World Trade Centers Association

The World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) was founded in 1970[1] by Port Authority NYNJ executive Guy F.

By licensing the use of the name to its members, including World Trade Center-branded merchandise, the Association generated considerable revenues while absorbing the heavy costs of registering the name and defending it against improper use in many countries.

The terms of the licensing arrangement were not widely publicized until 2013 when it became known that the Port Authority had supported the mission of the Association by providing rent-free office space and other help, with Association staff serving as the trade assistance arm of the World Trade Center.

In December 2018, Laura Taylor Swain, Chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, held that the wording of the 1986 assignment to the World Trade Centers Association[8] did not include trademark rights for WORLD TRADE CENTER (such as for souvenir items bearing that mark).

Eight permanent committees have been established to carry on the work of the Association in the following fields:[citation needed] In December 2008, the WTCA awarded its first Global Corporate Leadership award to Robert Thompson, the founder of CenTradeX of Nashville, Tennessee.