Innovative Education Format: Daily Tracks

At this year’s Annual Meeting, registrants can experience a new and exciting learning journey as INTA adopts an innovative format for its educational program.

The virtual component of the Annual Meeting, from November 15 to 19, features five educational tracks—one track on each of the five days of the event. The tracks are: Building a Better Society Through Brands; The Business of Brands; Enforcement and Anticounterfeiting; Innovation and the Future of IP; and Regional Updates. There are 20+ educational sessions throughout the five days of the meeting.

Commenting on the fresh approach, Annual Meeting Project Team Co-Chair Lorenzo Litta, chief business officer and legal counsel, BrandIT GmbH (Switzerland), described it as “revolutionary.”

“We wanted to distinguish the INTA Virtual Meeting+ from other virtual events hosted by other organizations, as it seemed that all virtual conferences have been very similar over the past 18 months,” he said. “By having a different track per day, INTA is offering something different.”

Mr. Litta added that the Project Team developed the innovative approach after carefully assessing registrants’ experience during the 2020 virtual Annual Meeting & Leadership Meeting.

“We found that some registrants were following the event from home while they were also carrying out a normal business day, and that their time to follow the sessions was limited,” he explained. “So if they wanted to view one session on Monday and then another on Tuesday, it became complicated, and people may not have been easily able to follow topics they really wanted to watch. Having one track per day means people can choose the day on which they can follow the sessions.”

Of note, the chosen themes for the tracks closely follow the pillars that will form INTA’s 2022–2025 Strategic Plan. Learn more about the new Strategic Plan from INTA leadership at Visioning for the Future: INTA’s 2022-2025 Strategic Plan, at 11:30 am (EST) on Thursday, November 18.

For example, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) is a central tenet of the new Strategic Plan, and the Team ensured that this critical topic is a key feature of the educational tracks.

INTA’s Annual Meeting Project Team Co-Chair Diane Lau, lead trademark paralegal, Facebook, Inc. (US), also reflected on the daily tracks, pointing out that they will help registrants manage their time more efficiently.

“The single track per day is really going to be a game changer and hopefully will help people’s scheduling,” Ms. Lau said.

Sheila Francis, INTA’s director, Knowledge & Development, offers this advice about the programming: “To get the best educational experience, curate your own learning experience by planning in advance. For example, select the tracks you want to attend live; pre-register for Idea Exchanges and Workshops, which focus on interactive peer-to-peer discussions; and set some time after the Meeting to listen on demand to sessions you missed.”

Building a Better Society Through Brands, Monday, November 15

The first track, Building a Better Society Through Brands, on Monday, November 15, will examine how a brand represents more than a product or service. Trustworthiness, transparency, sustainability, and DE&I are among the core values that today’s consumers expect from the brands they support.

Brands have a platform and a voice to effect change and brand practitioners can play a major role in supporting them, according to Debra Hughes, assistant general counsel, BlueCross BlueShield Association (US), the track leader of the first day’s track.

“More and more, we’re learning that companies are trying to expand their brand to be a voice in this space, the voice of sustainability, of DE&I, of giving back.

“I believe in-house intellectual property (IP) practitioners have to be a part of that conversation, not only to show your value to your company but importantly, to demonstrate that you understand and support the mission and the vision of your company,” Ms. Hughes said.

Sessions addressing key DE&I issues will include: Partnering for Change: How Brands Help Grow Minority and Women-Owned Businesses, on Monday, November 15, at 1:15 pm–2:15 pm (EST).

During this session, speakers will discuss how some minority and women-owned companies are leveraging the power of their brands and their communities to break through barriers, as well as how more established brands have stepped up to help small and medium-sized enterprises to grow their brands.

Don’t miss the Capsule Keynote: Building a Better Society Through Brands, at 2:30 pm–3:00 pm (EST), which will include senior leaders who will share their insights and experiences on a variety of topics.

The session, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: No One-Size-Fits-All Solution, at 3:15 pm–4:15 pm (EST) will examine DE&I issues through the lens of different geographic areas. Panelists hail from Angola; Brazil; Chile; Hong Kong SAR, China; and Turkey.

Joana Siqueira, partner, Montaury Pimenta, Machado & Vieira de Mello (Brazil), who will serve as moderator, said that the session will explore the disparate challenges and opportunities faced in these jurisdictions and the solutions that have been implemented.

She added: “The DE&I needs and priorities vary from one country to another and are intimately related to each country’s history, culture, economy, etc. During this panel, we will discuss the situations, objectives, and needs in different countries by focusing on issues around gender, religion, race, and sexual orientation.”

Innovation and the Future of IP, Thursday, November 18

Innovation plays a significant role in the legal issues faced by practitioners today and being nimble amid the changes that innovation brings is a must. Innovation and the Future of IP on Thursday, November 18, explores the future state of the marketplace and the role IP can play in this evolution.

According to Monique Cheng Joe, senior vice president, NBCUniversal Media, LLC (US), the track leader: “Change is the only constant for us, and being nimble amid change is a must. Technology tends to be ahead of the law.”

Noting the importance of this track’s topic, she added that brand legal teams must stay one step ahead as technological advancements can profoundly impact their work.

“Innovation is key to the success of a business, and practitioners must be well-positioned to provide the right IP counseling and leadership to their respective clients,” Ms. Joe said.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the world has faced unprecedented challenges and leaders have had to be innovative and responsive to them. To find out what it takes to make a good leader, tune into What Is Expected from a Leader? at 9:25 am–10:30 am (EST).

During this session, seasoned INTA corporate leaders will share how they developed their leadership skills and applied them in times of crisis. The panelists include Toe Sue Aung, co-founder and director, Elipe Limited (UK); Batur Oktay, strategic legal and business advisor, Starbucks, (US); Mei-lan Stark, senior vice president and chief counsel, intellectual property, NBCUniversal Media, LLC (US), and Zeeger Vink, intellectual property director, MF Brands Group, (Switzerland).

Commenting on the session, moderator Kay Rickelman, foreign counsel, Spoor & Fisher (South Africa), said: “It is such a privilege to be working with them. I look forward to hearing their personal journeys on how they made it to the leadership roles they have today, including some of their ‘war stories’ and providing words of wisdom to budding leaders.”

This track’s sessions also include Virtual Is the New Reality: The Future of Intellectual Property in a Virtual Marketplace at 2:45 pm–3:45 pm (EST), which will be moderated by Jaime Vining, partner, Friedland Vining, P.A. (US).

According to Ms. Vining, “The panel is going to be focused on virtual reality and augmented reality technologies and the new ‘realm’ of trademark issues faced by brand owners in these virtual worlds, which seem largely rooted in the lack of clarity around IP rights when content and technology come together to produce something new and valuable.”

The “fun and innovative” discussion, added Ms. Vining, will share insight on the IP implications of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and how to capitalize on the new opportunities created by developments in virtual reality.