2017 New York Conference: Brands & Fashion

Registration and Information Desk Open

Networking Breakfast

Welcome from Program Co-Chairs and Keynote Speaker

Welcome and Opening Remarks
Joseph J. Ferretti, PepsiCo, Inc. and INTA’s 2017 President (United States)
Etienne Sanz de Acedo, International Trademark Association (United States)

Keynote Session: How to Build a Luxury Brand

Keynote Speaker

Mercedes Castillo, former creative director of accessories at Tory Burch, is stepping out on her own with the help of Camuto Group, which has worked with her in the development and creative direction of Tory Burch footwear. The Mercedes Castillo collection of ready-to-wear, footwear, handbags, and jewelry will debut this spring and the designer will share some insights into why she felt positioned to launch her namesake luxury brand at this time. As well, she and senior business executives from Camuto Group, will discuss the business and advertising strategies they employed to launch a luxury brand in this day and age. In an interview style session, these panelists will share their thoughts on branding and packaging direction aimed at developing the “identity” of the Mercedes Castillo luxury brand as well as any challenges the team has faced along the way.

Susan Pellish-Thaler, Group President Camuto Group–Vince Camuto, Louise et Cie & Mercedes Castillo and Leah Robert, Chief Communications and Strategic Development Officer, Camuto Group, will also join Mercedes to share their perspective on building a luxury brand

Session 1
Iconic Brands: Strategies for Long-term Protection and Brand Revival

Speakers will discuss the combination of iconic brands and the revival of longstanding brands in the ever changing environment of the fashion industry. How does an iconic brand position itself differently in the market? How does an iconic brand stay relevant and still preserve its key brand equity elements?

Moderator:
Marie-Laure Bonnaffous, FENDI ADELE SRL (Italy)

Speakers:
Elisheva M. Jasie, Coty Inc. (United States)
Zeeger Vink, Maus Freres (France)
Federica Zambelli, Barzanò & Zanardo (Italy)

Networking Break

Session 2
Corporate Compliance: What IP Lawyers Need to Know to Stay out of Trouble

Even IP lawyers need to think about corporate compliance issues. Fashion and retail companies—and their employees—have been severely penalized for violating laws in a number of areas, including anticorruption, economic and trade sanctions, antitrust, and data protection and privacy.
This panel will specifically focus on what fashion lawyers need to know about anticorruption and economic and trade sanctions issues.  For each of these areas, we will discuss the following:

• The global reach of U.S. law.
• International legal developments.
• Key areas of business risk for the fashion industry:
  • Business operations that warrant enhanced scrutiny.
  • Gifts and hospitality—more problematic than you think.
  • The minefield of freebies and discounts.
• Protecting your executives and protecting your company (and what about protecting yourself?).
• Recent legal developments relevant to the fashion industry.
• Why you should care about North Korean sanctions.
• Compliance in the Age of Trump (and Brexit).
• The ethical and legal obligations of fashion lawyers who are aware of (or strongly suspect) a violation of corporate compliance.

Illustrative hypothetical scenarios will be provided, and audience participation is appreciated, so be prepared to join in as we learn how we can all stay out of trouble.

Moderator:
Matthew Getz, Boies, Schiller & Flexner (United Kingdom)

Speakers:
Samantha Dreilinger, PVH Corp. (United States)
Charles Goldschmid, Marc Jacobs International, LLC (United States)
Beth Henries, The Donna Karan Company LLC (United States)
Elisheva M. Jasie, Coty Inc. (United States)

Networking Lunch

Session 3
Unregistered Designs: Working Your Way Out of the Shadows and into the Light

This session will offer a global perspective on the protection of unregistered designs. Speakers will represent many different interests groups: from the designers and manufacturers that regulate their own relationships and responsibilities, to the companies exposed to the risk of imitation by supplying and exhibiting design creations on the market.

Speakers will discuss the following topics:

• Driving product from suppliers: the manufacturer’s responsibility in the production of goods infringing unregistered design; the responsibility of the subject benefiting from another’s unregistered design, and in combining it into a different composed good; and contractual relationships, including warranties and guaranties.
• Avoiding counterfeiting: the evidence of disclosure and protection against parasitic copying in the marketplace.
• Criminal liability: protection of unregistered design under criminal law.

Moderator:
Paola Gelato, Studio Legale Jacobacci & Associati (Italy)

Speakers:
Anna Carboni, Redd Solicitors LLP (United Kingdom)
Kathleen McCarthy, King & Spalding LLP (United States)
Ann Nam-Yeon Kwon, Kim & Chang (South Korea)
Christian Spintig, Heuking Kuhn Luer Wojtek (Germany)

Session 4
Best Practices for Enforcing Copyrights, Designs and 3D Trademark Rights in China

Speakers from different jurisdictions around the world will discuss strategies for protecting and registering “visuals” in China, including copyrights, designs, unconventional trademarks, and unregistered shape/decoration of products. Brand owners and outside counsel will share their experiences protecting their brands in China and offer practical tips for brand owners currently doing business or considering entering the sometimes daunting China market.

Moderator:
Jason Yao, Wan Hui Da Law Firm & IP Agency (China)

Speakers:
Daniel J. McKinnon, New Balance Athletics, Inc. (United States)
Gabrielle Olsson Skalin, Inter IKEA Holding Services S.A. (Belgium)
Paul Ranjard, Wan Hui Da Intellectual Property Agency (China)

Networking Break

Session 5
When Two Become One: Co-Branding Best Practices

Fashion brands, in an effort to attract and retain customers, are turning to co-branding initiatives with greater frequency.  This panel will review recent examples of co-branding in the fashion industry, along with best practices for legal contractual protection to ensure the appropriate party responsibility for product development, warranties and preservation of goodwill.  Discussion will highlight offshoots of co-branding, including charitable co-ventures and product partnerships with celebrities and fashion influencers.

Moderator:
Jessica Elliott Cardon (United States)

Speaker:
Bruce W. Baber, King & Spalding LLP (United States)
Antonio Borrelli, Marc Jacobs International, LLC (United States)
Maryn Miller, Lucky Brand Jeans and Your General Counsel, Inc. (United States)
Jennifer Sheaffer, J. Crew Group, Inc. (United States)

Wrap-Up Session

Pre-Annual Meeting Reception—New York

Conference attendees are offered an expanded networking event as they are invited to join INTA’s Pre-Annual Meeting Reception. This is an exclusive opportunity for local members who wish to learn more about the 2017 Annual Meeting in Barcelona, Spain. Join us at the Copacabana Times Square, at 268 West 47th St, New York, New York, to learn more about the world’s largest and most widely attended trademark event and network with your colleagues.

Registration and Information Desk Open

Networking Breakfast

Session 6
Protecting Your Brand at the Border: A Close Look at Using Law Enforcement and Customs to Fight Counterfeit Goods

Ensuring your intellectual property is correctly registered is only one piece of an effective anticounterfeiting program. Companies must also partner with law enforcement and government agencies to ensure their program is implemented successfully. Join us for an interactive discussion on how companies and the public sector can creatively work together in combatting counterfeiting.  Our discussion will include:

• Developing internal strategies to combat trademark counterfeiting
• Best techniques for educating law enforcement and customs on the differences between genuine and counterfeit goods
• Benefits of recording trademarks with Customs vs. initiating an investigation with the U.S. International Trade Commission
• Best practices on targeting counterfeit goods

Moderator:
Mareesa Frederick, Finnegan (United States)

Speakers:
Heather J. McDonald, Baker & Hostetler LLP (United States)
Alaina Leigh Van Horn, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (United States)
Peter Ratcliffe, City of London Police (United Kingdom)
Erica Weiner, Michael Kors (United States)

Session 7
Emerging Retail Trends

This session will take an in-depth look from a business and legal prospective on emerging retail and branding trends, including omnichannel retail initiatives, retailer sustainability efforts and “altruistic” branding.  When brands think “customer experience”, they think omni, but they also want to believe that their spending has positive effects on the environment or for altruistic initiatives.  Speakers will share examples and tips on how to build a coherent and aligned experience for the customer across multiple channels and platforms. The most sophisticated retailers are ensuring their marketing strategies are geared toward enabling customers to convert on any channel. Why? Because they realize that a shopper who buys from them in-store and online is their most valuable kind of customer. The expansion to achieve an integrated customer experience has been in both directions, from brick and mortar to an online and social media presence, and from a strong online presence to expanding or testing a brick-and-mortar presence: think Rent The Runway or Amazon opening stores!

Environmental sustainability and altruistic brand messaging is in style for the retail sector as well. With a growing number of customers now becoming more involved in environmental and altruistic initiatives, this places pressure on businesses to operate their social and environmental practices with full transparency and paves the way for brands to give back to important causes.  Speakers will also discuss key environmental sustainability and social responsibility issues for retailers and brands (and how to avoid pitfalls), specifically:

• Supply chain management (SCM).
• Overseas sourcing and corporate social responsibility (CSR).
• Accounting, reporting, and regulations.
• Consumers and demographic trends.

Moderator:
Anna Dalla Val, Ralph Lauren Corporation (United States)

Speaker:
Jason Berns, Ralph Lauren Corporation (United States)
Ray Black, Mishcon de Reya (United Kingdom)
Traci Escamilla, Patagonia, Inc. (United States)
Gustavo Giay, Marval, O’Farrell & Mairal (Argentina)
Bradford and Bryan Manning, Two Blind Brothers (United States)
Jeff Trexler, Fashion Law Institute at Fordham Law School (United States)

Networking Break

Session 8
Navigating Design Challenges in the U.S. Apparel Industry

Apparel companies regularly face challenges in creating and using designs. Designers are often inspired by pre-existing designs, and need to be careful that their own designs are not merely a modification of another’s prior copyrighted work. Hundreds of lawsuits for copyright infringement are filed each year by textile design companies against retailers and their vendors claiming garments incorporate infringing designs. In many of these cases, it is debatable what protection, if any, should be afforded a plaintiff’s designs, which simply consist of common elements which have long been in the public domain. Likewise, apparel companies struggle with creative works of authorship (protected under U.S. copyright law) vs useful design elements (which are supposed to be beyond the scope of copyright protection). This issue is currently pending with the U.S. Supreme Court in Star Athletica v. Varsity Brands, a case involving copyright protection for cheerleading uniforms. Apparel companies also turn to other forms of design protection where copyright law falls short to protect their designs. We will discuss all of these issues, and offer practical insight both from creation and defense standpoints.

Moderator:
Jeffrey A. Kobulnick, Brutzkus Gubner (United States)

Speakers:
Charles Chen, HICKIES, Inc. (United States)
Eleanor M. Lackman, Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard LLP (United States)
James Steele, Timberland (United States)

Networking Lunch

Session 9
Diffusion Brands: Are They In or Are They Out?

Are diffusion brands still desirable in today’s digital omnichannel retail environment or do they cause more harm than good?  This panel will address business and legal considerations in creating and maintaining diffusion brands, including:

• A historical perspective on whether diffusion brands enhance or damage the customer’s perception of the main line.
• The potential impacts, both positive and negative, of a diffusion brand on the main line.
• PR and marketing strategies for creating distinct and clear messaging for a diffusion brand, especially on social media.
• Legal considerations presented by diffusion brands, including brand selection, registration and protection of IP against the threats of imitators and counterfeiters.
• the question of whether diffusion lines are becoming obsolete in a digital and omnichannel world.

Moderator:
Antonio Borrelli, Marc Jacobs International, LLC (United States)

Speakers:
Michael J. Allan, Steptoe & Johnson LLP (United States)
Jodi Sarowitz, The Donna Karan Company LLC (United States)
Pamela Weinstock, Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc. (United States)

Marketing Yourself as a Brand: Developing Longevity as In-House Counsel in the Fashion Industry

Esteemed career fashion lawyer, Barbara Kolsun, will review the leadership and business acumen skills that she had to develop in order to build her phenomenal career as an in-demand lawyer in what can be a fickle industry.  Drawing from her experience as a fashion general counsel for numerous brands, she will provide advice pertinent to all practicing lawyers, with a focus on how to market your skillset and experience as your own “attorney brand.”

Highlight Speaker:
Barbara Kolsun, Cardozo School of Law I Yeshiva University (United States)

Session 10
Advertising and Promotion in the 21st Century Global Marketplace

This panel will discuss methods for adapting advertising to social media platforms, as well as the global differences needed in advertising approaches in order to accommodate cultural differences. The session will feature an influential blogger who will discuss the role bloggers and vloggers play in the current and future digital space and how they affect brands and products. Speakers will also discuss:

• Legal and regulatory aspects of a worldwide campaign
• The impact of local sensibilities on brand usage
• Cultural differences across the globe impacting advertising and promotion
• The challenges of global internet and social media presence

Moderator:
Pamela Weinstock, Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc. (United States)

Speakers:
Karen A. Ash, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP (United States)
Theodore C. Max, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP (United States)
Agata (Agie) Samperi, Social Media Influencer (Italy)

Session 11
Looking into the Future: Fashion in 20 Years

The future of fashion may be hazy, but there are trends today that are likely to influence fashion tomorrow.  3D printing, open source electronics, and mass customization will all help define the look, feel, and design of tomorrow’s fashions.  A panel of experts on these emerging trends will discuss how they are being used in 2017 and how they might look when fully mature in 2037.

Speakers will discuss the following and more:

• Integrating technology into fashion.
• How small scale designers are leveraging platforms to have a global reach.
• New technologies impacting design, manufacturing, and customization.
• DIY to the runway and back.

Moderator:
Michael Weinberg, Shapeways (United States)

Speakers:
Limor Fried, adafruit (United States)
Kasia Wisniewski, Collected Edition (United States)

Conference Wrap-Up

This conference qualifies for Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points. For more information, please email [email protected].

Tuition Assistance

Tuition assistance may be available to eligible professionals on the basis of financial hardship. For more information and to apply, please request an application by sending an email to [email protected]. Proper documentation will be required.

INTA would like to thank the Project Team for its excellent work in planning and presenting this conference.

Co-Chairs

Marie-Laure Bonnaffous, FENDI ADELE SRL (Italy)
Jessica Elliott Cardon (United States)

Project Team

Antonio Borrelli, Marc Jacobs International, LLC (United States)
Anna Dalla Val, Ralph Lauren Corporation (United States)
Mareesa Frederick, Finnegan (United States)
Paola Gelato, Studio Legale Jacobacci & Associati (Italy)
Charles Goldschmid, Marc Jacobs International, LLC (United States)
Jeffrey Kobulnick, BRUTZKUS GUBNER ROZANSKY SEROR WEBER LLP (United States)
Haiyan Ren, Wan Hui Da Intellectual Property Agency (China)
Michael Weinberg, Shapeways (United States)
Pamela Weinstock, Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc. (United States)

INTA Staff Liaisons

Carin Diep-Dixon, International Trademark Association (United States)
Dionne Downs, International Trademark Association (United States)
Ken King, International Trademark Association (United States)
Sarah O’Connell, International Trademark Association (United States)