INTA Board of Directors Vote to Adopt Four Board Resolutions, Covering Well-Known Marks and Range of Complementary Rights

Hollywood, Florida—November 19, 2025—The Board of Directors of the International Trademark Association (INTA) has adopted four resolutions during their November 2025 Board of Directors Meeting, held yesterday in Hollywood, Florida. Establishing INTA’s position on critical policy issues, Board resolutions, once approved, are central to the Association’s advocacy work and guide all related activities.

A resolution sponsored by the Famous and Well-Known Marks Committee provides an updated global framework for the protection of well-known marks, emphasizing harmonization, flexible evaluation of notoriety, and protection against unfair exploitation—including for marks not registered or used domestically.

Aimed at strengthening trade dress protection under unfair competition law, a resolution sponsored by the Unfair Competition Committee covers cases where imitation does not cause confusion but exploits the reputation or goodwill of the original product or service. The resolution encourages actionable claims against “free riding” and dilution, even in the absence of confusion. This is an important topic in the face of increasing challenges from so-called “dupes.”

The Trade Secrets Committee sponsored a resolution presenting Trade Secrets Model Guidance to serve as a baseline for analyzing, commenting on, and advocating for effective trade secret protection across jurisdictions. The guidance is intended to support INTA’s advocacy, including policy submissions and amicus filings, and to provide a harmonized framework for civil trade secret protection.

Finally, a resolution sponsored by the Designs Committee affirms INTA’s strong support for the Riyadh Design Law Treaty (DLT), which harmonizes and streamlines global procedures for obtaining and maintaining industrial design rights, including a mandatory 12-month grace period and simplified filing requirements. The resolution urges all countries to adopt the DLT without reservations to ensure efficient, user-friendly, and consistent international design protection.

INTA’s Board of Directors met yesterday during the Association’s 2025 Leadership Meeting. More than 1,500+ intellectual property professionals from 85 jurisdictions traveled for the gathering. This is a pivotal Leadership Meeting for the Association as it transitions to the next two-year committee term and prepares for the launch of its 2026–2029 Strategic Plan. INTA’s Board of Directors adopted 11 resolutions during the 2024–2025 committee term.

About the International Trademark Association:  
The International Trademark Association (INTA) is a global association of brand owners and professionals dedicated to supporting trademarks and complementary intellectual property (IP) to foster consumer trust, economic growth, and innovation, and committed to building a better society through brands. Members include more than 6,600 organizations, representing more than 38,000 individuals (trademark owners, professionals, and academics) from 182 countries, who benefit from the Association’s global trademark resources, policy development, education and training, and international network. Founded in 1878, INTA is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Beijing, Brussels, Dubai, Santiago, Singapore, and the Washington, D.C., Metro Area, and representatives in Nairobi and New Delhi. For more information, visit inta.org.

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Media Contact:   
Jean-Claude Darné
Managing Director, Marketing and Communications
212-642-1774
[email protected]