The Trademark Administrators and Practitioners Meeting (TMAP) brings together hundreds of trademark professionals every year in what is already considered one of the world’s leading events for trademark professionals. This year’s meeting, held in the U.S. city of Arlington, Virginia, brought together more than 300 attendees from 40 countries who participated in the event organized by the International Trademark Association (INTA), which included leading paralegals, as well as young professionals and lawyers who manage the world’s most important global trademark portfolios on a daily basis.
Manuela Mendigutía, lawyer and Project Manager of the International Trademark & Brand Intelligence Area of PONS IP, was invited as a speaker to participate in two round tables on issues relevant to the practice of the industry, such as bad faith registrations and the impact that the phenomenon of influencers and social networks is having on the management and defense of intellectual property rights.
Thus, along with professionals from the United States, Mexico and the Dominican Republic, Mendigutía addressed on September 12 the issue of “bad faith” submissions in a session where different legal interpretations of concepts about this unique type of trademark submission in various countries and globally were put on the table, analyzing the available case law at the local level and real experience with clients.
On the closing day of the meeting, under the title The Wonderland of Social Media: Influencers and Brands, our international trademark expert shared her vision about the phenomenon of social networks and the presence of Influencers on these platforms, exploring their role in the use of trademarks and advertising through these platforms and the legal tools that ensure a correct use in accordance with brand culture and trademark and advertising laws, with the changes that this phenomenon has caused in regulation over the last two years in the main countries at the local level.
For Manuela Mendigutía, the experience at the INTA meeting has been very positive. “Both on a personal and professional level it has been very enriching because I had the opportunity to personally exchange experiences and knowledge with other young professionals in the industry with similar concerns from very different perspectives. Having had the opportunity to participate in INTA’s TMAP 2022 has definitely been very positive for my professional development and also because we had the chance to share PONS IP’s vision on relevant issues such as those we addressed, with a significant international impact and a large attendance of professional colleagues,” said the company’s trademark specialist.
