In the annual meeting of the ASEAN Intellectual Property Association (ASEAN IPA) on May 19, 2021, Darani Vachanavuttivong, co-managing partner of Tilleke & Gibbins and managing director of the firm’s IP group, was announced as the next president of the ASEAN IPA. She will lead the association for a two-year term concluding with the annual meeting in 2023.

The ASEAN IPA, which was founded in 1996 and granted official NGO status by the ASEAN Secretariat in 1998, brings together private-sector actors in the intellectual property space in the ASEAN region to promote the development and protection of intellectual property in ASEAN countries. The association organizes meetings and other events to spread awareness of intellectual property challenges and successes in the region, monitors and compiles relevant business and legal information, liaises with governmental parties and intergovernmental organizations regarding intellectual property concerns, and studies and proposes improvements to the legal and regulatory environment for intellectual property in ASEAN. The association has over 200 corporate and individual members from all 10 ASEAN member countries.

Darani is widely recognized as one of the foremost intellectual property attorneys in Asia. She has served in executive and advisory roles for a number of national, regional, and global intellectual property associations, and for the ASEAN IPA has previously served as country head for Thailand and as a council member.

For more information on the organization’s work and activities, please visit the ASEAN IPA website.