Department:
Intellectual Property
Contact:
phoneIcon+65 65574710
emailIconzechchan@leenlee.com.sg

CHAN Zechariah J.H., PBM

Zechariah J. H. Chan, PBM, is a Partner with the firm’s Intellectual Property Department.

He graduated from the National University of Singapore in 1999 and completed his pupilage under a Senior Counsel (equivalent to Queen’s Counsel in the UK) before he was admitted to the Singapore bar as an advocate and solicitor in 2000. He joined Lee & Lee in 2008. His practice experience concentrates on the legal and commercial aspects of Intellectual Property which includes Trademark, Patents, Copyright, Industrial Design and Data Protection. He is a contact Partner for Privacy & Data Protection matters at Lee & Lee.

Zech handles a vast variety of contentious and non-contentious work and has also represented and advised clients from various industries in the protection, enforcement, commercialisation and management of their intellectual property assets. His work includes litigation, negotiating agreements, and intellectual property due diligence work.

Zech also spent 3 years at a Fortune 25 US Multinational as IP Counsel, where he co-managed the trademarks portfolio and concurrently advised on wide ranging commercial issues touching on the intellectual assets of the company. He has also spoken at local and international conferences on intellectual property law.

He is also the Chair of the Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) Committee of the International Trademark Association (INTA) and has served several terms on the East Asia & Pacific Subcommittee including the Anti Counterfeiting & Enforcement Committee (ACEC), Legislation & Regulation Committee (LRC), Non Traditional Marks Committee (NTM) and Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) Committee.

Zech also serves as an Associate Mediator with the Singapore Mediation Centre and the State Courts of Singapore. He has also been appointed to the Panel of Mediators and a member of the Investigative Tribunal of the Law Society of Singapore. He was awarded the Outstanding Court Volunteer Award in 2022 for his sterling contributions.

Zech has been regularly cited as a leading intellectual property lawyer in Singapore and Asia by various legal publications, including The Asia Pacific Legal 500, World Trademark Review – WTR 1000 and IAM Patent 1000. He has been described as “highly experienced” particularly in view of his time spent in-house at a US enterprise and commended for providing commercially attuned and “impeccable service” in the 2019 World Trademark Review – WTR 1000.

He is a commissioned military intelligence officer of the Singapore Armed Forces and was awarded the SAF Good Service Medal and SAF National Service Medal. He is also the Vice Chairperson of the School Advisory Committee of a local elementary school.

A sample of the nature of his work scope is set out below:

  • Handling contentious matters in relation to trade mark, copyright, patents, passing off, confidential information and competition law;
  • Advising, drafting, reviewing and negotiating Intellectual Property/ Information Technology related documents including licensing, assignment and co-existence agreements;
  • Advisory work in relation to telecommunications, advertising, data protection and consumer protection laws; and
  • Acting in contentious trademark matters including opposition, cancellation/ invalidation proceedings conducted at the Supreme Court of Singapore and Intellectual Property Office of Singapore.