Rising Stars Continue to Shine at Meeting with INTA Leaders

The Rising Star program was launched late last year to identify and cultivate future leaders and contributors to the intellectual property (IP) profession. For this initiative, committee chairs, vice chairs, and staff liaisons were asked to identify Rising Stars within the Association based on who has demonstrated commitment to contributing to the IP profession or INTA by exemplifying substantive IP or dynamic skills through achievements within or outside the Association (as speaker, author, Project Team contributor, committee contributor, etc.).

At the gathering of this first group of Rising Stars, INTA CEO Etienne Sanz de Acedo shared an “INTA 101” presentation, providing an overview of INTA’s priorities and primary activities. Then, INTA President Jomarie Fredericks, Past Presidents Toe Su Aung, Ayala Deutsch, and David Lossignol, along with Past Counsel Maury Tepper, shared their journeys of personal and professional development within INTA.

A common theme shared by these experienced leaders was, “You get out of your time with INTA, what you put into it. Your success and your advancement in the organization will absolutely be driven by your engagement and contributions.” Besides the business development opportunities that come from INTA involvement, some of the many insightful and informative comments offered by the experienced leaders included:

• Don’t be shy—ask questions and share your views, even if they may differ from those of others, because it is important to understand all sides of an issue in order to make informed decisions. Your voice can help shape laws, policy, and how the world views trademarks and branding.
• Take advantage of the opportunities to develop your leadership and project management skills through committee work and ad hoc projects so you can apply these skills to your own job. Show your employer how being a part of INTA makes you a better leader within your own organization.
• Get to know your committee staff liaison and share your areas of interest and expertise with them so they know that you are a potential resource for programming or ad hoc work on these topics.

Mr. Sanz de Acedo concluded the meeting by thanking the experienced leaders for sharing their INTA journeys and thanking the Rising Stars for all that they have already contributed to INTA. He encouraged them to stay involved and continue making a meaningful impact within our INTA community and beyond.

Committee leaders and staff liaisons will be asked to identify the next group of Rising Stars by December, so stay tuned!

Join us in congratulating our Rising Stars!

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.

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