Opening Ceremony Celebrates Sustainability and Community
Journeys literal and figurative were the theme of yesterday’s Opening Ceremony, which covered topics including sustainability, technology, finance, and the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. James Nurton reports
2024 INTA Annual Meeting Co-Chairs Urko Ochoa (MINIÑO, Dominican Republic) and Auma N. Reggy (McKesson, USA) warmly welcomed registrants to the 2024 Annual Meeting at yesterday’s Opening Ceremonies. After reflecting on their own journeys to Atlanta “from the beginning,” they said their goal at this year’s Annual Meeting is to take everyone on a journey “that is safe, enjoyable, exciting, and fulfilling, and that helps us achieve our business goals.”
The Opening Ceremony, like all educational sessions starting from today, was available in nearly 60 languages via Wordly, an AI-powered captioning tool, and ASL interpretation was also provided. It featured speeches by INTA 2024 President Dana Northcott of (Amazon.com, Inc., USA), INTA CEO Etienne Sanz de Acedo (USA) and Dr. Bernice A. King of The King Center (USA).
This year’s educational program is themed around “The Business of Innovation” as Mr. Ochoa explained: “It speaks to how innovation and technology are transforming how we do business, protect and advance our brands, and serve our clients.” He added that focusing solely on trademarks as an intellectual property (IP) attorney is a thing of the past: “If we want a seat at the enterprise table and if want to be business partners to our clients and colleagues, it’s important for us to understand exactly what’s happening in those spaces.”
The educational program features two tracks: the Business Track, which aims to provide business proficiency and build up professional toolkits with new business concepts, and the IP and Innovation Track, which focuses on practical tips from brand professionals and emerging technologies and innovations that are becoming part of everyday work.
Mr. Ochoa and Ms. Reggy also announced the winners of the third INTA Open Innovation Challenge winners: the early-stage startup winner is Smudg (India); the mid-stage startup winner is Action Responder (USA); and the winner in the scale-up category is Startup Wars (USA).
Atlanta is also known as the “City in a Forest,” as half the metro area is covered in trees. Ms. Reggy encouraged everyone to enjoy the city’s culture, foods, history, music, and more and to take advantage of the more than 25 Business Development excursions and networking activities. The 2024 Annual Meeting has more than 350 table topics, 10 speed networking session, and more than 160 exhibitors from 36 countries. An innovation this year is the GameOn Sports Arena where you can play tennis, volleyball, pickleball, soccer, or mini golf and buy INTA merchandise.
Finally, said Ms. Reggy: “I want to remind everyone that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is a priority for INTA.” The principles of DEI are infused into the entire meeting, including through the diverse speakers, the Women’s IP LeadershIP Initiative, the INTA Foundation Sports-Themed Fundraiser, and a photography exhibition.
“The overall value of IP and the impact of IP on the economy will keep growing.”
- Etienne Sanz de Acedo | INTA (USA)
INTA’s Priorities in a Pivotal Year
In his presentation, Mr. Sanz de Acedo congratulated the more than 9,650 registrants from 136 countries at this year’s Annual Meeting, who include more than 1,000 corporate representatives and 185 officials. He provided an update on INTA’s journey over the past four years, looking at Annual Meeting attendance, membership renewal and recruitment, financial performance, advocacy, and research. “During the last four years INTA has produced and published 25 highly relevant and impactful research studies,” he said. In that time, INTA passed 18 resolutions, the submitted 34 amicus briefs and made 155 comments and testimonies.
2024 is a pivotal year, with 49 percent of the eligible world population voting and 64 countries seeing elections or potential leadership change, said Mr. Sanz de Acedo. Meanwhile, a series of challenges are impacting how individuals think, feel, and behave—leading to heightened concern about the future.
In this context, INTA’s priorities remain global harmonization, fighting counterfeiting and piracy, challenging confusion arising from brand restrictions, and Internet governance. Mr. Sanz de Acedo noted the impact of technology and capital investment on IP, saying: “The overall value of IP and the impact of IP on the economy will keep growing.” At the same time, unregistered IP rights such as trade secrets are gaining traction, and IP rights can no longer be looked at in silos.
“Now it is time for all of us to start building,” he said, adding that INTA is “uniquely positioned to get ready for the future.” In its Strategic Plan 2026-29, which will be submitted to the Board in March 2025, INTA will focus on approaching IP more holistically, better understand the impact of technology and finances on IP, and continue to innovate and add value to all members. Mr. Sanz de Acedo also confirmed that next year’s Annual Meeting will be held in San Diego, California.
“What is good for the world is good for our brands, which in turn increases brand value.”
- Dana Northcott | Amazon.com, Inc. (USA)
Brands and Sustainability
“How can championing sustainability efforts build brand value?” asked Ms. Northcott in her speech. Regardless of where you are in your sustainability journey, corporate social responsibility is now an imperative, she said: sustainability reporting is mandatory in some jurisdictions, it establishes consumer trust and value, and consumer perception of sustainability increasingly drives brand value.
“The brand trust of today’s generations is, and with good reason, closely linked to the consumers’ perception of the level of the brand’s sustainability,” she added. Ms. Northcott highlighted the leadership of the city of Atlanta on this front.
“We have a generational opportunity to influence our businesses or law firms to meet one of the most important challenges of our times—and as brand owners, managers, and IP and legal professionals, we are in the unique position to meet this challenge head on,” she said. But this is not a new message: sustainability is an important part of INTA’s 2022–2025 Strategic Plan and is infused into INTA’s DNA.
Coming from an “outdoorsy family” in the Pacific Northwest, Ms. Northcott said sustainability is “deeply personal to me.” As INTA President, therefore, she is “doubling down” on the focus on brands and sustainability.
Addressing her key question, Ms. Northcott said: “What is good for the world is good for our brands, which in turn increases brand value.” The good news is brands across many industries and all over the world are contributing to environmental solutions, and INTA is made up of smart and passionate people who are using their brands to build a better society.
She cited evidence that most Gen Z shoppers prefer to buy sustainable brands, and Millennials will change their buying habits to favor environmentally friendly products. In response to these trends, and guided by its mission, INTA is concentrating its efforts in four areas: championing DEI, reducing the environmental impact of in-person events, promoting CSR policies, and raising awareness among consumers about the dangers of counterfeit goods and the positive role of brands in society.
Ms. Northcott said Amazon, which co-founded The Climate Pledge with Global Optimism in 2019, is on a path to powering its operations with 100 precent renewable energy by 2025 while Amazon Web Services has made a commitment to be water positive by 2030. This year, she convened a Presidential Task Force focusing on the link between brand value and sustainability. This is researching the effect of greenwashing and greenhushing on brand value.
If INTA members frame their branding decisions on what would be best for our companies and the world, she said, “we could become one of the most environmentally impactful communities on our planet.”
“We are going to bring some of his vision to pass. Our world desperately needs the experience of Dr. King.”
- Dr. Bernice A. King | The King Center (USA)
Protecting Dr. King’s Legacy
Someone who understands the power of community, said Ms. Northcott, is Dr. Bernice King. In what was a concluding highlight of the Opening Ceremonies and a warm and inspiriting conversation led by Ms. Reggy, Dr. King discussed her journey—including the assassination of her father, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., when she was five years old; her own work as a lawyer, minister, and advocate; and how IP rights help to protect his legacy.
Dr. King highlighted the role played by her mother, the peace advocate Coretta Scott King, in educating the world about love and forgiveness and in promoting non-violence. “We want people to understand what my father said,” explained Dr. King, who added that the study of non-violence is desperately needed today. “Coretta Scott King was systematic in building his legacy,” she added.
Dr. King traced her own journey back to the realization, aged 16, that “everything we did was pivotal to the world.” Part of her work involves protecting and enforcing her father’s IP rights, including the text of the “I have a dream” speech. Indeed, a case concerning busts of Martin Luther King led to the establishment of the right of publicity in the state of Georgia.
“We license the speech quite a bit. We want to make sure it’s used to protect the brand and the teachings of my father,” said Dr. King. She added that she is continuing the work of her late brother, Dexter, to promote the King brand. “We are going to bring some of his vision to pass. Our world desperately needs the experience of Dr. King,” she said.
