Facing Challenges and Changes —The 140th INTA Annual Meeting Successfully Held in Seattle
By Yingyan LU, China IP
From May19 to 23, the 140th Annual Meeting of the International Trademark Association (INTA) was successfully held in Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, USA. Seattle is a modern and dynamic city. The first Starbucks coffee was created here and its coffee consumption is huge. It is also the headquarters of Amazon, Microsoft and Boeing. 10964 registrants from around 150 countries attended this event including 1,250 corporate members and 2,674 first timers. As one of Chinese media partners, China IP
Magazine had a booth 379 in INTA’s annual meeting, which attracted the attentions of global IP friends. Everyone hopes to learn more about Chinese IP development trends, related industry policies and regulations via China IP Magazine. Regarding the rapid rise of Chinese trademark and patent applications worldwide, many overseas law firms have noticed the potential Chinese IP market and hope to better support Chinese companies to go abroad through our media platform.
Opening ceremony INTA CEO introduced the work plan. The opening ceremony was held in the evening of May 20. Mr. Etienne Sanz de Acedo, CEO of INTA, introduced INTA's work plan and its impact on the IP industry. INTA's influence in the global IP community has been growing year by year. He introduced INTA’s development priorities in various continents and countries: (1) Asia Pacific: Anti-Counterfeiting, Brand Restrictions, the First Asia Pacific Moot Court and 1st Impact Study in Asia. (2) China: One Belt One Road, E-commerce, and Bad-faith;
(3) India: Effective Enforcement of TM Rights, Recommendations on New TM Rules, INTA DIPP CIPA IPR Awareness; (4) Africa: IPR Protection, Accession to Treaties, National IP Strategy; (5) EU: UK Brexit, GDPR, Trade Agreements IP Chapter, SEM and IP; (6) South America: International Harmonization, Brand Restrictions, Training, the First INTA LATAM III IPO Workshop; (7) North America: Canada New Trade Mark Act, Anticounterfeiting, US Trademark Caucus, Lanham Act and Shared Service, PAC, INTA Exhibit NIHF.
He mentioned that INTA also faced many challenges in its development, such as Further Harmonization, Stronger Enforcement, Anti-counterfeiting, GDPR, Brand Restrictions, and Brexit. INTA needs to improve the following services, Consumer Protection, SMEs and Entrepreneurs, Innovation and Change, and The Value of Brands.
INTA president talked about the future development.
In the opening ceremony, Ms. Tish Berard, INTA’s 2018 president, said that she was eager to raise the awareness among small to medium-sized enterprises and non-IP professionals about the importance of IP. Ms. Berard was previously the Vice President and General Counsel for Hearts On Fire Company and currently she is serving as Hearts On Fire’s INTA designee. She mentioned that INTA has undergone many changes since she became an INTA member in the past 20 years. INTA's ideas are expanding, trying to look at the problem from different perspectives and its impact on members. Members facing more problems and more work, we need to embrace innovation as a great opportunity.
She said that INTA was the best embodiment of advanced awareness at the New York brand and innovation conference in March this year. The hot topics of this conference are artificial intelligence and block chain. Although these concepts may not affect us at present, they have become parts of the brand's life and companies should consider future trends.
Ms. Tish Berar also talked about the following three key points: (1) See our profession differently: brand professionals are better business partners and see yourselves as part of the global community of brand professionals; (2) Help consumers see trademarks and brands differently: build brand reputation and consumer trust; (3) Embrace innovation and change: become a driver of change rather than a product of it.
Keynote speaker: Mr. Neil Lindsay, Vice President, Amazon Global Markets
Mr. Neil Lindsay created a cross-category and cross-channel program to accelerate Amazon as a global consumer's commercial brand. He shared his successful career experience and vision for the future.
Mr. Neil Lindsay talked about the importance of the brand's continuous development, as well as the brand's principle and value. Brand needs to build trust from customer service. Successful brand transformation requires everything from the customers’ point of view. Customers’ needs are different. Brand needs to innovate and meet new challenges, and lead customers to experience these adventures. Therefore, the brand needs to spend time and energy to find surprise moments that suit the needs of customers, communicate with customers from the perspective of customers, and show the brand’s dedication to customers. This can learn from experience.
Customer test is Amazon's main focus. Amazon has a dedicated technical team. Every day's work is to understand the needs of customers and find the challenges. He believes that a better future starts with understanding the customers’ perspectives. Amazon explores customers’ needs from the customers’ databases. Combining the experience of sellers, authors, customers, and employees to promote innovation. There may be many technological innovations in the next 25 years, but the brand's focus is on how to obtain customers, build trust and how to provide more convenience to different parties. Challenges, opportunities, and innovation coexist.
Some abstracts of key points
The Madrid system achieved effective results. Although it was affected by the instability of Brexit, the global trademark system has grown. This treaty was signed in Madrid. Trademark holders are currently able to obtain trademark protection in 117 countries worldwide through a single application. The system is administered by the WIPO and it covers 80% of the world's global trade.
Counterfeiting is a global issue. Maya Razavi, INTA's manager of external relations, said that solving counterfeiting problems requires brand owners, consumers and other stakeholders to conduct a comprehensive and close cooperation.
Geographical indication protection includes things we love, such as foods and drinks, but it is not easy to defend those protections. The panel at the annual meeting discussed the GI’s challenges in registration and law enforcement.
Licensing can achieve more for a company than mere financial gain, but balancing the requirements of licensors and licensee is a challenge.
INTA should work with non IP agencies and organizations to influence global discussions on brand restrictions and emphasize the economic impact of such policies.
IP trends in regions and countries
India: Upgrading the IP ecosystem. Ms. Gauri Kumar, INTA's India consultant, is trying to establish a partnership and brand influence in India. She said, "Through cooperation, we can access IP from different perspectives and face different audiences, which has a great impact on the results."
Latin America and the Caribbean: According to Jose Luis Londono, chief executive of INTA in Latin America and the Caribbean, the trend of IP in the region has been improved, but there is still a lack of IP convergence and needs more IP awareness.
Europe: EU GDPR came into effect on May 25, and brands need to understand its meaning. Experts at the INTA panel discussed some of the changes and gave some practical advice on how to comply with data in different jurisdictions and regulations. In addition, Brexit attracted a lot of attention. The chief representative of INTA in the European Union said that the complicated situation after Brexit would be INTA's focus in EU.
China: How Brand owners can benefit from copyright Laws in China. Zhen Peng, partner and director at Hogan Lovells International LLP (China) gave some advice. Brand owner can rely on copyright law to block or invalidate trademark that infringe his or her copyright. In addition, brand owner can rely on copyright law to help obtain an injunction against the infringer.
Africa and the Middle East: The creation and protection of IP rights will promote the development of potentially disparate economies throughout Africa. In order to explain the economic and social value of IP to this continent, INTA has added many educational programs in Africa. TAT-Tienne Louembe, INTA's chief representative in Africa and the Middle East, said, "An IP-friendly environment is an important factor to attract foreign investment, promote innovation, enhance competitiveness and foster a business environment for trade."
Canada’s IP commitments: The Canadian government is committed to strengthen the impact of the importance of IP in the modern economy to ensure the balance of the IP system and supporting Canada's goals. The strategy is divided into three directions: (1) IP awareness, education and advice; (2) promotion of IP tool growth; (3) IP justice system.
Grand finale
The five-day INTA annual meeting was successfully ended. The Grand Finale was held at the Space Needle, one of the landmarks of Seattle. It was designed for the World Exposition held in Seattle in 1962 and is now one of the symbols of Seattle. The Space Needle has a height of 605 feet. INTA offered various types of delicious food and drinks. Musicians and jazz bands were everywhere to create the romantic and lively atmosphere. Participants could also take the elevator to the top of Space Needle to see the night view of Seattle. The sleepless night in Seattle gave an unforgettable impression for all the participants.
