WTR Industry Awards: the 2022 shortlisted teams and individuals unveiled

WTR is pleased to reveal the shortlist for the 2022 WTR Industry Awards. Among the corporate teams featured on this year’s shortlist are those from Coty, Crocs, Google, Meta, Nestlé, New Balance, Red Bull, Spotify, The LEGO Group and Unilever.

The awards are designed to recognise the vitally important work carried out by in-house trademark counsel and to identify those teams and individuals that are performing their functions to the highest possible standards. 

The list of shortlisted nominees is compiled following three months of extensive research. During that time, WTR surveyed the global trademark community to encourage nominations. The received recommendations are then analysed, and supplemented by additional research, to draw up detailed shortlists featuring a number of outstanding candidates in each category. The shortlist has been selected on the basis of a wide range of criteria, such as active prosecution and/or enforcement of trademarks; successful portfolio exploitation; strong industry/regional expertise; global attitude towards brand expansion and protection; and quality of internal organisation and in-house processes.

The full shortlist is below, with the nominees for In-house Leader of the Year 2022 being Debra Hughes of Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Discovery Inc’s David Modzeleski, Elizabeth Escobar of Marriott, Meta’s Austin Phillips and Craig Stone of Phillips 66. The winner of that award, and the team-based categories, will be announced at an exclusive private reception in Washington DC in May.

However, as is tradition, there is one award winner that is announced in advance of the ceremony. The recipient of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award is Dolores Moro, who has been part of the brand legal community for almost 35 years. After a stint in private practice, Moro was an in-house counsel for 15 years at leading consumer products companies. After seven years at The Coca-Cola Company, she held senior IP roles at Revlon, BATMARK and Kimberly-Clark.

Moro served on the INTA board of directors from 2001 to 2006 and in 2015 joined the association as senior strategist, education (now known as ‘knowledge and development’). In that role, Moro was responsible for creating cutting-edge educational programmes, in collaboration with INTA members, on a broad range of topics delivered to audiences around the world. As an in-house lawyer, Moro was able to align legal strategies and solutions to meet business priorities. As a senior strategist at INTA, she was focused on developing and delivering programmes and other resources to give brand counsel the tools they need to be effective in business today.

WTR would like to thank the following sponsors of the 2022 WTR Industry Awards: Appdetex, CMS, Cooley, Daniel Law, Fish & Richardson, Fross Zelnick, HGF, Locke Lorde, Olivares, Rouse, Seed IP, Venable and ZMP IP Services.

Proceeds of the ceremony will go towards supporting the Swawou School for Girls in Sierra Leone. Swawou Layout Community Primary School for Girls was set up in 2008 to offer a free quality education to girls from the Swawou community of Kenema town, eastern Sierra Leone. The school provides a nurturing and safe place to learn, where the girls have the support and encouragement they need to stay in education. WTR’s parent company Law Business Research is the major financial supporter of the school.

The 2022 shortlist in full:

Asia-Pacific Team of the Year

• ASICS Corporation
• LG Display
• New Balance
• The LEGO Group
• UL

Europe, Middle East and Africa Team of the Year

• Heineken International
• Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)
• Lumileds
• Spotify
• Swarovski

Latin America Team of the Year

• Braskem SA
• Industrias AIEn
• PepsiCo
• Televisa Corporacion SA de CV
• The LEGO Group

North America Team of the Year

• Apple
• Crocs
• Nestlé USA
• Phillips 66
• Royal Bank of Canada

Fashion, Cosmetics and Luxury Goods Team of the Year

• B V L G A R I
• Coty
• Estée Lauder
• LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton
• Puma

Financial and Professional Services Team of the Year

• American Express
• Capital One
• Mastercard
• Swiss Re
• Visa

Food, Beverages and Tobacco Team of the Year

• Mars
• Mondeléz International
• Nestlé
• PepsiCo
• Red Bull

Healthcare and Life Sciences Team of the Year

• Abbott
• Bristol Myers Squibb
• Ferring
• Novartis
• Pfizer

Household and Consumer Goods Team of the Year

• LG Household and Healthcare
• Mattel
• Reckitt
• The 3M Company
• Unilever

Internet and Telecommunications Team of the Year

• Charter Communications
• Deutsche Telekom
• Google
• Huawei 
• Verizon

Not-for-Profit Organisation Team of the Year

• American Red Cross 
• Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
• FSC Global Development
• NCAA
• Rotary International

Retail Team of the Year

• Gap
• Home Depot
• Starbucks
• Target
• Yum! Brands

Software and Online Services Team of the Year

• Amazon.com
• CD PROJEKT S.A.
• Electronic Arts
• Microsoft
• Uber

Sports, Entertainment and Media Team of the Year

• Discovery Inc
• ESPN
• Liverpool Football Club
• NBCUniversal
• Netflix

Technology and Consumer Electronics Team of the Year

• Apple
• Intel
• Meta
• Sony Interactive Entertainment 
• Zoom

Travel and Leisure Team of the Year

• Airbnb
• Delta Air Lines
• Expedia Group
• IHG Hotels & Resorts
• Marriott International

Vehicles and Transport Team of the Year

• Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW)
• Ford
• Harley-Davidson
• Rivian
• U-Haul

In-house Leader of the Year

• Debra Hughes, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
• David Modzeleski, Discovery Inc
• Elisabeth Escobar, Marriott
• Austin Phillips, Meta
• Craig Stone, Phillips 66

Lifetime Achievement Award

• Dolores Moro