MOI​ LAW CORPORATION

Formerly an Allen & Gledhill LLP partner credited with building an award-winning team, Sok Ling is an all-rounded intellectual property (IP) and commercial lawyer competent in handling both contentious and non-contentious legal work. With more than 20 years of post-qualification experience coupled with in-house MNC matrix exposure, she is adept at providing sound, practical and creative legal solutions for businesses from diverse industries. She is a trusted IP adviser to multinational corporations, government-linked companies, universities, research institutions as well as small-and-medium-sized enterprises and start-up companies. Sok Ling runs her own law firm and teaches IP law to postgraduate engineering students at the National University of Singapore (NUS). She has been named as Singapore's leading IP practitioner by Who's Who Legal, a well-known international publication. Her firm has been voted Asian-MENA Counsel "Singapore IP Firm of the Year".

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During her stint as in-house Regional Intellectual Property Counsel with US medical technology MNC Becton Dickinson, Sok Ling was responsible for executing its IP management and protection strategy in the Greater Asia region, and supporting the R&D teams through the various phases of product development, invention disclosure and patent protection. Apart from handling contract negotiations and advising the operations, sales and marketing teams in day-to-day commercial matters, she also provided strategic guidance on IP and legal risk management to the business and management teams. Imbued with commercial astuteness and strong communication skills, she is a valuable resource and partner to organizations seeking an A-team to drive their business objectives.

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​Sok Ling has a wealth of practical experience in contentious IP work, and has led many cases to successful resolution to the satisfaction of her clients. She began her legal career with a high profile police raid action simultaneously targeting several retail shops dealing in counterfeit softwares that made headline news. Since then, she has represented IP rights owners in trade mark opposition, revocation and invalidation proceedings, in domain name recovery proceedings as well as in IP litigation and enforcement actions involving Anton Piller Order and police raid. She is an expert at coordinating regional anti-counterfeiting investigative enforcement action.

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Sok Ling is adept at reviewing, negotiating and preparing a wide range of commercial documentation with an IP focus, such as IP/tech transfer and licensing, manufacturing, distributorship, franchise, outsourcing, commissioning, employment, advertising and marketing, editorial and publishing, non-disclosure and R&D collaboration agreements. She has undertaken due diligence on IP/tech assets in high profile merger and acquisition and joint venture transactions as lead IP counsel.

 

Sok Ling has substantial experience in developing IP and branding strategies for her clients, for whom she regularly conducts IP audits and provides brand clearance and freedom-to-operate opinions. She regularly assists companies to establish and review their IP management frameworks to better utilize and leverage IP assets for business. An expert in the prosecution of trade mark, patent and design applications, Sok Ling manages worldwide IP portfolios for leading household names from diverse industries.

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A professionally-trained and accredited mediator, Sok Ling has an impressive track record of resolving domestic and cross-border business, agency, distributorship, shareholder, tenancy, employment, consumer, intra-family, defamation, trade mark, copyright and patent disputes over the past decade, and maintaining a near-perfect resolution rate in recent years. She holds a level 3 accreditation with Singapore International Mediation Institute (SIMI) and has been appointed by the Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC), Law Society of Singapore (LSS), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE), Benchmark International Mediation Centre (BIMC) and Motor Industry Disputes Resolution Centre (MIDReC) to their respective panels of mediators and neutral evaluators. She is among the pioneer batch of mediators in Singapore to receive specialist accreditation in IP mediation from the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) and specialist accreditation in family mediation from the Singapore Family Court. She has the honour of being appointed sole mediator for one of the first IP disputes filed under IPOS's mediation scheme, successfully achieving full settlement within a single session for the litigating parties. She also has the honour of successfully conducting and resolving the first-ever fully virtual mediation in Singapore (and perhaps the region) involving ten participants during the COVID-19 lockdown period.

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An active and prominent member of the legal fraternity, Sok Ling has been appointed to various expert panels and professional committees. In her capacity as chairperson of the trade marks committee, she has represented the Law Society of Singapore (LSS) in making legislative review recommendations to the Singapore government. She is the founding vice-president of the Institute of Singapore Trade Mark Agents (ISTMA). She has been appointed by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) and Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Centre (ADNDRC) to their respective domain name dispute resolution panels. Over the years, she has actively contributed to the work of international IP organizations such as International Trademarks Association (INTA) and International Association for the Protection of Industrial Property (AIPPI), including authoring and presenting scientific papers on "Copyright: Safe Harbour for Internet Service Providers" and "Copyright in Artificially Generated Works" to the international assembly. She has been invited to mentor young aspiring entrepreneurs under the Republic Polytechnic (RP) and Singapore Polytechnic (SP) industry mentorship programmes.

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A strong believer in volunteerism, Sok Ling serves on the central committee of CASE (a non-profit non-governmental organization) and has served on the board of Cat Welfare Society (a registered charity with Institute of Public Character status). Embracing her role as a consumer rights advocate, she regularly speaks at community outreach events organised by CASE, actively participates in discussions on consumer law reforms, and mediates consumer disputes pro bono. As a mediator, she derives immense gratification from helping aggrieved parties navigate the legal, mental and emotional labyrinth towards resolution and peace. Sok Ling is passionate about dog welfare issues and is keen to witness a kinder and more dog-friendly Singapore society in the near future. In her spare time, she fosters rescue puppies for Save Our Street Dogs (a registered charity with Institute of Public Character status). Prior to entering the workforce, she spent several years serving with the Methodist Welfare Services befriending isolated seniors and visiting them weekly at their rental homes, and with MINDS Youth Group (a subsidiary of the Movement for the Intellectual Disabled of Singapore) engaging weekly with persons with intellectual disability and their families at the activity centre.

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Sok Ling welcomes opportunities to acquire new skills, pioneer new initiatives and contribute to worthwhile causes. A proponent of the growth mindset, she tackles challenges head-on and embraces change as a constant of life. In all, she strives to uphold the highest standards of integrity.

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