INTA Leadership Meeting 2015 – Panama

The International Trademark Association’s 2015 Leadership Meeting in Panama to be its first major event in Latin America

Phoenix, Arizona – November 13, 2014 – The International Trademark Association (INTA) announced today that its 2015 Leadership Meeting will take place in Panama City, Panama. INTA’s Leadership Meeting convenes the global trademark community’s key decision makers. Its 2015 Leadership Meeting will be the Association’s first major event in Latin America. INTA CEO Etienne Sanz de Acedo made the announcement today during the Opening Ceremony of the 2014 Leadership Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona

In explaining the choice of Panama, Mr. Sanz de Acedo discussed the significance of the Panama Canal expansion, and its impact on global trade and on the global trademark community. The existing locks allow the passage of cargo ships that can carry up to 5,000 20 foot containers. The expansion of the canal includes the construction of locks that can cater megaships carrying up to 12,600 containers. This will effectively double the canal’s annual capacity from 300 million PCUMS (Panama Canal Universal Measurement System) tons to 600 million PCUMS tons. “It will, no doubt, improve the economics of scale for the maritime shipping industry with a ripple effect on all industries that rely on long distance maritime shipping,” said Mr. Sanz de Acedo.

“The expansion of the Panama Canal represents an extraordinary shift in how the global economy operates,” said INTA President Mei-lan Stark (Fox Entertainment Group). “The 2015 Leadership Meeting will provide leading intellectual property attorneys and business people from all over the world with a unique opportunity to see the canal first-hand at this pivotal moment in its history. Indeed, the expanded canal is going to be a global game-changer, and we will be there to witness it.”

The decision to take the Leadership Meeting to Panama in 2015 is in accordance with the Association’s continuing goal of internationalization, and to better serve its global membership. INTA hosted its first major event outside the United States in 2003 when it took its Annual Meeting to Amsterdam. In 2008, the Annual Meeting returned to Europe with another successful Annual Meeting in Berlin. Then, in May 2014, the Association took the Annual Meeting to Hong Kong, its first major event in Asia. More than 8,600 trademark practitioners from over 140 countries attended the event, making it INTA’s largest Annual Meeting outside North America.

INTA’s Leadership Meeting brings together its leadership and member volunteers once a year to advance the Association’s objectives and goals, to plan the coming year’s activities and events, and to look to the future of INTA. The meeting includes an advanced-level educational program, providing members with valuable information on the latest developments in trademark law. The occasion also provides INTA’s leaders with an opportunity to exchange ideas, conduct business and to network with colleagues from around the world. With over 1,300 INTA member volunteers from 77 countries attending, the 2014 Leadership Meeting is the largest to date.

About INTA

The International Trademark Association (INTA) is a global association of trademark owners and professionals dedicated to supporting trademarks and related intellectual property in order to protect consumers and to promote fair and effective commerce. Members include more than 6,400 trademark owners, professionals and academics from more than 190 countries, who benefit from the Association’s global trademark resources, policy development, education and training, and international network. Founded in 1878, INTA is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Brussels, Shanghai and Washington, D.C., and representatives in Geneva and Mumbai. To learn more about INTA, please visit www.inta.org.

This press release can be found here on inta.org.

http://www.inta.org/Press/Pages/LM2015_Panama_En.aspx

ICAZA, GONZALEZ-RUIZ & ALEMAN, Member of 2015 INTA’s Leadership Meeting Project Team.