1. Barbara Fiacco October 26, 2016
Strategic Plan
Barbara Fiacco
October 26, 2016
© AIPLA 2016

2. Vision
AIPLA will be an innovator, powerful advocate, and visible global leader in intellectual property law through our commitment to education, outreach, member service, and advocacy.
© AIPLA 2016

3. Mission
We serve our members, fostering their professional and leadership development, helping nurture and mentor them as they advance within our profession, keeping them informed in an ever-evolving legal environment, and enriching the diversity of the profession in which we practice, while responding to their personal and professional needs;
We serve public policy leaders, whose mission is to develop, implement and maintain our intellectual property system, assisting them with objective and unbiased analysis, and helping establish and maintain fair and effective global laws and policies that stimulate and reward innovation and creative works in keeping with the public interest;
We serve the public, providing education as to the daily value and benefits of a strong intellectual property system that fosters incentives for creativity & innovation, while balancing the public’s interest in healthy competition, reasonable costs and basic fairness; and
We serve our association and its employees, providing sound management, financial stability, stable succession, and a vibrant, respectful and collaborative workplace environment, delivering opportunities and support for all to lead, create and thrive.
© AIPLA 2016

4. Values Passion about Intellectual Property
Enduring belief in the importance of intellectual property
Encompassing the full spectrum of intellectual property, with a global reach and a balanced pragmatic perspective
Demonstrating integrity, trust and objectivity by acting with clarity and transparency
A Strong Community
Open minded
Inclusive & compassionate
Collaborative
Committed and Visionary Professionals
A commitment to exceptional and pragmatic, integrated positions
High standards of quality & excellence
Demonstrating strong leadership in the field of intellectual property law
Seeking the engagement, development & mentoring of future intellectual property law leaders
© AIPLA 2016

5. Strategies
Member Service: AIPLA will support the professional and intellectual growth of its members through a flexible organizational framework and innovative channels of communication, delivering outstanding services, cost-effective programs and mentoring opportunities, thereby ensuring that AIPLA remains the premier intellectual property law association, and attracts and retains IP professionals from around the world.
Advocacy: AIPLA will provide crucial leadership and unbiased analysis leading the way for world-class policy and decision-making, while attracting membership, ideas, and resources as a highly sought after and respected thought leader.
Global Outreach: AIPLA will provide crucial leadership and unbiased analysis leading the way for world-class policy and decision-making, for the development of sound global intellectual property standards, laws and policies while attracting membership, ideas, and resources as a highly sought after and respected thought leader to the global community.
© AIPLA 2016

6. Cross-Cutting Strategies
AIPLA integrates financial sustainability into all of its activities undertaken in support of the strategic initiatives, but also evaluates all activities through the lens of our Strategic Plan
Governance and organizational structure will continue to be examined to streamline the operation of AIPLA.
A commitment to public education and raising public awareness in all aspects of intellectual property law will be considered within each strategy area.
© AIPLA 2016

7. Change Public Education
Public Education is now imbedded in our focus on advocacy, global and membership as well as our ambassador role.
We remain committed to the importance of Public Education, and will concentrate our Public Education efforts to align with our other goals.
We will continue numerous outreach activities, including World IP Day, classroom educational materials, and the Trademark Expo. Staff, with input sought from multiple sources including committees, will work with committees to review and develop recommendations on what to continue or begin. The Board will consider recommendations as part of their oversight role.
When it was a stand alone strategy, it seemed like we were trying to “boil the ocean”. This allows us to be more targeted in integrating public education.
© AIPLA 2016

8. Advocacy
Goals
Advocacy will place an emphasis on a proactive process to determine the high level areas of focus – the human, capital and time resources will be developed with the awareness that each of these resources is finite. Resources will remain nimble and open to changes in the landscape and requests to consider by membership and the Board
The process for determining the proactive high level of focus will be managed by staff with input sought from multiple sources including committees, subject to review & approval of the Board.
MMD NB: I’m concerned that the change from recognizing we should consider how proactive we need to be (some percentage) versus remaining reactive will undermine the commitment the Board made to really changing our culture to a more proactive one.
Comments that can be made here are that the Board is meeting on Saturday to discuss some balance of how proactive we want to be, and what that impact is on our reactive posture. I think the intent is that our proactive work will eliminate some of the need to be reactive.
Example: The proactive work we do on policy development in advance of an agency releasing their Federal Register notice can reduce the amount of work developing a response to the actual notice, and our goal will actually be to impact the language of the notice such that we hear our policy arguments in the notice itself. This is how we could measure success.
This is a similar concept for the other strategies as well.
© AIPLA 2016

9. Global Outreach
Goals
Global Outreach will place emphasis on enhancing a proactive process to determine the high level areas of focus - the human, capital and time resources will be developed with the awareness that each of these resources is finite. Resources will remain nimble and open to changes in the landscape and requests to be considered by membership and the Board.
The process for determining the proactive high level of focus will be managed by staff with input sought from multiple sources including committees, subject to review & approval of the Board.
We will focus on foundational advocacy supporting AIPLA’s mission
We will prioritize our activities based on supporting foundational advocacy and as appropriate, member services
© AIPLA 2016

10. Member Services
Goals
Member Services will place an emphasis on a proactive process to determine the high level areas of focus - the human, capital and time resources will be developed with the awareness that each of these resources is finite. Resources will remain nimble and open to changes in the landscape and requests to consider by membership and the Board
The process for determining the proactive high level of focus will be managed by staff with input sought from multiple sources including committees, subject to review & approval of the Board.
We will work with our professional leadership to continue to evolve to meet the needs of the next generation of IP Professionals and new ways to engage members.
We understand WHY membership is important to AIPLA – There is strength in numbers. It supports advocacy, ideas, energy & carries out our work. Diversity in membership elevates discourse about IP law practice.
© AIPLA 2016

11. What does that mean? Proactive Process
We need to change our culture to emphasize a more proactive approach in shaping, influencing, and impacting IP law
Develop forward-looking reports/resolutions/programs, anticipating the IP communities needs (members needs, policy makers decisions/actions)
Currently, a majority of the organization’s work product is developed based on a reactive posture
The Board will continue to discuss the right balance. The goal is to shift the balance over time to dedicate more resources to forward-looking programs and activities.
Proactive = being a leader, which is what we claim on our vision. Reactive = follower
The large percentage of our work product that is based on a reactive system is making it difficult for us to be focused and targeted, and serve as a leader and innovator in IP law.
There’s only so many resources that we have as an organization, so a transition that will make us more proactive will necessarily impact our reactive nature. If we remain too reactive, it reduces our ability to allocate resources and support a more proactive approach for the association.
Examples of ways that we’re already proactive are:
Patent Eligible Subject Matter Task Force
Harmonization Task Force
Professional Programs/Mid-Winter Planning/Online Programs
On the proactive nature of the work, the goals note that the staff will manage the process, but the committee leadership and committee members will be the drivers behind the creative ideas designed to move us in a more proactive direction.
© AIPLA 2016

12. What does this mean? Proactive Process
Committee involvement is critical to the success of implementing the strategies
Committing to a culture change is critical
Marshalling your committee resources to take on a more forward- looking approach to your overall planning
Communicating with all of the stakeholders to ensure their engagement in the process (committee members, subcommittees, Board and staff liaisons)
Understanding that there is an impact on available resources for all of the projects we undertake.
Need the committees to really be the front-runner in implementing this change in focus. We’ve had a solid sphere of influence with the courts, agencies, and on the Hill, as well as international decision makers. To maintain this sphere of influence, and to keep up with changes in the industry requires us to commit to this proactive approach to stay a leader in representing the IP law community.
Committee structure to help with this culture shift, establish a policy subcommittee, or some group that is charged with being proactive. Identify trends/evolving issues (what’s keeping your clients or your company up at night
Proactivity will need to be executed in a deliberate and targeted manner, taking into account that there are more than 50 committees eager to support the goals of the Association.
© AIPLA 2016

13. Role of Board, Committees, and Staff
Who does what?
Implementers
Committee leadership and committee members
Board Liaison
Staff Liaison
Decision Makers
Board of Directors
How should we manage the process?
Use a set of “criteria” designed to determine the viability of a project, applied proactively and reactively
Understanding the roles of the Board, the Committees, and the staff is critical to the success of a shift to a proactive approach.
Committees are the experts in their specific area of focus. (Biotechnology, Chemical Practice, Antitrust, Law Practice Management) and drives the majority of the activity in the Association. The committee may develop the idea, the Board may ask the committee to consider an idea, the staff may suggest an idea – however, it is the committee volunteers that review, vet, and propose actions/programs/solutions to the Board, with the support of the Board and staff liaison.
© AIPLA 2016

14. Policy Decisions/Resolutions/Programs
Role of Board, Committees, and Staff
Policy Decisions/Resolutions/Programs
Board
Staff
Committees
This diagram illustrates how parts merge into a whole. Emphasizes the final outcome.
The committee may develop the idea, the Board may ask the committee to consider an idea, the staff may suggest an idea – however, it is the committee volunteers that review, vet, and propose actions/programs/solutions to the Board, with the support of the Board and staff liaison.
© AIPLA 2016

15. DRAFT Criteria to guide actions by the Board
What is the importance to our work – mission and vision?
Does it support the goals of the strategies?
What is the org capacity to handle this new matter?
human capital,
resource capital,
time capital, and
relational capital
If this work is critical, what will it take to accomplish?
The criteria is still being finalized but we wanted to give the committee leadership a sense of the types of questions you should be asking when you consider your own goals/projects for your committee. This could be for projects you currently undertake or new ideas.
© AIPLA 2016

16. DRAFT Criteria to guide actions by the Board
5. Who should do it and why? Effective oversight is key.
If volunteer led how do they stay on point w/o over-taxing the resources of the professional team?
If professional led how do they keep board focused for appropriate oversight?
How will the scope of the effort be defined – in other words what constraints should we put on this work – to have good management and clear expectations?
Does this reflect a shared understanding of all stakeholders to this issue?
Do we (committee, staff, and/or Board) have to eliminate any work?
What will the key indicators of success be?
It is essential that your Board and Staff Liaisons are involved in the process. The Board liaison or the staff liaison may have information that can provide answers to some of the criteria considerations. And the Board and staff liaisons can help you manage a project/proposal, be sure it’s ready for Board consideration.
© AIPLA 2016

17. Questions?
© AIPLA 2016