Toe Su Aung is Director of Elipe Limited, based in London, UK, a strategy and policy consultancy that works with IP owners on IP, digital, and sustainability issues. A qualified solicitor in both the UK and Singapore, she spent 20 years at British American Tobacco before co-founding Elipe.

She served as INTA President in 2013, and on INTA’s Board of Directors from 2003-2005 and then again from 2008-2013 in Officer positions.

She has been on the INTA Foundation Board of Governors since 2016.

Debra Y. Hughes is Assistant General Counsel for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), where she manages a team of attorneys, paralegals and consultants supporting the marketing, communications, strategy, digital and licensing business teams develop, leverage, and protect innovative products, services, and health equity initiatives.

She served on the INTA’s Board of Directors from 2010-2012.

Ayala Deutsch is Executive Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of NBA Properties, where she is responsible for managing commercial legal affairs and intellectual property matters for the National Basketball Association (NBA) and its affiliated leagues, including the global acquisition, protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights belonging to the NBA, the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), the NBA G League, the NBA 2K League and their respective teams.

Ayala served as INTA President in 2020, and on INTA’s Board of Directors from 2003-2005 and then again from 2015-2019 in Officer positions.

Megan Bannigan is a partner in Debevoise & Plimpton LLP’s Intellectual Property and Litigation Groups (New York City, USA), representing and counseling clients on cutting-edge matters involving trademarks, trade dress, copyrights, false advertising, design patents, rights of publicity, licensing, and other disputes. She is also an adjunct professor, teaching Advanced Trademark and False Advertising Law at NYU School of Law, and Fashion Law at Rutgers School of Law.

Ms. Bannigan currently serves as Promotions Subcommittee Chair for the INTA Brands for a Better Society Committee.  She previously served on the INTA Pro Bono Committee, where she spearheaded the development of the INTA Pro Bono Clearinghouse, and for which she received a Volunteer Service Award for Advancement of the Organization in 2017.

Safir Anand is recognized as one of India’s top IP attorneys with keen understanding of key drivers of the industry. With 29-plus years’ experience advising and representing clients from diverse industries, from fast-moving consumer goods to pharmaceuticals, software, social media, food, media, sports, entertainment, luxury, fashion and government, Mr. Anand is a business-minded leader setting new narratives in the Indian IP jurisprudence.

Mr. Anand currently serves on INTA’s Foundation Board of Governors and as Co-Chair Research Advisory Council. He also served in Commercialization of Brands Committee, Global Brand Transactions and Tax Subcommittee, was an Advisory Group Member for the Business Track- 2023 Annual Meeting Live+, was a part of Presidential Task Force, was part of INTA Gender Research Study, contributor to the Brand Value Special Task Force Report, served as Co-Chair of the Global Brand Transactions and Due Diligence Sub-Committees. He was also part of Well-known brands, Trade Marks Office Practice Guidelines and Brand and Innovation Committees. He also contributed to INTA’S guide to oppositions and guidelines on brand restrictions in packaging, was a speaker – Innovation and the Trademark Team, 2019 Asia Conference: Brands in Changing Times and a trainer to Kolej Tuanku Ja’afar (KTJ) for the Unreal Campaign Student Presentation.

Laura Collada is a lawyer with over 30 years of experience in intellectual property. She is the Managing Partner at Dumont Bergman Bider & Co., S.C. in Mexico City, where she has worked for 26 years. Prior to that, she served as Subdirector at the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI).

She actively participates in INTA’s Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) and has been very involved in DEI topics, speaking on these issues both in Mexico and abroad.

Currently, she is also the Vice President of the Mexican Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AMPPI), which is the Mexican chapter of AIPPI. Additionally, she is a Council Member at MARQUES and participates in various committees at AIPPI and ASIPI, and is a member and attends events of PTMG, ECTA and CITMA.

Ms. Collada has been recognized as one of the most influential women in IP by several publications and has been honored three times with the “Best IP Lawyer in Latin America” award by Women in Business Law.

Susan L. Crane is group vice president, legal – IP, brands & marketing at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc., where she heads the Intellectual Property practice. Wyndham is the world’s largest franchisor of hotels and is the owner of such well-known brands as WYNDHAM, RAMADA, HOWARD JOHNSON, DAYS INN, SUPER 8 and LA QUINTA. Ms. Crane advises the company on all aspects of trademark, copyright, domain name, marketing, social media and patent issues.

Susan served on the INTA Board of Directors from 2012-2014.

David Lossignol is the Global Head of Legal Brand Protection at Novartis International AG in Basel, Switzerland, heading up a team which manages IP matters for Novartis worldwide. He joined Novartis in 2010, before moving to Sandoz, the former generic division of Novartis in 2015 and returning to Novartis in 2019. He has worked in the healthcare sector for all of his career. Mr. Lossignol was the President of the International Trademark Association in 2019. Mr. Lossignol obtained law degrees at Nice Sophia-Antipolis University in France, where he has also lectured on IP law, and holds diplomas from Oxford Brookes University, UK and from CEIPI in Strasbourg, France. He is married and has 3 children.

Marc Trachtenberg is a Shareholder at Greenberg Traurig in its Chicago office where he is Chair of the firm’s Internet, Domain Name, eCommerce and Social Media Practice. He has over 20 years of experience handling intellectual property, domain name, internet, and other technology-related issues as well as advertising, marketing and promotions issues. He regularly represents brand owners, registries, registrars, search engines, online marketplaces, hosting providers, software providers, and all manner of other internet and technology intermediaries, and advises them on virtually all manner of internet, intellectual property, and advertising-related matters. Specifically, his practice focuses on:

• Helping intellectual property owners address problematic domain names, social media accounts, email addresses, and content
• Helping registries, registrars, e-commerce, social media, search engine, and other online platform providers address ICANN and other business and legal issues
• Drafting and review of software and other technology-related agreements
• Traditional trademark and copyright issues
• Advertising, marketing, promotions, and sponsorship
• Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, NFTs, and other innovative technologies
• Outside general counsel services

Mr. Trachtenberg has been an INTA member and active participant for over 20 years and was a recent recipient of the INTA Membership Champion Award. He is currently a longstanding member of the Internet Committee but as served on a variety of different INTA committees including the Brands and Innovation Committee during its inception term.

Read his full bio here.

Jason Yao is a partner and management committee member at Wanhuida Intellectual Property, an IP firm headquartered in Beijing, China. He has spent over 25 years practicing IP law and corporate law and has a combination background of in-house counsel and private practice, first with Procter & Gamble, and then with Acushnet Company. He joined the firm in 2014 and opened the Hong Kong and Shenzhen Offices.

Mr. Yao served on the INTA’s Anti-Counterfeiting Committee during the 2017–2018 term and the 2020–2021 term.