Session line-ups for WTR Connect revealed, fireside chat with WIPO director general kicks off event

In just three weeks’ time, a fireside chat with WIPO Director General Daren Tang will kick off five days of WTR Connect content. Registration is free for WTR subscribers and in-house trademark professionals, and participants can register for as many sessions as they like across the week, building their own schedule.

From 15 March, WTR Connect will present five days of strategic content for trademark and brand professionals, with a series of open discussion forums, masterclass explorations, solution rooms and closed-door boardrooms. The event will offer more than 30 interactive digital sessions, each designed to facilitate discussion, benchmarking and the sharing of best practice around key topic areas and challenges facing trademark and brand leaders.

The current keynote line-up is as follows:

• Daren Tang, director general, WIPO (15 March)
• Steve Francis, director, National IP Rights Coordination Centre, US Homeland Security (16 March)

• Tim Moss, chief executive, comptroller general, UK Intellectual Property Office (17 March)
• Svetlana Korzhin, senior IP paralegal, legal brand protection, and David Lossignol, global head, trademarks, domain names and copyright, Novartis (19 March)

We will be adding participants to the various sessions but the current session-by-session line-up (excluding closed-door boardrooms) is as follows:

Monday 15 March

The future of trademarks: lessons learned from 2020

• Jennifer Chung, general counsel, Accuweather
• Colette Durst, assistant chief IP counsel, chief trademark counsel, 3M
• David Llewellyn, head, trademarks, Arm
• Gretchen Stroud, senior associate general counsel, intellectual property, Gilead Sciences

Using AI and new technologies to cost-effectively tackle counterfeiting and illicit trade

• Tiki Dare, assistant general counsel, Oracle
• Helen Saunders, chief product officer, Incopro
• Brian Scarpelli, senior counsel, global policy, ACT Online
• Sarah Staff, programme manager, Microsoft
• Marlou van de Braak, legal director, global IP and commerce, Heineken

Tuesday 16 March

Breaking out of silos

• Stuart Bradshaw, global counsel, intellectual property, Nufarm
• Abigail Tan, regional legal counsel, Zalora
• Becky Wang, senior manager, brand protection, Asia-Pacific, SC Johnson

Giving it back: mentoring the next generation of trademark talent

• Deborah Hampton, senior programme manager, trademark and copyright, The Chemours Company
• Allison Leader, director, legal counsel, American Red Cross
• Scott Piering, vice president, chief IP counsel, Spectrum Brands
• Mike Yaghmai, director, associate general counsel and head, brands, marketing legal, Facebook
• Daniel Zohny, head, intellectual property, FIFA

A global view: the ‘need to know’ low-down from the United States, Europe and China

• Laurence Rickles, chief trademark counsel, Teva Pharmaceuticals
• Chris Smith, partner, SIPS
• Niall Trainor, senior director, brand protection, Entertainment One
• Monique Joe, senior vice president and head, brands, content, intellectual property, NBC Universal

Wednesday 17 March

Open discussion: making the platform relationship ‘win-win’

• Arindom Hazarika, counsel, trademark and brand protection, Western Digital
• Mick Ryan, director, brand protection cooperation, Alibaba
• James Yip, manager, brand protection, Asia-Pacific, PVH

Trademark education

• Christy Chen, senior counsel, intellectual property, AkzoNobel
• Franklin Galman, corporate counsel, IP rights, LEGO
• Maria Fe Lazarte, group trademark counsel, The Weir Group
• Jitendra Sharma, unit manager, legal IP rights, MetLife
• Harshitha Vasanth, manager, legal, intellectual property, OLA
• Marina Yastreboff, national convenor president (NSW), AUSCL

Demonstrating trademark value within the business

• Cam Gatta, head, trademarks, Microsoft
• Gautam Godse, senior vice president, product, Brainbase
• Frank Schöne-de la Nuez, lead counsel, trademarks, CSL Behring
• Natasza Shilling, senior counsel, legal, Vodafone

Confronting misuse in domains on a finite budget

• Leslie Nettleford, associate general counsel, AARP
• Marc H Trachtenberg, shareholder, Greenberg Traurig
• Diane Hamer, head, business, legal affairs, brand protection, BBC

Thursday 18 March

Money-making moves for Asia-Pacific

• AL Mary, head, IP rights and brand protection, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail
• Lawrence Wong, director, IP enforcement, Eastman Chemical Company

This is a grey area

• Dan Plane, partner, SIPS
• Lily Tsen, general counsel, Amcor Flexibles Asia-Pacific

Cost-effectively protecting and enforcing brands in the global environment

• Adraea Brown, assistant general counsel, trademarks, Harley-Davidson
• Charlie Everitt, head, brand protection, RB
• Howard Michael, shareholder and co-chair, trademark practice group, Brinks, Gilson & Lione
• George Sevier, category head, IP enforcement, Dyson

Monetisation in the ‘new normal’: licensing and commercialisation opportunities

• Christa Cole, head, brand development, enforcement, licensing, Nestlé
• Joseph Conklin, senior vice president, global deputy general counsel, Coty
• Greg Holtzman, director, partnership marketing and communications, Brainbase

Friday 19 March

Riding the wave: aligning brands with social and political movements

• David Modzeleski, senior vice president, intellectual property and litigation, Discovery
• Gloria Montaron, director, legal and intellectual property, Bioceres
• Michel Rorai, lead IP counsel, Unilever

Following the money: when and how to forego takedowns and instead think big picture

• Karla Aspiras, director and senior counsel, Tapestry
• Fred Felman, chief marketing officer, Appdetex
• LaNelle Owens, senior associate counsel, intellectual property, Walmart
• Scott Minden, associate general counsel, Facebook
• Lara Miller, counsel and vice president, corporate strategy, International Anti-counterfeiting Coalition

Staying ahead of online infringers despite budgetary constraints

• Maral Behnam-Garcia, director, brand protection, intellectual property, Wish
• Chloe Long, director, global brand protection, Capri Holdings
• Måns Sjöstrand, global head, IP and brand protection, Daniel Wellington
• Marc H Trachtenberg, shareholder, Greenberg Traurig

For event timings and topics, and to sign up to attend, please click here.