Tang skilfully takes on patent prosecution and licensing matters.”

“Drawing on her 20-odd years of experience dealing with challenging patent briefs, Yvonne is a boon for those seeking advice on Singaporean IP law.”

“Yvonne possesses excellent attention to detail and a consistent approach which helps streamline cost-effective patent prosecution.”

“A certified patent valuation analyst, Yvonne regularly serves up discerning IP strategy guidance to her dedicated roster of clients”

“On the non-contentious front, Yvonne Tang tends to the global IP portfolios of foreign and local multinationals. As certified IP valuation analyst, [she is] also the best lawyer to consult about IP commercialisation”

Asia IP Experts 2022
Identified as a leading IP lawyer in Singapore for 2 consecutive years

Who’s Who Legal
Global Guide: IP - Trademarks 2022 – Recommended Lawyer

Women in Business Law Expert Guide
World’s leading female lawyers in 2021 – Listed lawyer for 2 consecutive years

asialaw Profiles
Intellectual Property 2018 - Recommended individual

"Yvonne Tang’s “legal knowledge and meticulous approach” (is) prized by clients."

asialaw Leading Lawyers
Intellectual Property 2023/24 - Notable Practitioner

Singapore Business Review 
Singapore’s 40 most influential lawyers aged 40 and under in 2015 – Listed lawyer

  • Assessor, Panel of Assessors for COVID-19 Temporary Relief, Ministry of Law
  • Facilitator, Intellectual Property Law Practice of the Bar Admissions and Examinations (Part B) Course, Singapore Institute of Legal Education (SILE)
  • Fellow, Singapore Institute of Arbitrators (SIArb)
  • Hon. Secretary, Executive Committee, Asian Patent Attorneys Association (APAA), Singapore Group
  • Member, Executive Committee, Institute of Singapore Trade Mark Agents (ISTMA)
  • Member, Law Society of Singapore
  • Member, Singapore Academy of Law
  • Member, Law Society of England and Wales
  • Member of International Trademark Association (INTA)