In the runup to INTA’s 2025 annual meeting in San Diego, the association’s new president, Elisabeth Stewart Bradley, shares her belief that IP issues can be viewed through different lenses, writes Brian Yap
“Before coming to the biopharma landscape, I was with consumer products, and it is a very interesting lens to have both of those industries.”
It’s interesting that Elisabeth Stewart Bradley, the incoming 2025 president of the International Trademark Association (INTA), uses optics to describe her experience.
In an interview with Asia Business Law Journal ahead of the association’s annual meeting in San Diego from 17 to 21 May, and sitting against a backdrop of two maps showing very different regions of the world, New Jersey-based Bradley makes a point of emphasising the value of different industries having very different perspectives.
The new INTA head goes on to express her belief that some issues can be seen from several different vantage points.
“I have been encouraging INTA staff and committee members that as resolutions progress, to ensure we are really looking at these matters from a broad perspective so that the resolutions are fully informed and made stronger as a result of incorporating different perspectives from across our member base,” she says.
Through the interesting lens that she possesses, she has set out to serve the interests of the many different members of INTA as much as possible during her one-year tenure.
Outside of her INTA role, Bradley is currently serving as the vice president of innovation law at the US-based global biopharmaceutical company, Bristol Myers Squibb, leading its trademark, copyright and brand protection initiatives from the company’s New Jersey offices.
The viewpoints that she possesses have been formed through decades of experience across “different industries with very different perspectives”.
In the late 1990s, Bradley, then a Doctor of Law graduate from the University of Virginia School of Law with a BA in English literature from the College of William and Mary, began her legal career in private practice as an associate at Hunton & Williams, and later Morgan Lewis & Bockius in New York City, handling both litigation and IP matters.
After five years in private practice, she transitioned to the in-house legal world by joining UK-based confectionary giant Cadbury, where she worked as vice president and chief trademark counsel for the Americas during an eight-year stint. In 2011, Bradley joined Bristol Myers Squibb as assistant general counsel of trademark and copyright law before becoming vice president and head of trademark, copyright and brand protection in 2015.
Now at the helm of INTA, an organisation that she has served for multiple years in different roles, including vice president and board director, she speaks with openness and clarity about things she seeks to achieve and focus on in her leadership role.
“I do think about the big responsibility it is to have the honour to serve as the INTA president, and over the past several months, I have really found that I have sort of a North Star, which, for me, revolves around service and value,” she says.
A key part of Bradley’s North Star is her 2025 presidential taskforce, which will explore the evolution of in-house teams, the impact that change and transformation have on in-house teams’ external partners, and opportunities for the INTA to support its members through this change and transformation.
Bradley explains that, with the legal and business landscape rapidly evolving, the taskforce is observing the impact of complex dynamics such as geopolitics and rapidly evolving technologies on INTA members, so that it can anticipate how these dynamics will continue and accelerate in 2025 and beyond.
“We want to ensure that our members are not just surviving but thriving,” she says. “The taskforce is currently in the fact-finding and research stage, and is focused on engaging with a diverse range of members to discuss the changes in their practices that have occurred over the past few years.”
Bradley’s goal is to distill these learnings into forward-thinking and actionable initiatives that the organisation can implement to assist its members in navigating an ever-evolving and uncertain landscape.
The taskforce will report its findings via a presentation to the board of directors in November this year, during INTA’s leadership meeting. Bradley says that the final report may also be ready at that time but, as with some other years, the final written report from the presidential taskforce may possibly be released at a later date.
In Asia, the main task ahead for Bradley and her INTA team is to further engage the IP authorities of China and India, which have been drivers of the rapidly evolving legal and business landscape, as well as top sources of registrants for INTA’s annual meetings.
To Bradley, China and India are not only the key regional areas of focus for Asia, but they are markets that her company is particularly interested in.
“I know the whole biopharma industry is as well, in addition to many other industries,” she says.
For this year’s INTA annual meeting, registrants from China account for over 32% of more than 1,800 attendees from the Asia-Pacific, outstripping other Asian countries including India and Japan.
Bradley says there are several significant IP-related issues in China covering various areas from co-existence agreements and unregistrable marks to counterfeiting.
Representing INTA members, which include major corporate brand owners, law firms, service providers and small and medium-sized enterprises, Bradley has called on the Chinese IP authorities to address several issues, including providing further regulatory clarification.
One such issue is the lack of weight being given by Chinese trademark authorities to co-existence agreements negotiated between parties of potentially conflicting trademark rights. The INTA president points out that such agreements can be used as a tool to overcome confusion arising from objections based on an earlier, similar trademark issued by the trademark office and to facilitate registration.
But she observes that, since the second half of 2021, Chinese trademark authorities have not given as much weight to such agreements as they used to.
“Since the second half of 2021, the Chinese trademark authorities have prioritised public interest over party autonomy, which have led to the changes … We do suggest continuing the previous policy of providing weight to these co-existence agreements.”
Bradley also points to the issue of counterfeiting in China, describing it as a significant challenge faced by many countries around the world. She stresses that some key areas can benefit from further regulatory clarification in China, including a statutory response framework.
“We understand that the current law does not actually specify a timeframe within which an e-commerce platform must act upon receiving an infringement notification from a brand owner.”
Similar to China, the new INTA head also considers enforcement of IP rights to be a concern in India, including counterfeiting challenges that mirror those in jurisdictions around the world.
India is one of the top sources of registrations for this year’s INTA annual meeting, accounting for about 20% of the total registrations from the Asia-Pacific.
“We are aware that the IP office (in India) itself is facing a few challenges, including significant backlogs, which can be a bit challenging for brand owners around the world.”
Calling India a significant jurisdiction in the global fight against counterfeiting, Bradley says that the INTA is working closely with Indian authorities to support efforts in strengthening and modernising India’s IP enforcement, as well as increased co-ordination with rights holders.
“In 2024 alone, INTA partnered with Indian customs, the US Department of Justice and other stakeholders to deliver high-level training sessions across major cities. We also submitted detailed recommendations to enhance customs enforcement procedures and continue to advocate for the creation of a National IP Co-ordination Centre in India.”
This year, under her leadership, the INTA will continue its efforts and sustained engagement with Indian IP authorities through a dedicated South Asia anti-counterfeiting subcommittee. Bradley says that all of this hard work is aimed at supporting India’s endeavour to create a stronger, more co-ordinated anti-counterfeiting framework.
But India and China are not the only major Asian IP jurisdictions on Bradley’s mind, as developments across Asia are of interest to many INTA members.
“In addition to the annual meeting and the other events, I will have the opportunity to travel to several different Asian countries in 2025, and I will learn so much from those travels and members,” she says.
Japan, which is one of the top sources of registrations for this year’s INTA annual meeting, accounting for about 15% of the total for the Asia-Pacific, is a jurisdiction that impresses Bradley in terms of both IP prosecution and enforcement.
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Describing Japan as an exemplary IP jurisdiction, the INTA president says the country keeps its IP laws very current and up to date, including recent amendments to its trade secrets law.
“[Japan’s trade secrets law] is very, I would say, cutting-edge, which strengthens the protection of trade secrets and empowers companies that can assert their IP rights in this space.”
The Japan Patent Office, which is a member of a co-operative framework called the TM5, has been invited to give an update on its IP regime at INTA’s Asia- Pacific panel on 18 May.
To Bradley, the Asia-Pacific is a remarkably diverse region, with more advanced economies like Singapore, rapidly growing economies like Indonesia, and developing countries with rapidly growing markets but under-resourced agencies like Laos, each occupying different places on this regional spectrum.
This diversity means the INTA and other partners need to adopt differentiated approaches. “Enforcement is certainly one cross-cutting issue [in the Asean region], especially with the strong e-commerce penetration in the region. It is a constant battle to keep consumers safe from counterfeits, as well as to create an environment where brand owners can compete fairly in e-commerce.”
Bradley adds that the rapid growth of small parcel deliveries also poses significant challenges to enforcement agencies and brand owners alike. From a regulatory perspective, she says there is also a need to address the wide variances not only in IP laws but also in their implementation.
At the end of the day, as a senior IP lawyer, Bradley sees intellectual property as critical to the success of a business, as it protects innovation and provides certainty for investment and strategy.
“IP is deeply connected to almost all of the facets of a business. It is both a foundation and driver, and also a value creator.”
With such a multi-faceted nature defining IP, INTA expects to attract more than 10,000 registrants for this year’s annual meeting, all eager to find out how IP can drive and add value to their business through a host of topical sessions as part of the in-house practitioners series, running from 17 to 21 May, and the patent series on 20 May.
As one of the fastest growing regions in the world, Asia is a key subject for sessions covering the hottest and latest topics of greatest interest to a wide range of stakeholders from brand owners to IP lawyers with operations in and concerning the region.
An in-house practitioners series law and policy session titled “Asia Pacific IP Pulse: Insights from Region’s Key IP Offices”, which is scheduled for 18 May, features distinguished speakers including Philippines IP office director-general Brigitte de Costa-Villaluz and Singapore’s IP office chief executive, Tan Kong Hwee.
Moderated by INTA Singapore’s chief representative officer, Walter Chia, the session draws panellists from Asia, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Singapore representing some of Asia’s top IP regimes. Bradley expects them to cover recent IP law amendments, digital transformation efforts and new business support services, as well as relevant updates from their respective jurisdictions.
For those interested in specific Asian jurisdictions, notably China and India, there are dedicated in-house practitioners series sessions. For brand owners, the session titled “Expanding and Managing your Brand in China: Strategies for Success” on 17 May cannot be missed. Featuring speakers including New Balance China’s brand protection counsel, Amelie Chen, and Wanhuida IP China partner, Haiyan Ren, participants will hear expert insights into areas from consumer behaviour and trends impacting brand strategy in China to IP laws, trademark processes and compliance requirements in the world’s second-largest economy.
The India case law update session titled “Navigating New Frontiers in Indian IP Law” on 19 May gives registrants an opportunity to gain direct insights from judges and litigators from India, including Delhi High Court’s justices Amit Bansal and Saurabh Banerjee on recent case laws in the country.
With India having emerged as one of the top trademark filing jurisdictions globally, panellists including KRIA Law’s founder and managing partner, MS Bharath, and S Majumdar & Co’s partner, Suhrita Majumdar, will analyse recent trends in jurisprudence covering a wide gamut of topics from copyright protection related to AI-created works to IP enforcement in the fashion industry.
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