Registration Opens for 2022 Annual Meeting Live+

Brand owners and professionals dedicated to supporting trademarks and complementary intellectual property (IP) and other stakeholders from around the world flooded INTA’s registration system for the 2022 Annual Meeting Live+ when it opened on January 19—indicating a broad, pent-up desire to connect with colleagues, especially in person.

The Meeting, which will be held April 30 to May 4, denotes the Association’s return to a large in-person gathering for the first time in more than two years. The event consists of a hybrid format: the in-person event will take place at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., USA, and will include access to a virtual platform. Strict health and safety precautions will be in place for the onsite event.

Recognizing that some attendees may not be able to travel or desire not to, INTA is also offering a “Virtual Only” registration. Valuable educational programming and exciting Business Development opportunities will take place in a different time zone each day: Beijing Standard Time Zone (China); Belgium (Central European Time Zone); and U.S. Eastern Time Zone.

Registration is now open for members and non-members. Early-bird pricing is in effect through March 4, and standard pricing runs through April 22. Onsite registration will not be available. Non-members must join or renew prior to registering for the Annual Meeting to secure the member rate, which offers a significant cost savings compared with the non-member rate.

For those attending the in-person Meeting, INTA has also opened its hotel reservation system, providing access to blocks of rooms at 32 hotels in Washington, D.C. All the hotels are in walking distance of the Convention Center.

While INTA has been holding an Annual Meeting in various parts of the world for the past century and a half, this year’s 144th Annual Meeting will offer a whole new experience. In addition to the two types of registration, on tap are several new features, a different programming structure, Business Development excursions, green initiatives, and additional ways for committee members to connect in person and virtually.

For the onsite gathering, health and safety are top of mind. The Association has instituted best practice health and safety precautions, including COVID-19-related requirements for registrants to be “fully vaccinated” and provide a negative test result based on onsite testing in order to pick up Annual Meeting registration badges. Further, the Convention Center itself has implemented leading health and safety protocols, garnering numerous awards for its state-of-the-art initiatives.

Both in-person and virtual registrants can look forward to educational sessions that follow themed tracks, as well as myriad Business Development opportunities that include receptions, Speed Networking, and Table Topics. The in-person program also features a Brand Marketplace (exhibition hall), committee meetings, Idea Exchanges, and Workshops.

In addition, as part of INTA’s 2022‒2025 Strategic Plan objective to “Build a Better Society Through Brands,” the Association is introducing several corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. It is asking registrants to voluntarily contribute to the INTA Foundation, which works to expand educational and professional opportunities in IP for diverse underrepresented populations globally.

Further promoting CSR, INTA has unveiled a Carbon Offset Initiative to “help us demonstrate that climate change matters.” Registrants are encouraged to make voluntary donations which will support South Pole, an organization whose mission is to accelerate the transition to a climate-smart society. In addition, the Association will be giving out its inaugural “Green Swag Awards” for exhibitors that keep in mind carbon offset, sustainability, and other green-friendly initiatives.

In announcing the 2022 Annual Meeting last November, INTA CEO Etienne Sanz de Acedo said, “The 2022 Annual Meeting marks a return to our legacy as the world’s largest in-person gathering of brand professionals and affirms our strategic direction to combine the best of both worlds—in person, plus virtual—into our events moving forward.”

He noted that the hybrid formula accommodates “different schedules, budgets, personal preferences, and other circumstances.”

In the past two years, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, INTA pivoted to a virtual format for the Annual Meeting while also holding limited-attendance mini-conferences in three cities during the 2021 Meeting. The last in-person Annual Meeting took place in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, in May 2019, with a record crowd of more than 11,350 registrants from more than 150 countries.

INTA’s 2022 Annual Meeting Live+ web pages detail pricing, health and safety guidelines, cancellation policies, and other information. The Association will regularly update the site with additional information.

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

© 2022 International Trademark Association