Media Release: Justice Dedar Singh Gill Appointed to the WIPO Advisory Board of Judges

Justice Dedar Singh Gill Appointed to the WIPO Advisory Board of Judges

The Supreme Court of Singapore is pleased to announce that Justice Dedar Singh Gill, Judge of the High Court (迪达星吉尔法官), has been officially appointed to serve as a member of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Advisory Board of Judges for the 2023-2024 term. This is the first time a sitting Intellectual Property (IP) Judge of the Supreme Court of Singapore has been invited by the WIPO to serve on its Advisory Board of Judges (the Advisory Board). Justice Gill joins eight other distinguished judges from across the globe to serve on the new Advisory Board, which provides guidance and direction to WIPO’s work with judiciaries to ensure its work serves the needs of judges across diverse judicial systems and traditions. Members of the Advisory Board serve in their personal capacity for the defined term and will be invited to attend the annual WIPO IP Judges Forum and meetings of the Advisory Board.

2          Justice Gill is a noted judicial expert on IP matters, and his appointment to the WIPO Advisory Board is testimony to his considerable expertise in IP adjudication across multiple jurisdictions and diverse sections, as well as his experience in judicial dialogue across borders. Justice Gill first joined the Supreme Court Bench as a Judicial Commissioner on 1 August 2018 and was elevated to a High Court Judge on 1 August 2020. Prior to his judicial appointment, Justice Gill held the position of Managing Director of the IP Department at Messrs. Drew and Napier LLC, and had established a reputation for his expertise in IP law. After assuming his Supreme Court role, Justice Gill was appointed by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon as the Lead Judge of the specialised list on IP and Information Technology in the General Division of the High Court and to implement the recommendations submitted by the IP Dispute Resolution Framework Review Committee to review the IP dispute resolution system in Singapore.

3          On Justice Gill’s appointment to the WIPO Advisory Board, Chief Justice Menon said, “My heartfelt congratulations to Justice Gill on this tremendously well-deserved appointment, which establishes his standing as an international thought leader in the field of IP. With his extensive experience and expertise in IP matters, Justice Gill will be an invaluable addition to the Advisory Board, and I have no doubt that he will continue to advance the promotion and protection of IP globally alongside other leading IP luminaries.”

4          As a specialised agency of the United Nations with 193 member states, the WIPO is dedicated to developing a well-balanced, effective and accessible global IP ecosystem that promotes the protection of IP while safeguarding the public interest. Working with judges from around the world, the WIPO creates a space for transnational judicial dialogue, capacity building and resources on IP for judiciaries. This work is coordinated by the WIPO Judicial Institute (the Institute), which in turn is guided by the Advisory Board, providing the Institute with practical and technical advice on: the overarching direction of WIPO activities in the field of judicial administration of IP; the structural design of WIPO’s programmes with judiciaries, including curriculum, faculty, and methodology; and the development of judicial resource tools such as IP benchbooks and a database of IP laws and judgments.

5          In today’s fast-changing world that is driven by innovation and entrepreneurship, the role of the judiciaries and IP judges within the IP ecosystems has become increasingly important. Together with Singapore’s robust IP framework and legal infrastructure, Justice Gill’s membership in the Advisory Board will further strengthen Singapore’s position as a global intangible assets and IP hub, and promote the nation’s IP jurisprudence.


Issued by: The Singapore Courts