INTA News

In-House Practitioners Benchmarking Survey Now Open

Published: June 15, 2020

In-house practitioners are continually being asked to do more with less. This is due to a variety of factors including the increased focus on brands and related issues that go beyond the traditional trademark management issues. This year, INTA is conducting a benchmarking survey on the changing roles and responsibilities of in-house trademark teams. This research is especially significant now, during these unprecedented times.

The survey conducted online is exclusively for INTA in-house practitioners and is available from June 10 to June 24. Members of the INTA In-House Practitioners Committee and Research Advisory Council have been working closely with Corona Insights, an independent research company, to prepare the survey for this research. Some of the key topics covered by the survey include:

  • In-House Trademark Team, Team Structure, and Budget
  • Scope of Work and How It Is Managed
  • Recruitment, Advancement, and Talent Management
  • Diversity and Inclusion
  • Compensation and Benefits
  • Hot Topic—COVID-19 Pandemic
  • Hot Topic—Trademark/Brand Issues Facing Your Organization in the Next Three Years

“With COVID-19 preventing organic benchmarking opportunities normally conducted in person, this survey launch could not have been timelier. The results of this survey will provide in-house practitioners with data needed to reflect upon their teams’ practices and structures, and advocate change with stakeholders with precision,” said Jack Wessel (Gilead Sciences Inc., USA), Corporate Survey Benchmarking Team, Project Team chair of the 2020–2021 In-House Practitioners Committee.

The survey should take 30 to 45 minutes to complete. Everyone who finishes the survey will receive a free digital copy of the final report. Participation is voluntary and responses are confidential. Your responses to each question will be combined with all other data for statistical analysis so that no one participating in this survey will be identified.

Caroline Chicoine (Husch Blackwell LLP, USA), Research Advisory Council chair, emphasized, “We are fortunate to have a significant sample size of about 5,000 in-house practitioners from close to 50 countries. The survey is being conducted at an individual level to ensure we get a broad look at the various roles and responsibilities within in-house trademark teams. As such, we are asking every member of your in-house trademark team to complete the survey to ensure robust survey results and thank you in advance for your participation.”

Check your inbox!

Every in-house practitioner member within INTA’s database received an invitation to the survey from David Kennedy of Corona Insights via email on Wednesday, June 10, with more information and a link for you to complete the survey online by Wednesday, June 24. Each member has an individualized link, so do not forward your email to others.  

Note: Deadline has been extended to July 1. 

If you did not receive the email, please check your spam folder or contact Renee Garrahan, INTA’s Economic Research Associate, at [email protected].

To learn about the survey, watch Jennifer Gruber (Warner Media LLC, USA), vice-chair of the 2020‒2021 In-House Practitioners Committee, share details about the survey, the importance of taking the survey, and much more.


To learn more about research sponsorship opportunities for this study, contact Renee Garrahan, INTA’s Economic Research Associate, at [email protected].

Although every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of items in the INTA Bulletin, readers are urged to check independently on matters of specific concern or interest.

© 2020 International Trademark Association