Samirah Muzaffar, Consultant, IP Valuation & IP Marketplace, Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO)

Samirah is currently in charge of the IP Valuation and IP Marketplace initiatives within the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO). Prior to joining MyIPO, she was heading the IP & Commercialisation Channels department in MDeC.

Samirah graduated from the University of Malaya and holds a diploma in Shariah Law and Practice from the International Islamic University of Malaysia, and a Masters of Law degree in Internet and Electronic Law from Monash University.

She is also an advocate and solicitor of the High Court of Malaya. Whilst in private practice, Samirah was a partner in Haryati Deepak, where she specialises in corporate and commercial law, intellectual property, new media and internet related issues. She was also with Azmi & Associates and was involved in a wide variety of corporate, intellectual property, information technology and telecommunications related matters.

She has previously served on the IP Law Committee of the Malaysian Bar and the Technopreneurs Association of Malaysia (TeAM) Policy Institute. She has also contributed articles to Malaysian and international law journals.

Ragunath Kesavan, Commissioner, Malaysia Competition Commission

Ragunath Kesavan was admitted to the High Court of Malaya as an advocate and solicitor in 1991. He is also a barrister-at-law of Gray’s Inn and was called to the Bar of England & Wales in 1990. Mr Kesavan graduated with a BSc degree in Genetics from University of Malaya in 1985, LLB from University of Wales Abertyswyth in 1989 and LLM from University of Malaya in 1995. He was awarded the Calcott Pryce Award in Public International Law in his LLB finals and graduated with a 2.1 degree. He was elected president of the Malaysian Bar for two terms from 2009 to 2011. During his tenure as president, amongst the numerous rule of law initiatives the Malaysian Bar successfully pushed for was the formation and the implementation of the National Legal Aid  Foundation, an initiative which now provides legal aid throughout Malaysia. Mr Kesavan is currently the chair of the Malaysian Bar’s Professional Indemnity Insurance Committee, a position he has held for seven years. He was appointed to the Panel of Arbitrators for the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration in 2010 and also appointed to the Panel of Adjudicators of the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration. He is currently serving as Commissioner of the Malaysian Competition Commission to which he was appointed in 2011.

Peter Desmond Wee, President, Malaysia IP Association (MIPA)

Peter Desmond Wee Tian Peng is an Advocate & Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya. He graduated with an LLB (Hons) law degree from the University of Malaya and holds a Master degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Surrey, London, United Kingdom.

He is the senior partner of Messrs Ismail Sabri Wee & Wong, Advocates & Solicitors, Kuala Lumpur and practices intellectual property laws. As a Registered Patent, Trade Mark and Industrial Design Agent, he often prosecutes IP filing locally and internationally (including PCT filing) and advises clients on IP registration, IP searches and IP enforcement through infringement actions in Court for Patents, Trademarks and Industrial Designs.

He acted for ISW Intellectual Property Sdn Bhd (ISW IP) as a Consultant and advises on IP management and commercialization. He often helped SMEs and start-up companies to plan, manage and strategize their IP portfolios, reviewing business plans, coaching IP licensing and IP franchising. As a qualified SEAD (South East Asia Drafting) Course Patent Drafter, Peter advises inventors on the legal and technical aspects of patent drafting, claims and specifications. Through his vast experiences in the private and government sectors, Peter also helped clients to obtain IP valuation and funding.

Peter Desmond Wee is currently the elected President of the Malaysian Intellectual Property Association (MIPA) and appointed Corporation Board Member and Chairman of the Investment Committee of the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO), an agency under the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism. As the IP representative from Malaysia, Peter participated in the WIPO Sub-Regional Seminar on maximizing the value of patent-related platforms, tools and services for ASEAN in August, 2014 and the ASEAN Regional meeting on Technology & Innovation Support “Patent Libraries” Project in December, 2014, Kuala Lumpur.

He is a member of the Bar Council Intellectual Property Committee, the Bar Council Corporate and Commercial Law Committee, International Trademark Association (INTA), Asean Patent Attorney Association (APAA) and The International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys (FICPI). He sits as one of the Award Selection Board Member of the Small and Medium Industry Association (SMI) and often being invited to be one of the judges for the ITEX Exhibition organized yearly by the Malaysian Invention and Design Society (MINDS)..

Saifol Bahri Mohamed Shamlan, Deputy CEO, SME Corporation Malaysia

Saifol has a career history that provided him with rich experience that helped develop his multi-aspect capabilities. He studied computer science in an American university but also took as many business courses that he could within the framework of his degree programme.

He has working experience from being alone as a freelance consultant, to a top management team member, as well as being a CEO / company head a few times, all with successful results. His career history covers both private and government sectors, mostly in the former.

In what seems to be a varied career track record, the major phases in Saifol’s career began with a highly technical job as a software engineer in NEC in the United States, followed by six years in Standard Chartered Bank where he finished in a regional Asia-Pacific exercise that helped translate banking business needs into IT blueprints and technology implementation plans. After StanChart, he was regularly engaged by Renong Berhad and Sapura for his business strategy and development consulting and advisory services, mostly for the ICT sector. During this period, he a leading member of the team that conceptualised an electronic wallet product that ultimately evolved into the Touch ‘n’ Go prepaid e-wallet.

He went on to found two firms, the first in IT Consulting and the other in Management Consulting and he practiced his profession for eight years (including an assignment at a Canadian technology company in between). At the tail-end of the 2001/2 economic problems, Saifol joined the UEM Group in 2003 to become the CEO of an ailing group company Dagang Net (a subsidiary of TIME Engineering Berhad), where he obtained a concession renewal (2004) from the Malaysian Government and turned the business around within two years. In 2005, based on his achievements at Dagang Net, Saifol was named as one of the “Top 200 Bumiputera CEOs” in a special issue of Malaysian Business by Berita Publishing.

In 2008 he accepted the challenge offered by MDeC to be the Vice President of Industry Development to take the MSC Malaysia industry development performance to a higher level, which he did with significant gains and outcomes. Once he was done with Industry Development in 2010, he was then given MDeC’s digital economy enablement portfolio, where he formed the basis, foundation and several EPPs of today’s Digital Malaysia, the government’s digital economy transformation initiative.

After five years in MDeC, Saifol moved on in October 2013 to another step in his career, to SME Corp Malaysia, a government agency under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI). Whereas he was tasked to develop ICT SMEs in MDeC, in SME Corp his responsibilities now cover the entire community of Small- and Medium- size enterprises, which makes up over 97% of registered companies in the economy.

The mix of experience from having his own business as well as working in large MNCs/GLCs has helped hone his strategic, tactical and innovative competencies that culminate in an ability to focus on the most relevant priorities and shaping / implementing business plans that are geared towards key results and real outcomes.

Kherk Ying Chew, Head of IP & Dispute Resolution, Wong & Partners

Chew Kherk Ying heads the Intellectual Property and Dispute Resolution practice groups in Wong & Partners with more than 25 years of experience in the area of intellectual property (IP) and commercial litigation. She is recognized as a first tier practitioner in IP by reputable legal publications, such as Chambers Asia and Asia Pacific Legal 500. She speaks regularly at seminars and international conferences on topics relating to IP, IP agreements and commercialization, IP valuation and securitization, as well as on e-commerce and data privacy issues. 

Kherk Ying is also highly regarded for her IP litigation expertise.  She was recently awarded the coveted Euromoney Asia Women in Business Law Award in 2014 for "Best Female Lawyer in IP Litigation" and was named among Asia's "50 IP Litigators You Should Know" by Asia IP 2013. According to World Trademark Review 1000, 2015, Kherk Ying is "knowledgeable and skillful" and is "widely respected for her insight into the local legal landscape". 

Kherk Ying is among the few selected trainers for an IP Valuation course by the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO) and is an accredited IP Valuer by the World Trade Institute. Kherk Ying also led the Firm in collaborating with MyIPO to organize the Global IP Valuation Conference which took place in November 2013. This conference was the first of its kind in Malaysia, and represented a significant step in the government’s agenda in promoting an IP-based economy. 

Kherk Ying received her legal education at the National University of Singapore and holds a Master of Laws (First Class Honors) from University of Cambridge (United Kingdom). She is  the principal author of the CCH published “Intellectual Property Laws of Malaysia” and a Past President of the Licensing Executives Society Malaysia.

Michael Nixon, Transfer Pricing Consultant, Singapore, Baker & McKenzie.Wong & Leow 

Michael Nixon is an economist with 14 years of experience in economic analysis, transfer pricing consulting and academia. His work has included extensive work in IP valuation and IP-led business restructuring projects, as well as a variety of economic analysis relating to competition, anti-trust and transfer pricing issues. Advising clients across many industry groups, and in both the government and academic sectors, he has been based in Asia-Pacific for five years, and before that the UK, with further client secondments in Germany and the Netherlands. Michael’s experience in conducting economic analysis for IP planning incorporates evaluating the economic characteristics of markets and corporate groups, identifying key valuation metrics and appropriate valuation methods, and directing the asset valuation exercise using a variety of quantitative, statistical (econometric) and qualitative perspectives to derive an appropriate range of valuation results. Further, his work considers detailed strategic issues that are inherent to IP planning and defence, utilising insights from game theory, bargaining theory and broader economic analysis, and applying them within a practical, implementable framework to aid planning and business decision-making relating to IP assets. Michael is also a published author (books and journal papers) and collaborates with governmental institutions and universities to deliver empirical research and training for IP valuation and other areas.

Cheah Yew Kuin, Local Principal, Baker & McKenzie.Wong & Leow

Cheah Yew Kuin is a local principal in the Intellectual Property Practice Group in Baker & McKenzie.Wong & Leow in Singapore. He specialises in dealing with contentious Intellectual Property matters and has experience in both civil and criminal litigation for copyright and trademark infringement matters. He has also worked on various cross border arbitration and mediation matters as counsel. Yew Kuin is a regular speaker at client seminars on IP matters, and was recently featured as a panelist at an event co-organised by the World IP Organisation (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Centre and the Singapore Corporate Counsel Association. During the session, he shared practical tips in managing mediation and arbitration for IP and technology disputes, where he discussed on various case management techniques and provided insights into drafting effective IP and technology dispute clauses. Yew Kuin is experienced in dealing with commercial agreements and advising on legal issues arising from the media industry. He has worked with major terrestrial television broadcasters, print and publishing companies, recording companies as well as various industry bodies from the film, music and software industries. He is also a member of the WIPO Mediation and Arbitration Centre’s Film and Media Panel of Neutrals.

Matt Kurlanzik, Director, Government Relations, Asia, 21st Century Fox

Matthew Kurlanzik is the Director of Government Relations, Asia for 21st Century Fox.  Based in Hong Kong, he is responsible for supporting public policy and regulatory issues that impact 21 Century Fox’s diverse business units across Asia.  Previously, Matthew worked on international strategy for e-commerce company LivingSocial and earlier worked in roles analyzing banking regulations and the finance industry.   He holds a BS in Marketing and International Business from the University of Maryland and a MA in International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). 

Eric Khoo, Business Development Consultant, Intellectual Property Solutions, Asia, IP & Science, Thomson Reuters

Eric is a Business Development Consultant with Thomson Reuters based in the Asia Pacific head office in Singapore. In his role, Eric has engaged in data analyses and customer consultation for Thomson Reuters’ databases and services. He works closely with personnel from Corporate R&D environment where companies are increasingly depending on innovation to enhance their competitive edge. He understudies their R&D workflow and actively engage with different decision makers to help them address their IP challenges in R&D innovation and commercialization, via developing customized roadmap solutions for them. Eric started his career as a Patent Specialist with law firms specializing in Intellectual Property and has been since been involved in IP Management for the past 8 years. Prior to joining Thomson Reuters in 2010, he was an IP Technologist with Hewlett Packard responsible for IP portfolio management and technology licensing. In particular, Eric performed strategic analyses of major technology companies to identify cross-licensing opportunities, identified potential patent acquisition targets and converted non-core IP assets for sale. Eric graduated with a Bachelor degree of Engineering from Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) and received professional IP certifications from the IP Academy (Singapore) and Federation Internationale des Conseils en Propriete Industrielle (FICPI). He is also a qualified Project Management Professional registered with the Project Management Institute.

Muhammad Suria Doshi Abdullah, Senior General Manager, Group Legal & Company Secretarial Department, SIRIM

Muhammad Suria Doshi bin Abdullah is the Senior General Manager, Group Legal & Company Secretarial Department, SIRIM Berhad. He is also the Company Secretary of SIRIM Berhad. He holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) degree from University of London and a Certificate of Legal Practice (CLP) from Legal Profession Qualifying Board of Malaysia. He practised law for many years as an Advocate & Solicitor prior to joining SIRIM Berhad and now advises SIRIM Group of Companies on all local and international matters. He is a frequent speaker at conferences. He has presented papers on various subjects to local and international participants including on company secretarial practice, corporate governance, in-house counsel, employment & industrial relations, contracts, commercial, dispute resolution, intellectual property rights and commercialization of technology & licensing. He is also the past Vice President of the Malaysian Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA). 

Sugirtha Ramachandran, General Counsel, Group Legal Practice, Malaysian Airlines

Sugirtha Ramachandran is currently a General Counsel at Malaysian Airlines in a wide array of legal portfolios- Intellectual Property, Information Technology, Personal Data Protection and Human Resources. She read law at University of London.

Throughout the span of her career, she has lectured and gained extensive experience in the corporate sector by working with prominent corporations in the field of Information Technology. She moved to the aviation industry in 2006.

She manages and is responsible for the Intellectual Property issues of the MAS Group, globally.

Zuraidah Mohd Yatim, Senior Manager, IP & Regulatory Affairs, Media Prima

Zuraidah Mohd Yatim is a Senior Manager of Intellectual Property & Regulatory Affairs of Media Prima Berhad. She holds a Law Degree from University Technology Mara (UiTM), Executive MBA In Strategic Management from Berne University Switzerland and Diploma In Strategic Marketing from University of Cambridge United Kingdom.  She was in charge of Media Prima Berhad  (Legal Department) for more than 15 years and now specialized in Intellectual Property and Regulatory Affairs under the Stakeholder Management of Media Prima Berhad.  Her interest is always in Intellectual Property, she with the team at Media Prima Berhad has implemented Intellectual Property Policy for the group and always active in any of event that involves Intellectual Property matter at the local and International level. 

Brendan Hanley, IP Counsel, Western Digital

Brendan J. Hanley is the Director of Patent Asset Development in Asia for the Intellectual Property Department of Western Digital.   The Patent Asset Development team works closely with Western Digital employees in Asia to identify strategic company innovations, evaluate invention disclosures for patent protection, and pursue patent applications at various Patent Offices around the world to obtain strategic patents for Western Digital.  Brendan graduated with a Bachelor’s in Physics/Engineering from St. Mary’s University, and a Juris Doctorate from Hamline University School of Law, both in Minnesota, United States.  After working for 5 years as in house patent counsel for a hard disk drive manufacture in Minnesota, Brendan moved to Japan to work for a number of Japanese patent law firms, advising a wide variety of Japanese clients on patent preparation and prosecution, portfolio management, licensing, and litigation strategies.   Brendan has lived in Kuala Lumpur since 2011 when he started working for Western Digital (M) Sdn Bhd (Petaling Jaya, Selangor). 

Ramani Ramalingam, CEO, Recording Industry Association of Malaysia (RIM)

Mr. Ramani Ramalingam graduated with a law degree from London with honours in 1994 and was admitted as an advocate & solicitor of the High Court of Malaya in April 1997.

After specialising in the practice of intellectual property law for 3 years, he was headhunted in 2000 to lead the Legal Affairs Department of the collective licensing body for the recording industry, Public Performance Malaysia Sdn Bhd(‘PPM’).

He then went on to become the General Manager and later Deputy Chief Executive Officer of both PPM and the Recording Industry Association of Malaysia (‘RIM’), the national trade association representing local and international record labels in Malaysia, and which is also the Malaysian National Group of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (‘IFPI’) which in turn represents the recording industry worldwide.

On 1 January 2014, he was appointed as the Group Chief Executive Officer of the RIM Group which includes RIM, PPM, RIM Digital Music Sdn Bhd (RDM) and Brucop Sdn Bhd (Brunei) and now leads the recording industry’s priorities in legislative lobbying, international relations, foreign trade missions, civil and criminal copyright enforcement against music piracy, organising copyright awareness campaigns, furthering the development of the music business including in the digital, live event, merchandising and artiste management arenas, hosting the national awards for the music industry - Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM) in various language formats, and collective music licensing and royalty distribution for recording labels, artistes and musicians.

In his corporate capacity, he is also presently the Chairman of the Solaris Mont’ Kiara Joint Management Corporation and the Honorary Secretary of the Communications & Multimedia Content Forum of Malaysia (‘CMCF’), a selfregulatory body which advises the Malaysian Communications & Multimedia Commission (‘MCMC’) on electronic content matters.

Kwee Tiang Ang, Regional Director, Asia, IFPI

ANG Kwee Tiang (KT Ang) is the Regional Director for Asia of IFPI, the  organization representing the music industry worldwide with more than 1,300 record producers and distributors from over 66 countries. He coordinates IFPI's priorities across Asia, leading legal policy and government affairs in the region, developing the legal and economic framework for copyright that is essential for the further development of the digital music business. The IFPI Asian Regional Office is in Hong Kong, with a Representative Office in Beijing. Mr. Ang supervises all the IFPI national groups and collecting societies across the region and is also engaged in an active programme to put in place the legal rights and effective collecting societies for IFPI member companies throughout the region.

Prior to his IFPI appointment in January 2013, KT Ang was the Asia Pacific Regional Director of CISAC1 for 24 years where he had helped to create, revitalize and/or develop most of the authors/publishers copyright collective management organizations in the region including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Taiwan, Macau, Brunei, China, India and Indonesia. He had also served on the board of many of those organizations and continues to serve as a director of the Copyright Licensing and Administration Society of Singapore (CLASS) Ltd, which undertakes the collective management of rights in literary works in Singapore.

KT Ang earned a first degree in law from the National University of Singapore, before going on to earn his Masters of Law and a Postgraduate Diploma in UK, US and EU Copyright Laws at King's College, University of London. He has undertaken more than 100 expert advisory missions and speaking engagements on behalf of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to developing countries in Asia, advising on copyright law and the creation of copyright societies. He had served as deputy superintendent of police as part of his military service in Singapore. 

Revantha Sinnetamby, Honourary Treasurer, Malaysian Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA)

Revantha is an in-house counsel with broad international experience primarily gained in the telecommunications, networking and information technology industries, and, and more recently in construction and heavy engineering. During his 15+ year in-house career he has held General Counsel positions with Bulldog Communications Limited - a UK based telecommunications services provider owned by Cable and Wireless Plc. - and SmartTrust AB - a Swedish global mobile telecommunications software provider owned by TeliaSonera. He has also been the Assistant General Counsel and Director of Legal Affairs - EMEA for Juniper Networks Inc. 

He holds degrees in Arts and Law and was a Sloan Fellow at the London Business School in 2010. He is admitted to practice law in Victoria, Australia.

Michael Lee, Vice-President, International Centre for Dispute Resolution, Singapore Division, American Arbitration Association

As a head of AAA/ICDR’s Asia office in Singapore, Mr. Lee is in charge of the Association’s Asia region operation including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, and many more. Primarily, Mr. Lee  oversees the entire operation of the Association’s Asian office and leads the Association’s efforts in cultivating ties and developing business opportunities. 

Mr. Lee is also in charge of many AAA/ICDR educational programs for the corporate counsel, Association’s international panel of neutrals, and practicing attorneys. For the corporate counsel, Mr. Lee regularly speaks on educational programs such as seminars and workshops to explain the Association’s comprehensive rules and process. For the Association’s panel of neutrals, Mr. Lee is on the Association’s annual internal review board as a part of continuing effort to maintain the highest qualified panel of neutrals. Mr. Lee is also charged with the AAA/ICDR International Symposium for arbitrators in Asia region to train additional panel members and to constantly update existing arbitrators with any new development. Mr. Lee also speaks regularly on the Association’s rules and administrative process to practicing attorneys to provide them with necessary tools and knowledge of the AAA/ICDR process. 

Through his experience as an international case manager at AAA/ICDR New York office, Mr. Lee hopes to benefit Asia legal community with his first-hand experience and knowledge of its Rules and procedures. Mr. Lee is a NY attorney with LL.M. degree in International Commercial Arbitration from Stockholm University Law School in Sweden and J.D. degree from St. Thomas University Law School in Florida. 

Mr. Lee is also serving as a co-Chair of Legal Committee for AMCHAM (American Chamber of Commerce) Singapore. 

Mohd Sharizal Mustapah Kamil, VP, Business & Technology Advisory, Malaysia Debt Ventures (MDV)

Mohd Sharizal is the Vice President of Business & Technology Advisory Division in Malaysia Debt Ventures Bhd. The Division provides services relating to management and technical due diligence, research, knowledge management and technical services. He has about 15 years of experience in the financial industry, with related interests in the field of information and communication technology.

Prior to joining MDV, Sharizal was previously attached to the Amcorp Group, the Jardines Group and Ratings Agency Malaysia. He started in MDV as a Credit Analyst in 2002 and has held various other positions in the company before eventually being promoted to his current position.

Sharizal graduated from the University of New South Wales, Australia with a Bachelor of Commerce degree, with double major in Accounting & Information Systems.

Jessica Park, Legal Officer, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Center, Singapore

Eun A (Jessica) Park, a national of Republic of Korea, was admitted as an attorney in Georgia, United States of America and holds a J.D. from Emory University of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and English Language from Yonsei University in Seoul, Republic of Korea. Before joining WIPO in 2011, she worked as Corporate Counsel in a multinational company in Atlanta, United States of America. After working at the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center's Geneva office for three years, she moved to Singapore to take up her new role as a representative of the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center's Singapore office at Maxwell Chambers. 

Charles Bergere, Senior IP Counsel, APAC, Freescale Semiconductor

Charles Bergere is a U.S. patent attorney.  He studied electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.  He started his career working as an electrical engineer for Sperry Corp. (now Unisys) doing circuit design for main frame processors and later microcoding for peripheral devices.  After obtaining his J.D. from Temple University School of Law, he worked for patent law firms in Philadelphia and Japan before joining Motorola’s in-house legal department in Singapore in 2000.  When Motorola spun off its Semiconductor Products Sector, Mr. Bergere went with the spin-off company, Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.  At Motorola and now Freescale, Mr. Bergere has been responsible for the company’s innovations originating in the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia, China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan.  He oversees the drafting, filing, and prosecution of patent applications.  Mr. Bergere also is involved in defensive and offensive matters as they relate to the Asia-Pacific region.  Mr. Bergere is a licensed attorney in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and registered to practice before the USPTO and IPOS (Singapore).  He is currently based in Kuala Lumpur.

Dr. Koshy Philip, Associate Professor, University of Malaya, former VP, Malaysian IP Association (MIPA)

Graduated with a Ph.D in Microbial Biotechnology. Currently, he is engaged in teaching, research and supervision of post graduate research scholars in the area of Microbial and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology. He is also involved in IP issues at the University and develops his own patents from his university funded research that is in the process of commercialization. Prior to joining the University, he worked as a Consultant Biotechnologist for the industry where one of his duties included IP development and protection. Dr. Philip has international collaborations in academia and industry that also involves research and development in patented biopharmaceuticals including an International Visiting Fellowship in USA in 2000. He has published in several peer reviewed scientific journals and presented papers at international conferences.