In an economy where intangibles increasingly drive economic growth, reporting to shareholders, lenders, and the market more generally on substantial intellectual property (IP) assets, IP management, and IP strategies have become an expectation for any company—whether young or established.

Consequently, IP reporting is increasingly impacting the practice of IP professionals across all industries and can constitute a competitive advantage for businesses and their IP departments.

However, IP reporting goes way beyond IP inventory and legal management and extends into matters including asset valuation and accounting procedures, among many others, and necessitates cooperation across departments, alignment on objectives, and the design and implementation of internal processes to support IP reporting through time.

To discuss this topic and related trends on IP management, our guest is INTA 2022 President Zeeger Vink (MF Brands Group, Switzerland).

Over the past year, Mr. Vink has served as the chair of INTA’s Planning Committee and Advocacy Group, and as a member of the Executive and Finance Committees. He has been a member of INTA’s Board since 2015, and actively engaged in many Association initiatives through his tenure. Notably, and as it relates to this month’s podcast, Mr. Vink convened a Presidential Task Force on IP Reporting for Brands at the start of the year, which is preparing a report on the topic due for publication in early 2023.

Based in Geneva, Switzerland, he is the IP Director at MF Brands Group, the Swiss group that owns fashion and lifestyle brands LACOSTE, GANT, AIGLE, TECNIFIBRE and THE KOOPLES. In this role with MF Brands Group, he oversees the organization’s global IP and brand protection function. Prior joining MF Brands Group in 2010, Mr. Vink was in-house IP counsel at L’OREAL in Paris, France, where he oversaw global IP protection for several brands. He started his career as attorney, practicing in Amsterdam and London.

Related Resources

About Zeeger Vink

To go further:

Quantifying the Financial Value of Intellectual Property Assets

How outsourcing IP reporting might be key to a successful IP strategy (IAM, March 2022)

INTA’s Board Resolution on International IP Accounting Standards

INTA Releases ‘Report on the Taxation of Trademarks and Complementary Rights in Europe’

INTA Corporate Update on IP and Taxation (For INTA Corporate Members only)