As Michael Atkins of the Seattle Trademark Lawyer recently reported, the International Trademark Association (INTA) held its annual meeting in Chicago last week. More than 8,500 trademark professionals were under one very large roof of the McCormick Place Convention Centre. Authors from the Canadian Trademark Blog were also in attendance, running from meetings to receptions to educational sessions, from morning ’til (late) night and occasionally taking in some of the great sights of the Windy City, typically while taxiing from one venue to the next.

As well as a great opportunity to meet with those trademark professionals who do such a great job of protecting our client’s interests in other countries, it was interesting to see the home base of some very well known marks, such as WRIGLEY’S, OLD NAVY, SEARS and of course all the great sports teams such as the CUBS, WHITE SOX, BEARS, BULLS and BLACK HAWKS.

Not surprisingly, the issues highest on everyone’s radar relate to protection of trademark rights on the Internet, with the rapidly developing area of keyword advertising being a very hot topic.