Board Approves New 2020–2021 Committee Structure

The Planning Committee of the INTA Board of Directors manages the strategic and annual planning for the Association, including recommendations for a committee structure that aligns with the Association’s Strategic Plan.

Background

In 2018, the Planning Committee formalized a process for adding and sunsetting committees. This process was approved by the Board in September 2018, and communicated to all INTA members in November.

Proposals from members to add or sunset committees were due December 15, 2018, in order to be considered by the Board at its March 2019 Board meeting and to be in time for the 2020‒2021 committee leader nominations.

Nominations for committee leaders will take place April 24-June 3, 2019, and the committee selection process will take place June 10-July 12 of this year.

Based on the Planning Committee’s deliberations on these proposals, the Board at its March 27 meeting, approved the 2020-2021 Committee Structure, with the following new committees:

• Brand Restrictions Committee: Because this is a strategic priority for the Association, the Planning Committee agreed that it is essential to institute a Committee focused on this issue as part of INTA’s advocacy efforts.
• Commercialization of Brands Committee: This Committee will cover issues relating to taking trademark/brands into the market in a commercial way, such as through marketing, advertising, and licensing.
• Brands for a Better Society Committee: The purview of this Committee will include corporate social responsibility, diversity and inclusion, and pro bono initiatives-in line with this year’s Presidential Task Force of the same name.

The work of the following committees will be reallocated as follows:

• Government Officials Training Committee: The Intellectual Property Office trainings organized by this Committee will be incorporated into the Trademark Office Practices Committee, and will leverage the existing relationships this committee has with IPOs and its knowledge of their training needs. This structure is similar to the way the Enforcement Committee is responsible for judicial trainings.
• Pro Bono Committee: The objective of this Committee will still exist, but under the larger umbrella of the new Brands for a Better Society Committee.
• Impact Studies Committee: This Committee will be replaced by a Research Advisory Council, similar to the Programming Advisory Council, to bring together people with the necessary skills to oversee a variety of studies conducted by outside vendors.
• Public and Media Relations Committee: Part of this Committee’s work (such as drafting informational pieces for the public) will now be done by the Public Information Committee. The other part (such as placing articles with non-intellectual property (IP media) will be driven by INTA staff.

The Board also approved moving committees from one group to another, as follows:

• To capitalize on the success of the Brands & Innovation Committee (B&IC) in supporting educational programming, akin to what many of the Resources Committees do, the B&IC will move to the Resources Group.
• The primary focus of the committees within the Communications Group is on the non-IP audience. However, the INTA Bulletins Committee is a resource for members, and its audience is primarily made up of INTA members. Therefore, the Board agreed it was best placed in the Resources Group ratherthan the Communications Group.

The Board of Directors thanks all of those who submitted committee proposals. The Board also thanks the Planning Committee for its thoughtful deliberations on these proposals. These efforts serve to create an optimal committee structure to address relevant topics and allocate resources to advance the priorities of the Association.

2020-2021 Committee Structure

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© 2019 International Trademark Association