Asia is one of the priority regions under the third prong of INTA’s Strategic Direction of International Expansion. The Association last year organized meetings in countries including China, Japan, Korea, India, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. This year INTA has continued to increase its presence in Asia, with Sanz de Acedo and INTA President Mei-lan Stark visiting India, China, Japan, Myanmar, Singapore and Hong Kong. Among INTA’s recent achievements in Asia were filing amicus briefs for the first time in India in 2013 and in Japan in 2014.
Sanz de Acedo closed his speech by announcing INTA’s intention to bring the Annual Meeting back to Asia in 2020, which prompted warm applause from the audience. From next year every third Annual Meeting will be held outside North America, starting with Vienna in 2017. The 2020 venue is yet to be announced. INTA will also be reinforcing its presence in China, opening a representative office in Southeast Asia in 2015 and holding a conference on non-traditional marks in 2015.
Sanz de Acedo also thanked all the members who worked to make the Annual Meeting a success. “All of you work for INTA as your night work, as I have heard many times,” he said.
Earlier, Mei-lan Stark shared her personal story of brands that had made a mark on her, from the NIKE canvas high-tops she got when she was 12 to the AVON perfume she received when she was 14 and the HONDA CVCC station wagon that was her first car.
Stark introduced a video detailing INTA’s 136-year history from its founding by 17 merchants and manufacturers in New York in 1878 to its expansion into a global trademark association. “While INTA certainly has a rich history we also have a very exciting future ahead of us,” she said.
