The President’s Award is designed to acknowledge the profound appreciation of the global trademark community to individuals who, over the course of a career in trademark and related IP law, have made a lasting impact on INTA and the Association’s mission. Criteria for nomination are:

Consistently outstanding service to the Association through work on committees, task forces and/or the Board of Directors;

Innovative approaches to the fulfillment of INTA’s mission that have had an enduring impact on the Association; and Role model and leader in the practice of trademark law.

Cynthia Rowden has been consistently active on INTA committees for more than two decades. She was a member of the Board of Directors from 2000 to 2001, chaired the Publishing Board from 2002 to 2003 and served as Co-Chair of the 2006 Annual Meeting Project Team. She currently is a member of the Trademark Office Practices Committee. Those who nominated her for the President’s Award described her as a “dedicated, knowledgeable and expert practitioner” who is “devoted to educational activities and the advancement of trademark law” and “the model of a gracious and hard-working volunteer,” among many other compliments. Ms. Rowden heads the Trademarks Practice Group at Bereskin & Parr in Toronto, Canada.

When nominating Virginia Taylor for the President’s Award, her peers described her as “a ubiquitous leader in the field of trademarks,” an “invaluable role model for young lawyers,” and  “a selfless mentor.” Ms. Taylor is Senior Counsel at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton in Atlanta, Georgia, and has been actively serving INTA since the Association was known as the USTA. She has chaired the Publications and International Forums Committees, as well as the Publications Board. She also was an original editor of INTA’s U.S. State Trademark and Unfair Competition Law, was the original author of the U.S. chapter in Worldwide Trademark Transfers and assisted greatly in preparing the first edition of Trademark Administration. She currently serves on the Legal Practice Resources Committee. 

The President’s Awards will be presented on Thursday, November 13, at this year’s INTA Leadership Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Complete coverage of the awards presentation and interviews with the award winners will appear in the December 1 INTA Bulletin. 

Although every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of items in the INTA Bulletin, readers are urged to check independently on matters of specific concern or interest.