The International Trademark Association has welcomed Ronald van Tuijl as 2016 president of the association and chair of its Board of Directors. As Intellectual Property Trade Marks Director at JT International in Geneva, van Tuijl manages a team of trademark managers and assistants and is responsible for various global brand portfolios.

“2016 is going to be a busy year for INTA and the global trademark community,” said van Tuijl. “Our association remains deeply involved in the ongoing discussions around internet governance and the evergrowing domain name system. There are ongoing challenges such as counterfeiting and goods in transit that we, the global trademark community, will continue to tackle together throughout 2016. Finally, this year we will also see developments in plain packaging – an issue that is posing mounting risks across a number of industries including alcohol, soft drinks, food, pharma and tobacco.”

Before joining JT International and moving to Switzerland in mid-2012, van Tuijl was senior IP counsel for Philips Intellectual Property & Standards, a subsidiary of Royal Philips in the Netherlands. At Philips, he handled various global trademarks, design and domain name portfolios and was responsible for the enforcement of the Philips brand, including overseeing all anticounterfeiting activities, in Africa and North America. Before joining Philips, he served as global trademark counsel at Unilever, overseeing various foods and personal care portfolios.