Educational Programming at INTA’s 2022 Annual Meeting Live+: Get Ready to Expand Your Knowledge

Whether applicable for daily work or forward-looking planning, the 2022 Annual Meeting Live+ will feature an interesting gamut of educational programming—both in person and virtually—that will expand registrants’ knowledge and enhance conversations.

More than 100 speakers from around the world will be presenting during the educational programming, which includes workshops, panel sessions, and Capsule Keynotes. Topics range from hot trends like the metaverse and sustainability, to the more traditional but critical areas of interest such as case law, counterfeiting, and ethics.

While the 4,500+ brand owners and intellectual property (IP) professionals registered to date are driven to attend the Annual Meeting for various purposes, including networking and meeting with external counsel and clients, the opportunity for educational advancement—and earning CLE credits—is another top reason to register.

Noted Elisabeth Siemsen do Amaral, partner at Dannemann Siemsen (Brazil), who will be attending the meeting in person as part of a 17-person team (16 in person and one virtually): “After two years of the pandemic, I’m very excited to attend the 2022 INTA Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. It is the most important trademark conference in the world, where we have the best opportunity of developing business and learning more about the latest in trademark and related matters.”

Likewise, registered for the Virtual Only event, Rosemary Turpin, associate consultant-trademarks, Eli Lilly and Company (USA), is looking forward to the educational sessions.

“The next best thing to being in person at INTA’s 2022 Annual Meeting Live+ is attending virtually!” she said. “I will miss the in-person vibe that is unique to the Annual Meeting. Yet, I will not miss out on the excellent programming that is also unique to the Annual Meeting.”

This year’s Annual Meeting in-person event features three workshops. First up, on April 30, is INTA’s 2022 Anticounterfeiting Workshop—Counterfeits in a Digital World: The Evolution of the Fight Against Fakes. New this year, the workshop will feature a forward-looking panel discussion on emerging issues, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs), blockchain, and the metaverse. This popular offering is exclusive to in-house practitioners, intermediary representatives, and government officials.

Then, on May 1, INTA’s In-House Practitioners Committee will present the In-House Practitioners Workshop: The Road Forward: Stretching Your Practice Beyond Trademarks, exclusively for in-house practitioners.

Also on May 1, the Association will host The Women’s LeadershIP Initiative Workshop, linked to INTA’s ongoing project to advance the careers of women in intellectual property (IP). The workshop will drive dialogues on how women grow and evolve in their leadership styles. Participants will learn methods to shape those leadership styles over time and embrace learning to effectively advance throughout their IP careers. Open to registrants at all career levels and in all roles, the workshop will be presented in two parts and will include a networking discussion forum.

The workshops have limited attendance, and registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. To add a workshop, which carries a US $100 registration fee, log into your INTA profile and select the “purchases” tab.

Continuing a program structure INTA introduced at its virtual Annual Meeting in 2021, the 2022 Annual Meeting’s educational programming centers on daily tracks around specific themes, supplemented with Professional Development, Business Development, and Regional Update programming.

For in-person registrants, the daily topic tracks, with five sessions each, are: Building a Better Society Through Brands; Complementary Rights, Regulatory Issues, and Brand Restrictions; Enforcement and Anticounterfeiting, supported by Strategic Sponsor—Enforcement and Anticounterfeiting, WANHUIDA Intellectual Property; Innovation and the Future of IP; and The Business of Brands.

On the virtual program, there will be more than 20 sessions. They will be tied to three tracks: Enforcement and Anticounterfeiting, presented in China Standard Time; The Business of Brands, taking place in Central European Time; and Building a Better Society Through Brands, occurring in U.S. Eastern Time.

The Building a Better Society Through Brands track mirrors one of the three pillars of INTA’s 2022‒2025 Strategic Plan.

Kicking off this track, with an in-person session on May 2, is Green Is the New Black: How Does This Fit into an IP Strategy. Moderated by Katherine Sullivan, senior counsel, Whirlpool (USA), the panel will discuss formulating a green IP strategy—a critical topic at a time when customers’ sustainability expectations keep growing, and businesses are increasingly harnessing the social and business potential of sustainable technology and branding.

Among the sessions on the Complementary Rights, Regulatory Issues, and Brand Restrictions track, one session of note, on the virtual platform on May 3, is The Hungry Caterpillar: Colin v. Cuthbert and A Look at How to Best Protect Cutting Edge Marks Inside and Outside the Trademark Arena. It will focus on the widely followed “cake case” in the UK, featuring Colin and Cuthbert caterpillar cakes, including the trademark claims made, and discuss whether inclusion of design or copyright claims might have produced a different outcome.

Sessions on the Enforcement and Anticounterfeiting Track will address several of INTA’s key policy issues and how emerging trends are impacting them. For example, Counterfeiting in the Metaverse: Protecting, Policing, and Enforcing Digital Rights as Technology Races Forward will look at the buzzword of the moment—metaverse. This panel, moderated by Heather McDonald, of counsel, Baker & Hostetler LLP (USA), will introduce the myriad new issues surrounding the metaverse, including defining terms like metaverse itself, along with NFTs, digital rights—and more.

The metaverse will also hold a spot on the in-person Innovation and IP track, on May 4, with a session on From Second Life to the Metaverse: What Have You Learned? Led by Fernanda Magalhaes, partner, Kasznar Leonardos Intellectual Property (Brazil), session attendees will find out how brands can and should protect themselves in this “new playground.”

Also on this track, another timely topic is Technology in Society and the Future of IP Assets. Moderated by Boriana Guimberteau, partner, Stephenson Harwood AARPI (France), the panel will dive into the disruptive impact of artificial intelligence, data science, and other digital technologies on traditional IP legal concepts and systems. Topics include the use of technologies in the protection of IP rights and the growing importance of data and privacy 3.0 issues.

The Business of Brands track, both on the in-person and virtual programming platforms, aligns with INTA’s increasing focus on valuation and tax issues related to IP. For example, The Interplay Between Brand Value and ESG Initiatives, an in-person session on May 2, will discuss why environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives have become a leading business objective and revenue driver for brands, and how ESG and other non-financial considerations can be used in brand valuations.

On the virtual side of The Business of Brands track, on May 3, there will be a session entitled Transfer Pricing and Brands (Ownership and Valuation). A panel of IP experts and tax and IP practitioners will explore key brand issues in transfer pricing—the internal mechanisms by which global firms share IP, which has become a hotbed for disputes about the value of brands and the integrity of ownership regimes.

Regional Updates, offered throughout the Annual Meeting, in person and virtually, will keep registrants abreast of developments in specific regions. Developments will include case law updates. On the virtual platform, among the five regional updates are topics new to the event: Africa Update on Data Privacy Laws, and Latin America & Caribbean Law & Practice Update.

For all attendees, INTA’s renowned Annual Review of U.S. Federal Case Law and TTAB Developments will take place on May 4. The Trademark Reporter authors Ted Davis, partner, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP (USA), and John L. Welch, counsel, Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks, PC (USA), will deliver a concise analysis of key decisions rendered by U.S. courts and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board for the year of Lanham Act administration (approximately July 2020–June 2021) and thereafter.

In addition, there will be a second Annual Review of Leading Case Law in the European Union, on May 3. Both the in-person U.S. and Europe case law sessions will be broadcast live on the Virtual Only program.

Further, expanding upon these annual reviews, the virtual Regional Update track will feature China Case Law Update: Staying Ahead of the Curve in Punitive Damages Calculation, on May 2 in the China Time Zone. Speakers will address trendsetting cases rendered by the courts in China, recap the developing trend of legislation and practice regarding punitive damages, and delve into the hot topic of punitive damages calculation.

New this year at the in-person event, May 2‒4, will be six Capsule Keynotes zeroing in on Professional Development, also a pillar of INTA’s 2022‒2025 Strategic Plan. The topics are: Partnering with Your Legal Team: Allyship and Advancement of Legal Professionals; How to Build an Inclusive Workplace That Can Improve Results; Discovering and Defining Your Professional Persona: Keys to Self-Management; The Art of Communication and Transparency—A Conversation About Best Billing Practices; LinkedIn? Facebook? Instagram? TikTok? How to Effectively Use Social Media for Marketing Purposes; and Valuation and Intangibles: Understanding the Business.

Also of note are multiple educational sessions featuring government speakers. They include Why Trade Policy Matters to Brand Owners Large and Small and IP Office of the Future: How to Build an Action Plan for a 21st Century IP Office.

Adding to the INTA Annual Meeting experience, this year, most of the educational programming will be livestreamed. In addition, all featured educational sessions and Capsule Keynotes presented in person will be available on demand for all registrants until August 5, 2022.

Learn more and register for the 2022 Annual Meeting Live+.

Although every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of this article, readers are urged to check independently on matters of specific concern or interest.

Topics Annual Meeting