How do you keep several thousand trademark lawyers happy for five days? That is the challenge faced by the organizing committee for the 130th INTA Annual Meeting, which will take place in Berlin from May 17 to 21, 2008.
"It's a huge task," says Sara Blotner, senior counsel for technology and intellectual property at Citigroup and co-chair of the organizing committee, along with Peter Munzinger of Bardehle Pagenberg Dost Altenburg Geissler. These two lawyers have to devise a coherent and comprehensive program that anticipates which topics lawyers will want to discuss in 12 months time.
Members of the committee have looked at what issues have recurred over the last 10 years and what they are dealing with now and decided that the theme for next year's event will be "breaking down barriers."
This theme divides into two areas. The first part deals with breaking down the barriers between traditional trademark work and cross-practice areas such as right of publicity, copyright, software and licensing deals that go beyond strict trademark licensing.
As well as developing a wide range of skills outside their core competencies, trademark lawyers must also have an international perspective. "You can't just practice trademark law in your country anymore," says Blotner. The second aspect of the "breaking down barriers" theme will look at harmonization and regionalization of trademarks. A series of regional panels will look at specific areas of law in different countries.
No more barriers
Berlin is, in many ways, the ideal location to discuss how to break down barriers. A divided city from the end of World War Two until 1990, it has now reinvented itself as a multicultural metropolis and the heartbeat of modern Germany. The fall of the Berlin Wall is now recognized as one of the pivotal moments of 20th century history.
It is also one of Europe's most popular venues for conferences. The INTA Annual Meeting will be held at ICC Berlin conference center, one of the city's most prestigious venues. The ICC is the biggest convention center in Europe and welcomed its 10 millionth visitor to an event in June 2005.
A diverse array of speakers will be taking part in the meeting, and some have already been confirmed. For example, Pier Luigi Roncaglia of Societa Italiana Brevetti and Alexander Cizek of DLA Piper Weiss-Tessbach will speak at a workshop on forum shopping in the EU. David Stone from Howrey and Bryan Wheelock of Harness Dickey & Pierce will take part in a session that will deal with trademark ethics.
A session on trademark enforcement in Africa will feature Kay Rickelman from Spoor & Fisher in South Africa and William Maema from Iseme Kamau & Maema in Kenya.
The section on sports enforcement will branch out from US sports and look at the issues raised by the FIFA soccer World Cup in Germany and the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Christian Rohnke from White & Case in Germany will moderate this session.
Finally, Charles Gielen of NautaDutilh in Amsterdam will moderate a discussion entitled "Freedom of expression and unfair competition – an international perspective on the boundaries of fair use."
"It's a phenomenal line up, the speakers will be amazing and everyone should come," says Blotner.
Things you didn't know about Berlin
Berlin, with an area of 891 square kilometers, is nine times bigger than Paris.
Berlin has 3.39 million inhabitants. The city's population was at its highest in 1942, when it reached 4,478,102.
Berlin has an extensive transportation system, including 9 underground lines, 28 tram lines, 150 bus lines and 7,000 taxis.
There are more than 180 kilometers of navigable waterways within Berlin's city limits. The city has around 1,700 bridges, easily surpassing the number in Venice.
Berlin's television tower (Fernsehturm) is 368 meters high, making it Germany's tallest structure and one of the tallest in Europe.
Around 1700, about 20% of Berlin's residents were French.
Berlin has more zoo animals than any other city in the world. The Zoologischer Garten, one of two zoos, was founded 150 years ago and has one of the largest aquariums in the world.
Since its opening on September 9, 2001, the Jewish Museum has been visited by more than 3 million people. The museum building was designed by Daniel Libeskind in the form of a shattered Star of David.
In addition to visiting the famous museums on world heritage site Berlin Museum Island, the more adventurous tourist can visit some of the more esoteric attractions, such as the Sugar Museum and the Erotic Museum.
Berlin is the only city in the world with three running opera houses, which can accommodate 4,411 opera fans. In addition there are 150 theatres and stage venues for all entertainment genres and countless cabarets.
The most famous Berlin specialties include "Eisbein mit Sauerkraut und Erbsenpüree" (pork knuckles with sauerkraut and pea purée), "gebratener Hering" (fried herring), cold boulettes (meat balls) with mustard, pickled eggs and gherkins, and green pea soup with ham.
Berlin's most famous pastry is a crepe filled with jam. It is known all round Germany as the "Berliner" – although in Berlin you will rarely find it under this name and it is known as a Pfannkuchen.
