Board discusses INTA plans

May 22 2016

INTA’s Board of Directors held its second meeting of the year yesterday, and tackled a wide range of issues affecting the Association and members.

Some of the highlights were:

• A focus group was held in the afternoon to obtain the Board’s feedback on the 2018-2021 Strategic Plan. This complements the engagement with various stakeholders including those outside of the IP community to further the Association’s goal of building bridges. Focus groups are also being held in Orlando to obtain feedback from a diverse group of members.

• An overview of the nominations process was presented and available on inta.org under Membership and Committees/Committee Participation. Nominations for 2017 officers and Board of Directors can be submitted through the Nominations Portal on the INTA website until June 3, 2016. In addition to seeking diversity of leadership, the Nominating Committee’s suggested criteria for Board nominations includes a depth of knowledge in trademark law; appreciation of the issues facing INTA; commitment to INTA by regular meeting attendance, timely completion of substantive tasks and high quality work product; and demonstration of strong leadership qualities in order to be role models for other INTA volunteers. Under the revised Bylaws, the Nominating Committee (see box) has the discretion to nominate up to three Advisory Directors for election by the Board of Directors as non-voting members of the Board appointed for a one-year term. Advisory Directors are meant to be non-members of the Association, whose special expertise may be needed for certain issues being considered by the Board.

• INTA’s Code of Policies: The Board approved a revised draft of this important code, which supplements INTA’s recently revised Bylaws. Both Bylaws and the Code are available on the INTA website.

• 2016 In-House Counsel Presidential Task Force Co-Chairs Jacqueline Leimer and Andrea Klein provided an update on their Task Force, “The Role and Position of In-house Trademark Professionals.” The Task Force will submit a final report and recommendations later this year.

• The Programming Advisory Council’s proposal for 2017 educational events was outlined.

Strategic Plan

The Planning Committee wants to build upon the existing Strategic Plan and be as inclusive and forward thinking as possible when drafting the next Strategic Plan in order for INTA to: continue to be the leading advocate for the interests of brand owners; increase consumer protection; build bridges within and outside the IP community; and explore the nexus between brands and innovation.

With this in mind the Planning Committee has started to obtain feedback not only from INTA members and staff, but also from individuals from other IP organizations and individuals from non-IP organizations, such as business school professors, CEOs, marketing and consumer experts, media professionals and legislators.

The Planning Committee is also taking advantage of the Annual Meeting to obtain feedback from a diverse group of INTA members as part of the strategic planning process. The idea is to collect the feedback from these various constituencies by early summer so that the Planning Committee can begin its analysis and the drafting process from June to September of this year.

The intent is to finalize the Strategic Plan in March 2017 so that the communication of the 2018-2021 Strategic Plan can be rolled out in May 2017.

Read an interview with INTA’s CEO Etienne Sanz de Acedo on pages 6-7.