About INTA
Tomorrow’s Leader Award
Our Tomorrow’s Leader Award recognizes two outstanding young practitioners for their early leadership in the intellectual property industry.
We established the award to strengthen both professional and personal development for the recipients and raise their visibility as tomorrow’s leaders within the trademark community.
If you have any questions, please read the FAQs below or contact us.
Applications for this year are now closed. The winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony of our 2024 Leadership Meeting. If you’re eligible to attend, please register for the 2024 Leadership Meeting!
Who is eligible to apply?
- Applicant must be employed at an INTA member organization in good standing (membership must be current).
- Restricted to IP professionals with five (5) years or less of experience working with IP.
- Application must meet the submission deadline.
- All published works must be the product of the author’s original thought and scholarship.
- Published works can include those that are co-authored.
- Young Practitioners from all countries are eligible to apply.
- Cannot have previously been registered for an in-person Annual Meeting or Leadership Meeting.
- Applicants from the Young Practitioners Committee are not eligible to apply.
- Applicants who are not currently on any INTA Committee are particularly encouraged to apply.
- Individuals who win the award once are ineligible to apply again.
What do winners receive?
- Complimentary registration to INTA’s 2024 Leadership Meeting and the 2025 Annual Meeting.
- Official announcement as a winner of the Tomorrow’s Leader Award during INTA’s 2024 Leadership Meeting.
- Their name and photograph published in the INTA Bulletin, recognizing the achievement.
- A guaranteed spot on an INTA Committee.
2023 WINNERS
Ashneet Hanspal
Ahlawat & Associates
India
It is truly an honor to be selected as a recipient for INTA’s 2023 Tomorrow’s Leader Award. I’m deeply grateful and humbled to receive this recognition, and regard this as both a valuable milestone in my career as well as a goalpost for the future. I hope to be able to work toward exemplifying the ideals this award represents and look forward to getting further involved in and giving back to the INTA community.
Through pro bono work, Ms. Hanspal has advised several businesses and organizations regarding their trademark applications. She is a member of many IP-related networks including ILN, Interlegal, ASSOCHAM, and Globalaw, to which she regularly contributes articles and resources. She has demonstrated an acute interest in how brands can enforce their trademark rights amid emerging technologies such as AI and the Metaverse. Ms. Hanspal will serve on The Trademark Reporter Committee next term.
Dat Nguyen
Baker McKenzie
Vietnam
Winning INTA’s 2023 Tomorrow’s Leader Award marks a significant milestone in my career, reaffirming my unwavering dedication to practicing IP law. I look forward to collaborating with IP practitioners worldwide and contributing to our international IP community and society as a whole. INTA, as a global hub for trademark leaders and experts, is the perfect platform for me to start turning my goals into reality.
Nguyen has engaged in pro bono projects working with Vietnam-based startups to help protect and register their trademark rights in the Asia Pacific. During his time in practice, Mr. Nguyen has authored several articles to raise awareness of IP issues and has spoken at trademark law-related events. He also supports the development of IP professionals through his lectures at the Vietnam Judicial Academy and Hanoi Law University. In the coming term, he will join INTA’s Famous and Well-Known Marks Committee.
2022 WINNERS
Isabella Estabile
Kasznar Leonardos Intellectual Property
Brazil
Empowering people to know their rights and, consequently, to generate a positive impact in the world has been my mission. Winning this award is an amazing opportunity for me to get involved in INTA, which has meant the concretization of my most genuine dream: to become a lawyer who plays a positive role in society.
Ms. Estabile, recently honored as a “rising star” by Leaders League, focuses her career on biodiversity matters and supporting the interaction of companies with indigenous/traditional people living in different regions in Brazil, such as the amazon, and territories demarcated by the Brazilian Indigenous Foundation, drafting agreements to authorize the use of their name, image, and voice, as well genetic resources associated with traditional knowledge, in addition to assisting with legal certifications and approvals to enter those territories. A member of the Brazilian Industrial Property Association, Ms. Estabile has also played a key role in developing important IP-related legislative changes in Brazil, as coordinator of the advocacy committee.
Emilie Feil-Fraser
Seastone IP LLP
Canada
As a recipient of the 2022 Tomorrow’s Leader Award, it is such an honor to know my work in these areas resonates with others. I am so excited to become more involved with INTA and give back to an international community that does so much for our profession.
Emilie Feil-Fraser has established herself as a voice for female entrepreneurship in Canada, doing all she can to attract, nurture, and empower women-led businesses and women entrepreneurs as clients, focusing on their trademark rights. She is also active in the Canadian cannabis legalization movement, directing her efforts on the emerging trademark issues as they relate to standardizing, defining, and asserting trademarks regarding cannabis strain names.
2021 WINNERS
Pedro de Abreu M. Campos
Di Blasi, Parente & Associados
Brazil
I believe this award is a turning point in my career, because at the same time it makes me proud for achieving what I have done so far, it also makes me feel very humble and passionate about working hard to become a leader and to get involved with INTA’s community.
Mr. Campos has been practicing law for two years, concentrating on IP law, regulatory law, and compliance. His experience involves litigation on copyright, trademarks, and patents.
In his brief tenure as an attorney, he has already made a mark on the IP community in Brazil. His pro bono work has included helping to protect the trademark of nonprofit organization, Fight for Peace, which combines boxing and martial arts with education and personal development to assist young people in reaching their potential.
He has published books and articles related to the IP community, including on topics such as copyright, geographical indications, trademarks, patents, trade secrets, amendments to Internet and copyright laws, and more. His book on Pharmaceutical Patent Litigation was nominated for two awards and cited by the Federal Court of Rio de Janeiro to ground judicial decisions.
Agnese Gerharde
Agnese Gerharde
COBALT
Latvia
This award resonates hard work, commitment, and amazing mentorship of my colleagues at COBALT. Receiving this award is a great milestone of my career and a direction for the future to continue the work and become more active with INTA and the international community of trademark professionals.
An associate at the full-service IP practice for three years, Ms. Gerharde specializes in IP, IT matters with a particular focus on global IP protection strategies and transactions, trademark enforcement, trademark litigations, and copyright.
She has done extensive pro bono work for various organizations in Latvia during her brief career as an IP lawyer. Her efforts have included providing assistance on IP matters for the country’s official COVID-19 contact tracing mobile application; the Latvians Abroad Museum and Research Centre, which collects testimonials, objects, photos, and stories about Latvia emigration; and ManaBalss, a platform for public initiatives.
Giulia Maienza
Herbert Smith Freehills LLP
Italy
INTA brings together some of the best global talents in the IP field and encourages genuine dialogue on all aspects of IP and the future. I am truly excited about joining this community.
Ms. Maienza, who has worked at the global law firm for nearly four years, focuses on the protection of trademarks, designs, geographical indications, copyright, and other IP assets. She has experience with data protection and privacy, and she has authored articles on topics related to historical trademarks, trademarks and fashion, IP protection for indigenous peoples, nontraditional marks, and more.
In addition, she has performed pro bono work for organizations in both Italy and the United Kingdom. Her efforts have included trademark filings for a UK-based magazine that creates opportunities for the homeless, and to an Italian radio station operated by adolescents.
2020 WINNERS
Bita Kianian
Knobbe Martens
USA
Receiving this award reflects my passion for trademark law, my commitment to clients, and my amazing mentors at Knobbe Martens. This achievement is an exciting opportunity to become more involved with INTA and be part of a global community of leaders and trademark experts.
Bita Kianian focuses her practice on trademark prosecution and enforcement, copyright, unfair competition, and licensing. During the first few years of her career, she co-authored numerous articles for prestigious publications. During these years, she also performed extensive pro bono work, including volunteering at El Centro Legal, a student-coordinated network of volunteer legal aid clinics at the University of California, Los Angeles, and at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, where she represented individuals who had been wrongly denied government benefits.
Aprajita Nigam
LexOrbis
India
This award is a dartboard on the wall for me. A goal has been set to become a leader. What more could I have asked for than a clear purpose in these testing times? In addition to setting my goal, INTA has also showed the path I need to embark upon. This is a dream for all young practitioners.
Aprajita Nigam’s practice covers trademark, copyright and design matters, risk assessment, oppositions, cancellation, review and appeals, suits for copyright and trademark infringement, and domain name complaints. She has been published in several well-known trade publications on topics including pharmaceutical trademarks, counterfeit goods, and the overlap between trademark and design rights in India. Additionally, Ms. Nigam has a long list of pro bono work. This includes advising a non-profit organization on registering geographical indications with respect to 400-year-old paintings, filing trademark applications for a rice trader who had recently started his business, and handling myriad other IP issues for small businesses and individuals.
2019 WINNERS
Sher Hann Chua
Tilleke & Gibbins
Thailand
Beyond my personal dedication and commitment to the field of IP law, this recognition is a testament to the outstanding mentors and leaders at Tilleke & Gibbins. This award both serves as a foundational milestone to look back on and an exciting opportunity from which to launch forward.
Sher Hann Chua’s practice focuses on IP with clients in a broad range of industries, including automotive, energy, food and beverage, and media and entertainment. She has appeared on behalf of brand owners before trademark registrars and government bodies in negotiations, enforcement actions, and regulatory affairs. Ms. Chua has completed pro bono work for artists and non-governmental organizations and is a regular contributor to INTA’s Unreal Campaign. As part of a corporate social responsibility initiative by Tilleke & Gibbins, she volunteers as a speaker and guide at the Museum of Counterfeit Goods in Bangkok.
Suzannah Wood
King & Wood Mallesons LLP
Australia
Until this award, I expected that my first exposure to INTA would have been years away. I am thrilled to learn from international experts in my field, strengthen my network of overseas associates, and continue to build a career as a trademark specialist.
Suzannah Wood’s practice revolves around IP law, specializing in trademark prosecution for international brands. She has co-author and research credits on multiple prestigious publications and has done extensive pro bono work. She was named one of King & Wood Mallesons’s 2019 Pro Bono Champions for her pro bono service. Outside of IP law, Ms. Wood is involved with the Refugee Legal Service representing refugees before Fines Victoria and the Magistrates Court.
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