Attorney Karyl Bertrand first participated in a conference of the International Trademark Association (INTA) in 2001, an organization with over thirty-five thousand (35,000) members from more than one hundred and eighty (180) countries. INTA is the largest association in the world dedicated to trademarks and other intellectual property rights. The INTA conference hosts more than ten thousand (10,000) participants, mainly consisting of lawyers from various countries around the world specializing in trademark law.
Ms. Bertrand, who specializes in trademark law and intellectual property law, was approached to join the Global Advisory Council, which advises the president, Chief Executive Officer, and the rest of the board of INTA on global issues affecting intellectual property rights, especially in Latin American and the Caribbean. The next INTA conference will take place in Atlanta, U.S.A., May 18 – 22, 2024. By having accepted to join the executive leadership advisory team of the organization for the period 2024-2026, Ms. Bertrand becomes the first lawyer from the Dutch Caribbean to hold such an important position within INTA.
Ms. Bertrand was previously a member of the Anti-Counterfeiting Committee for four (4) years, during which time she organized policy dialogues on behalf of INTA in Jamaica and Curaçao, she also spoke in New York, U.S.A., and most recently she was a speaker in Sint Maarten, upon invitation of the Bureau of Intellectual Property of Sint Maarten and the Ministry of Justice of Sint Maarten. Additionally, Ms. Bertrand was a member of the Commercialization of Brands Committee for two (2) years, which deals with the marketing and promotion of brands, franchising, and financial valuation of brands, among other things. Given her expertise, Ms. Bertrand was appointed chair of the INTA subcommittee on Sustainability and Ethical Standards Associations in early January 2024. This appointment is already in itself a significant achievement.
Ms. Bertrand is the daughter of the late Mr. Hubert Bertrand of Portsmouth, who lived and worked in Curaçao, and the late Mrs. Margarita Bertrand-Wolff of Curaçao, and is the niece of Mrs. Mornlight Phillip, Mr. Milton Bertrand, Surveyor’s Fitzroy Bertrand and the late Emanuel Bertrand, the late Fire Chief Phillip Bertrand, the late Major Twistleton Bertrand, and the late justice Sylvia Bertrand.
Ms. Bertrand has been practicing law for over twenty (20) years, the last ten (10) years through her law firm in Curaçao – Bertrand Legal & Intellectual Property that services the Dutch Caribbean, the wider Caribbean and Latin American countries.
