INTA Leaders Participate in Events Throughout Southeast Asia

From August 30 to September 7, INTA President-elect David Lossignol (Sandoz International GmbH, Germany) represented INTA at a series of events in China and Southeast Asia. Following the events in China, Mr. Lossignol participated in Singapore’s IP Week.

On the opening day of Singapore’s annual international intellectual property (IP) event, IP Week @ SG 2018, Indranee Rajah, Singapore Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Law, presented the prestigious World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)-IP Office of Singapore (IPOS) IP Awards to six outstanding local enterprises that used IP effectively to take their innovative technology, brands, and content to the world.

Following the awards, Mr. Lossignol participated in the plenary session of the Global Forum on IP, presenting on the topic of “Powering the Innovation, Transformation and Commercialization Through IP,” and sharing the stage with the heads of IP offices from China, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, and the United States.

INTA shared insights on global trademarks trends and IP strategies that innovative businesses have used to stay ahead of their competitors and fully monetize their ideas. Mr. Lossignol noted that this year’s INTA Presidential Task Force mission was dedicated to enhancing INTA competencies on the value of brands and intangibles.

The following day, INTA was invited by IPOS to speak at the business track panel session on “The Future of Brands in the Age of Digitalization,” with other specialists, including a professor from Nanyang Technological University, a CEO from a local company, and the chief technology officer of Microsoft Singapore. The panel examined how corporations are staying ahead of the digitalization curve and adapting branding strategies essential to success.

Mr. Lossignol indicated that a holistic approach for brand portfolio management is needed in the digital context and that INTA membership resources help brands achieve this. As a leading IP organization, INTA proactively provides recommendations for addressing new issues such as 3D printing, artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR).

Working with Partners in Southeast Asia

INTA also participated in a roundtable organized by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). The roundtable focused on success factors for promoting innovation through commercialization of IP and also included Ali Ahmad (Makara Capital, Singapore), Henrik Olsson (AWA, Sweden), Lorenz Kaiser (Fraunhofer, Germany), and Professor Antonio Bob dos Santos (Portugal National Innovation Agency, Portugal). Each panelist shared different views on how to understand creativity and innovation and on using IP expertise to drive IP commercialization for organizations’ future growth.

The moderator, Denis Croze (WIPO, Singapore), asked the five experts to provide practical suggestions on IP management and commercialization. Mr. Lossignol hoped that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) would innovate to prosper and survive. In a changing and competitive global market, success is highly dependent on the speed of trademark registration, catching up the trends, emerging issues, and legislation for future profits and business growth.

Bringing Members Together

INTA organized a lunch to convene 14 corporate members and committee volunteers at IP Week @ SG 2018. During the lunch, Mr. Lossignol met members and welcomed questions on INTA’s work. Members exchanged valuable experiences from past INTA meetings and key takeaways from IP Week@ SG 2018. Everyone enjoyed networking and meeting with friends and peers, as well as making new business contacts with those having a common interest in trademark law.

Engaging the ASEAN Working Group on Intellectual Property Cooperation

The ASEAN Working Group on Intellectual Property Cooperation (AWGIPC) is the sectoral group responsible for IP issues in the region. It is composed of the IP offices of the ASEAN member states. INTA hosted a luncheon to gather the AWGIPC representatives and organized a “lunch and learn” session on the topic of the use of AI in IP.

Mr. Lossignol welcomed the guests to the lunch and provided opening remarks. Candice Kwok, chair of the Trademark Office Practice Committee-Asia Subcommittee, provided a recent update on the initiatives of the subcommittee with focus on regional project on best practice sharing among trademark offices.

Ken Chia (Baker McKenzie Wong and Leow, Singapore) provided a presentation on the use of AI in IP and future trends including recent cases and possible trends in litigation cases, as well as the use of AI to support the fight against counterfeits.

Representatives of INTA’s Asia-Pacific Global Advisory Council and the President of the ASEAN IP Association also attended.

Following the extensive series of meetings, Mr. Lossignol penned an Opinion Editorial piece for The Straits Times focused on the growing importance of brands and trademarks in the digital era. Read the full article here.

Valentina Salmoiraghi Joins INTA as Advisor, Anticounterfeiting, Asia-Pacific

INTA is pleased to announce that Valentina Salmoiraghi has joined INTA as Advisor, Anticounterfeiting, Asia-Pacific, working from the Asia-Pacific Representative Office in Singapore.

Ms. Salmoiraghi drives the regional anticounterfeiting implementation and advocacy activities in the Asia-Pacific region, working closely with the Asia-Pacific and China Anticounterfeiting Subcommittees and INTA Headquarter Anticounterfeiting Committee staff to achieve goals and objectives according to INTA’s Strategic Plan.

Ms. Salmoiraghi has more than 13 years of experience working in Asia with IP rights protection and enforcement. During this time, she worked with various European chambers of commerce on their IP rights SME projects in China (Beijing) and Vietnam (Ho Chin Minh City) as an IP business advisor, and was also an external IP expert for the Southeast Asia and China IP rights projects funded by the European Commission. Earlier in her career, Ms. Salmoiraghi worked in legal services with leading law firms in Italy, China, and Singapore. Ms. Salmoiraghi has a Master’s Degree of Law – International Institutions and Organizations from Luigi Bocconi University in Milan (Italy) where she completed her dissertation on Franchising in the Emerging Market of the People’s Republic of China. Ms. Salmoiraghi also holds a Master’s Degree in Law from the University of Barcelona (Spain) and she holds the title of Abogado in Spain. Ms. Salmoiraghi speaks English, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, French, and Italian.

INTA’s Asia Pacific Representative Office, based in Singapore, represents the Association’s 815 members across the region. Working in collaboration with staff at INTA’s headquarters in New York City, the Asia Pacific Representative Office leads the Association’s policy, membership, marketing, and communications initiatives throughout this region. To learn more about INTA’s activities in the Asia Pacific, please contact INTA Chief Representative Officer Seth Hays at [email protected].

Although every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of items in theâ€¯INTA Bulletin, readers are urged to check independently on matters of specific concern or interest. Law & Practice updates are published without comment from INTA except where it has taken an official position.