Brand protection can no longer be assessed in isolation. Today, the legal decisions that affect a company intersect with digital advertising, artificial intelligence, sustainability, reputation, personal data, consumer protection, cross-border enforcement, and new forms of commercial expansion.
This was precisely the focus of our participation in London during the annual conferences of GALA – Global Advertising Lawyers Alliance and INTA – International Trademark Association, two particularly relevant forums for those of us involved in the protection, management, and enforcement of intangible assets in increasingly interconnected markets.
Antequera was represented by Ricardo Alberto Antequera and Ricardo Enrique Antequera, with an agenda focused on three specific goals: updating about the main international regulatory developments; maintaining a direct understanding of the trends shaping the legal decision-making of global companies; and strengthening the network of strategic allies that supports our clients around the world.
Advertising, AI, and Sustainability: The Issues Redefining Brand Compliance
GALA’s annual conference, held on April 30, 2026, at The May Fair Hotel in London, brought together lawyers specializing in advertising, marketing, and promotions from multiple jurisdictions, along with representatives of brands, agencies, platforms, and self-regulatory bodies.
GALA is a global alliance of lawyers with expertise in advertising, marketing, and promotions law, focused on addressing complex legal issues affecting advertisers and companies across different jurisdictions and Antequera is the exclusive representative of this organization for Venezuela.
The agenda addressed issues that are now central to any company that communicates, sells, or positions products and services across multiple markets: cross-border campaigns, advertising self-regulation, environmental advertising, artificial intelligence applied to commercial campaigns, consumer reviews, misleading pricing practices, subscriptions, diversity and inclusion, and ambush marketing.
One of the most relevant discussions focused on AI in advertising, particularly in connection with transparency, “AI washing” risks, algorithmic bias, privacy, profiling, contractual allocation of liability, ownership of intellectual property rights, deepfakes, and image/right of publicity rights.
For Antequera, these issues are not abstract. They are part of the risks that are already beginning to affect the way companies design campaigns, select brand ambassadors, communicate environmental attributes, use artificial intelligence tools, structure regional launches, and protect the reputation of their brands.
INTA: Much More Than Networking
Our participation in INTA completed this agenda from the perspective of intellectual property and the global management of brands. INTA is the leading global organization bringing together brand owners and legal professionals, and its 2026 Annual Meeting took place in London from May 2 to May 6.
For Antequera, INTA remains a fundamental meeting point with global clients and strategic allies. However, its value is not limited to networking, it also lies in the ability to assess, in real time, how companies are approaching their trademark portfolios, which jurisdictions are becoming increasingly relevant, which risks are concerning in-house legal teams, and what type of responses they expect from their local counsel.
In this context, our experience in London confirmed a key message: Venezuela and the region continue to be markets that require specialized, practical legal support aligned with international standards.
The Importance of Being Where Change Is Being Discussed
Brands today operate in a more demanding environment. A campaign can become global within minutes. An environmental claim can trigger regulatory or reputational scrutiny. An AI tool may create assets, content, or risks whose ownership is not always clear. A regional strategy may require simultaneous coordination across multiple jurisdictions.
For that reason, participating in forums such as GALA and INTA is not merely an institutional exercise. It reflects a way of practicing and understanding our profession: being close to the conversations that anticipate our clients’ legal challenges.
Global Knowledge, Local Execution
Antequera’s participation in London 2026 confirms that our practice is internationally connected, while remaining deeply focused on the specific needs of each of our clients.
From Venezuela, our responsibility is not only to understand local law. It is also to understand how new global standards are being shaped and to translate them into useful, realistic, and actionable legal advice for companies operating in regulated, competitive, and increasingly exposed markets.
