Business Innovators Radio - Zen Waseme, Esq.: Earn CLE Credits in Paris, France at International Law and IP Conference Set for Oct. 11-14

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to Business Innovators Radio, featuring industry influencers and trendsetters, sharing proven strategies to help you build a better life right now. Hi, everyone. This is Dr. Tammy Pitzer, and I'm really excited about today's guest, Zenga Wasami Esquire. She is the director of artworks, a legal incubator and residency program that provides business. development and legal services certifications to lawyers. Wasemi has spent more than 20 years serving the legal community, managing multiple portfolios registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the United States Copyright Office, and the World Intellectual Property Organization. Pursuing her passion and purpose are to support innovation throughout the world.

Starting point is 00:01:00 She has created highly creative and competitive international certification programs consisting of a robust strategic model of mentorship and business development. Previous residents and externs hail from Jamaica, South Korea, Germany, Cambodia, Dominican Republic, France, and other countries, thereby representing opportunities to aspiring lawyers. and entrepreneurs beyond the United States. Prior to launching artworks, Wasami served the creative community as the principal attorney of Wasami Law, empowering new and emerging businesses around the world in protecting their intellectual property.

Starting point is 00:01:50 Wasami is an award-winning attorney, and she has been recognized for her international perspective on IP as well as her work with the United States patent and trademark office, the World Intellectual Property Organization, and her support of the Trademark Monetization Act. She is published on the U.S. Federal Registry, and she's been a commentator on the effect of international news aggregators on the United States Copyright Office Roundtable Discussions. In her capacity at Artworks, she trains attorneys in the art of international client engagement so that creative individuals feel the freedom to express their talents in the world,

Starting point is 00:02:38 knowing that their ideas are protected and properly monetized. Welcome. Hi, Tammy. Dr. Tammy, how are you? I'm fine. You have such a background with the intellectual property. the international law. And I think a lot of people don't realize that intellectual property is really global. It's not just something that you protect in the country of origin. So today, Zen, we're going to be really focusing on the international law and IP conference in Paris that you've created. So I want to dive right in and tell me more about what inspired you and artworks to create this conference. And what are the goals for it?

Starting point is 00:03:41 Well, we've been doing workshops and conferences in New York City and Florida, just different hotspots around the country, the U.S. and so many people, a lot of attorneys from everywhere, like the last session we did, we had a patent attorney from Nigeria com. And I just said, you know what, we need to move this beyond our borders because what we talk about, what we teach is not contained to the borders. And I just thought it would be something super fun, add some CLE credits to it, and just enjoy Paris. And so I've decided that this is something that we're going to do annually and just hop around the world. so that we can reach even more attorneys as well as law students that need to understand the impact of intellectual property as well as see that it is actually international law as well. International law, copyright patents. There's just so much involved. So this conference,

Starting point is 00:04:47 you said that it's going to start in Paris and you see it becoming an annual event to help different attorneys and law students get academic credit and the CLE credit. So how do you see the conference helping to shape the future of intellectual property and international law practices? Well, like I said, once people, attorneys get it in their mind that this is international law. You know, where we've moved into another area, another phase where our eyes are open, thanks to the pandemic. And we know that countries are working together all the time. Businesses are working together all the time.

Starting point is 00:05:36 And nothing exists in the U.S. that cannot be sold in Malaysia. We get that. But as attorneys, the light bulb hasn't gone off yet to realize that, okay, I can sit in France and actually serve someone in Australia. Why? Because the countries themselves, you know, have agreed to do this. The countries have agreed. The intellectual property is important.

Starting point is 00:06:00 And we're going to give each other respect, right? As long as we individually adjudicate those petitions for protection, it's the same, the same standard. Then we're now going to put the pressure on the creatives to actually have to pop around the globe to each individual. office. So, you know, nowadays, most of this is already online. So you can practice anywhere in the world and provide, you know, that kind of legal support to anyone around the world. And that expands the way you even, as an attorney, look at your practice. You know, if you are of a certain ethnic group and you're in the U.S., you can serve people of that group. around the world. If you are not necessarily ethnic, a specific ethnic group, but say you're into

Starting point is 00:06:56 fashion law, you can serve that demographic around the world. The sky is the limit as to where IP can go nowadays. It's so exciting. And I really love the idea that you're going to have this conference in Paris. Can you give me some basic details about the conference? When is it specifically? and what are some of the highlights of this four-day event? Okay, so in the U.S., we call it Indigenous Day weekend. So that Friday, we're just going to get together and connect, network. We're having a welcome reception. That's the time for everyone to come in, settle in, very informal,

Starting point is 00:07:43 and just have conversation and talk about what awaits us for the weekend, hand out some swag, and just enjoy. other because what I want to happen is the networking is super important. The conversations are super important. I want that because that will open us up to having a great weekend as we move throughout the weekend together. We're going to have several lectures that's going to cover different areas of art, different areas of intellectual property from a creative perspective as well as from the attorney's perspective. And then we're going to go into some very legally substantive workshops to learn about international law in general and where IP fits in there.

Starting point is 00:08:24 So you're going to get a good balance of some fun stuff. Like you're going to have a fun networking time. You're going to get to know people from around the world. And then we're also going to, you're going to learn. It's kind of kind of be like a boot camp, an IP boot camp, and juxtapose that with international law so that you will come away with a good understanding of what we're talking about IPS international laws. You got that. You got the fun stuff.

Starting point is 00:08:49 You got the legal substance. Then, of course, we can't be in Paris and not have real funds. We're going to do some touristy stuff. You know, we're going to take a boat ride. We're going to do probably everything that tourists want to do in Paris. It's optional. You know, some people have been to Paris a lot of quite a few times. They may not want to do everything.

Starting point is 00:09:13 But it's a good mix. And then we have an award ceremony. And so now you get to dress up, right? So you came in, it was casual. Then you got, you know, you're studying all your legal stuff. And then we're also going to have opportunity to get dressed up and just be in Paris. And the award ceremony is specifically for countries that have made a commitment to intellectual property and innovation in terms of protecting their citizens. That's a big deal.

Starting point is 00:09:42 And so it's a fun. legally substantive and then also kind of like, you know, high, high end or upscale event, which is the awards reception. I'm looking forward to all of it. So can you talk a little bit more about that award ceremony? It's related to the, it's the Madrid Protocol and Madrid Treaty. Can you explain about that since I'm obviously not an attorney, and I'm just more curious about that, how that really impacts, like you said, this global situation that makes it so no matter where you're at, that you can serve the world.

Starting point is 00:10:29 Well, absolutely. That Madrid protocol ties it all in. It makes everything that I've said thus far makes sense. So when I say these countries have come together and decided we're going to give reciprocity to each other. That's what that's about. So the Madrid protocol has been around quite a while, and I don't know right now, the actual year is slipping my mind. It's been around a while. It's been around a while. And there are still countries that are deciding, understanding the importance of IP and are trying to get into this treaty. And so what countries we're going to honor, they're the countries that recognize that even at the height of the pandemic when everyone was like, you know, we were losing it. People were dying and all these things that were happening, they still had

Starting point is 00:11:18 the foresight to say, wait a minute, even though we're in a moment of peril, innovation is going through the roof. You know, how do we make sure our citizens are protected as innovation goes through the roof? So I think that's absolutely commendable to have that presence of mind. where you're concerned about your citizens on all levels, you know, the health of your citizens, the economic health of your citizens, which also fees into the economic sustainability of the country. So those are the countries, those member states that have recently joined within the past five years that haven't gotten any fanfare because it hasn't been important. You know, at that time, we have all things going.

Starting point is 00:12:03 You got the pandemic. You have all this protesting going. on, then you're having natural disasters and wars, right? So that's not newsworthy at that time, but I think it's important to say, you know what, in spite of it all, they pushed through and they got into the Madrid Protocol. So those countries will be receiving awards. Thank you for explaining that because I think it's important that, again, people listening, not only law students or attorneys, but just everyone listening in general that they should understand because almost every business I can think of either has some type of trademark

Starting point is 00:12:49 issue they need to work with copyright or patents. And so everyone needs to be really paying attention to intellectual property and international law because most of us do operate outside of our country's borders, whether we realize it or not, because of the internet. We're all operating globally. So I find it fascinating. So artworks is a legal incubator and residency program, and they're sponsoring this conference. I wanted to find out more about artworks itself because,

Starting point is 00:13:31 it's the only ABA approved residency and incubator program. So can you tell us just a little bit about that? Because I think there may be people who might be interested in that part of the program also beyond the conference or before the conference. Okay. Yeah. So I was saying that the conference itself is a little boot camp. You know, it's a little boot camp to give you a basic understanding of intellectual property on the global scale. So within the residency program, however, you know, we work in, I don't want to say semesters or modules. It's a postgraduate program. And so you spend a lot of time, you take a deep dive into copyrights and understanding the law, understanding where, you know, what is the foundation of it. And then also how to package your

Starting point is 00:14:25 petition for trademark, I'm sorry, patent for copyright protection for your client. Either one of them, patent, trademark, copyright protection for your client. So we do a deep dive and all of it, copyright. So we spend some time with that. There's, you know, one-on-one mentorship if you need that. There's Q&As and there's also lectures, just so you can get an understanding. And the understanding of that, whatever the area of IP you're working on, is important. because that's going to give you the guidance you need to put together a strategy. A lot of times people think, oh, I'm just putting together an application. Well, a lot of lawyers get in trouble on that because anyone can put together an application.

Starting point is 00:15:09 What do you need? You know, you need your client's identification. That's not the bigger part of it. The bigger piece of it is understanding IP so that you can have a strategy for longevity for your client. So many clients come to artworks where they've had attorneys that don't necessarily know all of these intricacies and they get into trouble. Their office actions aren't answered properly or at all. And then it laps and then they lose a lot of money. The, you know, all of our, I would call our stalwart scholarly institutions have said that we need a training program like this.

Starting point is 00:15:47 We need that sort of mentorship. So that conversation has been going on in the halls of academia for good. 30 years. Artworks is the first institution that's done something about it. And I think there's a, you know, a bright light shining on artworks at this time for that reason because, remember I said that innovation went through the roof. Guess what else went through the roof? Fraud on the public. Specific fraud on the public. And lawyers have been swept into it because they don't know what they're doing. They don't want to understand the strategy behind it. So easy to. to go online and fill out an application and there you have a submission to the USPTO or WIPO,

Starting point is 00:16:31 but the training isn't there. So I'm excited because I've been screaming for something like this and I'm like, ooh, I'm not happy that fraud happened, but if that's what it took, well, fraud's been going on all the time. I'm not happy that thousands upon thousands of people have been defrauded at all. That breaks my heart. But if that's what it took for a light to be shined, on a program like artworks, then so be it. And so we're moving forward. We're doing this conference.

Starting point is 00:17:00 We're going to do boot camp. Everyone there's going to come away with us. Understanding exactly what IP is, and probably my hope, my dream is that enough of our attendees will decide, you know what, I want to go deeper. I want to learn more, not just about IP and intellectual property as far as the global perspective, but how I can reach closer. clients. That's another specific module that we have to help attorneys learn how to leverage the fact that this is a global practice and get them going. So that's what we do here at artworks. That's really exciting because creatives really need the legal help to understand because there's just so much involved with, like you said, copyright, trademarks, patent.

Starting point is 00:17:53 and most people are not educated in the law as it relates to that. So they do need an attorney who does specialize in that. So I wanted to ask you about the, obviously you have the residency program and the externship program and then, of course, the conference. But I want to go back to the conference because that's coming up October 11th through the 14th, 2020. in Paris. So the beautiful thing about that is you've included everything in the package if people want

Starting point is 00:18:37 that except for basically the transportation and airfare. Is that accurate? Right. Once you get to Paris, we got you. It's all included transportation around Paris. All your meals are covered. And then as well as the hotel. I like that. That sounds like the best program. So if somebody wants to reach out, where can they get all the details about artworks in Paris and even about the residency program?

Starting point is 00:19:09 Okay. So if you are someone that's interested in studying and going deeper, I would suggest you would go to artworks incubator.com. And that explains everything I just said about the modules, about the mentorship, as well. well as the business development. If you were interested in this conference, which I'm so excited about, then you would go to artworks in Paris.com. So, artworks in Paris, if you're thinking about Paris, and then artworks incubator.com, if you're thinking about just taking a deeper dive and studying more and learning more, not just about the legal substance, but how to reach clients around the world, we teach that within the incubator as well.

Starting point is 00:19:50 I think that's the really important part because the legal, you know, you're going to teach all the legal aspects so that you can decide what you want to focus on. But finding those clients around the world, that's huge because think about it. I can just see that if you're an attorney, I could see that you could go, wow, now I can have a global practice in this arena. and if you're a student and you're looking like, what are my next steps, this would be the perfect opportunity, you know, go to Paris and take that boot camp and figure out if this is something that you really want to focus on. So what great opportunities that you're bringing to the table that's really fascinating to me. And you know what? Also, like I talked about the legal substance of it all, and we talk about business development, it's not just all talking. There's a clinical

Starting point is 00:20:50 portion of the residency program where our registrants have the opportunity to practice. So after you master copyrights, right away, you get copyright clients right away. So there's the clinical piece of the residency program. You learn, you master, and right away, you get an opportunity of practice. And so you're not out there in the world doing copyrights of the first time. ever, no, you've had an opportunity within our program to practice with clients, as well as having a senior attorney right there to guide you if you need, if you have any questions. So I do love the program. Wow, that's really, that's really good. So when you take the artworks residency program, you actually get everything you need, even the real life practice, which like you said,

Starting point is 00:21:42 in often programs don't include that. that part of it. So that that is really phenomenal. Before I let you go, is there anything you'd like to add? What would I like to add? I don't know. I have so much going on in my mind right now. There's so many yummy things that we're going to be doing in Paris. But I do want to speak to law students as well as attorneys wherever you are in your phase of your practice or your career, that this is the cutting edge. stuff. You know, everybody knows how important IP is right now. It's just that most people don't understand the intricacies of it. So artworks is a, you know, a group that you want to align yourself with as you study and as you learn. If you need mentorship, if you need help, if you need to

Starting point is 00:22:36 understand the forms, this conference is a great place to start. It's a great place to start. And I don't like to scare people, but I did mention about the fraud alert. that have been going out and thousands upon thousands of people throughout the world have been defrauded. A lot of these companies have gotten into trouble. But what really caught my attention is that a lot of attorneys have gotten into trouble. You know, you don't want your license at stake. You don't want to have to be paying out all these sanctions. When you could just take the time to come to artworks, work with us, whether for the conference

Starting point is 00:23:13 or you want to do a deep dive and go further, it's important. that we move in the world as attorneys professionally well trained. And it kind of keeps the bar high as to how people perceive lawyers and what our responsibilities are. Because, you know, I remember when I was sworn in, we have a lot of vows that we took that day. And so if you're interested in intellectual property at all, artworks will help you keep your vow to do no harm, to protect the world, to do all these things that.

Starting point is 00:23:46 the world looks for us to do as attorneys. So that's what I would add if I could get on my soapbox for 30 seconds. Well, everyone, you heard Zen Wasemi. It is the international law and IP conference in Paris, October 11th through October 14th. Go to artworks in Paris.com to get all of the details and information. And thank you so much. I just always enjoyed talking with you because I learned so much about intellectual property and copyright and trademarks.

Starting point is 00:24:28 And it's a fascinating area of the law. Well, thank you for having me. I enjoy talking with you too. Because when I talk, I know you get it. And so that's important to me. Thank you so much. Everyone, go make it a beautiful day. Thanks for listening to Business Innovators Radio.

Starting point is 00:24:49 To hear all episodes featuring leading industry influencers and trendsetters, visit us online at businessinnovators.com today.

Business Innovators Radio - Zen Waseme, Esq.: Earn CLE Credits in Paris, France at International Law and IP Conference Set for Oct. 11-14

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