Friday, May 28, 2010

International Trademark Association Annual Meeting in Boston

I just got back from our annual INTA meeting, this year in Boston. Our firm is a long time INTA member. There were over 8300 trademark owners, attorneys and professionals from over 130 countries in attendance. As if the international scope of the meeting is not enough, the trademark expertise and experiences of the attendees is simply amazing.  Meetings, educational seminars and parties are the order of the day (and night). If only the entire world could get along this well!

Of course, the entertainment industry is always well represented at the annual INTA meeting, and this year I was pleased to hear colleagues from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and the United States International Trade Administration (ITA) talk about how they are working to protect U.S. entertainment businesses and their products exported to other countries.  In particular, the USTR representative explained that China has been improperly keeping US CDs and DVDs out of China for many years. The USTR filed a complaint against China with the World Trade Organization, and was able to get China to agree to allow the CDs and DVDs in. The USTR and ITA work hard to help US businesses - including entertainment industry businesses - get a fair opportunity to compete in other countries. They do their work at no charge to businesses. Check them out at www.ustr.gov/  and www.trade.gov/.

Questions and comments welcome.  Have a great day!

1 comment:

  1. I like the fact that they are trying to protect the entertainment industry in China, but from what I've read it's a lost cause (piracy is rampant in China).

    Thoughts?

    ReplyDelete