Mr Tony Yeo

Director
Drew & Napier

Topic Synopsis

Monetising Your Intellectual Property

Every company has some intellectual property that it can use to generate new business, provided that it knows how to commercialise that precious intellectual property. Many companies are aware of the need to protect their intellectual property but protection is often seen as a necessary but unwanted expense. It doesn’t have to be that way. You can actually make money from all that intellectual property that you have developed. Tony Yeo, one of the top intellectual property lawyers in Asia Pacific according to the prestigious Asia Law & Practice publication, will share with you the strategies for turning that intellectual property into real money.

Biography

Tony has been with Drew & Napier for the past 19 years. He became a Partner in 1997, and then a Director after Drew & Napier corporatised on 1 May 2001. Tony has been identified in the 2007 to 2009 editions of Asialaw Leading Lawyers, the prestigious Asia Law & Practice publication, as one of the most highly-acclaimed legal experts in the Asia-Pacific region, winning a rare two awards in two separate categories – for intellectual property and employment law. In addition, the latest 2009/2010 edition of Asia Pacific Legal 500 commended the “commercial Tony Yeo” as one of the “foremost” lawyers in Drew & Napier’s “excellent litigation practice” with “in-depth knowledge of IP-related issues”, while Practical Law Company’s Which Lawyer? Yearbook 2009 recommends him for “patent disputes in the pharma and engineer[ing] industries.” In 2006, Tony was also identified as one of Asia’s top lawyers as a “Shining Light” in Asian Legal Business ALB’s Hot 100. Tony has also been invited by various prestigious institutions in the US, Canada and China to speak on Intellectual Property litigation in Asia. Tony heads the Biomedical Sciences Practice Group and is a member of the Examination Committee of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) for registered patent agents. He is co-author of the Singapore chapter of Global Pharmacovigilance Laws & Regulations: The Essential Reference, which has been described as a “groundbreaking book” and a “landmark guide” published by the US based Food and Drug Law Institute. Tony also co-wrote the article “Legislating medical devices in Singapore” in Financier Worldwide: Biotechnology & Life Sciences e-Book 2010.

He is a member of the Law Society’s Inquiry Committee and Disciplinary Tribunal. He is also a member of the Examinations Committee for Patent Agents at the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore.