Chair

EXPECTATIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES FOR ECTA COMMITTEE CHAIRS

General Expectations

ECTA (or “the Association”) has established the following criteria which apply to all ECTA Committee Chair / Vice Chair Positions, in addition to the ECTA Committee Member Expectations and Responsibilities:

ECTA Committee Chairs / Vice Chairs should expect to devote substantial time to their ECTA leadership responsibilities and bear their travel expenses to ECTA meetings and to other scheduled events.

Before an individual accepts to become a Chair / Vice Chair, he or she should discuss the benefits, responsibilities and resource requirements with his / her company or firm management and acquire approval to actively and fully participate in ECTA in a senior leadership role.

Committee Chair / Vice Chair Expectations

Committee Chairs and Vice Chairs are elected for a three-year term. Committee Chairs and Vice-Chairs may serve on the same committee for a second three-year term that means that they may be re-elected once, so the maximum time as Chair/Vice Chair is six years. If a Vice Chair is elected to become Chair, the term as Chair will then be a maximum time of three years even if the person has already served six years as Vice Chair.

ECTA Committee Chairs and Vice Chairs are expected to allot at least 10 hours for committee service per month. This can however vary, depending on the number of projects which have to be accomplished. Time commitments may also vary depending on the committee.

Most committees meet via conference calls or E-Mail exchange. Committee Chairs and Vice Chairs should expect to spend sufficient time to prepare for each committee meeting, including time spent developing and reviewing the agenda and related materials distributed to each committee member prior to the committee meeting. Committee Chairs and Vice Chairs should be prepared to lead the discussion during the meeting and ask questions of the appropriate volunteers or staff to clarify issues or raise concerns.

Committee Chairs and Vice Chairs should report on their committee’s activities and accomplishments to the Management Committee and/or ECTA Council at a regular basis and at least four times a year. Committee Chairs and Vice Chairs must adhere to conflict of interest, ethics and confidentiality policies as given by the ECTA code of conduct.

Additional Committee Chair Expectations

In addition, the committees meet in person during the ECTA Annual Meeting (usually in June each year) and Council Meeting (usually in October each year). Each Committee Chair is expected to prepare, conduct and report about these meetings, not only by preparing a Committee Agenda prior to and a Report after the meeting but also during Council Meetings or the General Assembly. The Chair is expected to attend both ECTA meetings each year.

Committee Chairs have a general responsibility to promote ECTA to professional colleagues, encouraging non-members to join ECTA as member and to become active participants. They should generally inform the public and others about ECTA and mention their affiliation, when appropriate, in press interviews, articles and speaking engagements.

Committee Chair Rights and Duties

The Committee Chair, in consultation with the Vice Chair, has the duty and the right to identify the agenda and the topics to be discussed among committee members. The Committee Chair leads the meetings of the committees and sets the time frame and localities where and when the committee meets. The Committee Chair is empowered to invite guests to the Committee Meetings, if necessary, for a certain project. If the guest is not a member of ECTA, such engagement should terminate one year after first participation, otherwise, the consent of the Management Committee is necessary. The Committee Chair is also empowered to identify new Leaders to the Management of ECTA, who are serving the Association well, as well as the Chair is empowered to identify non performing members who can be exempted from individual committee meetings or certain committee projects by the Chair or from the committee itself in conjunction with a decision of the Management Committee.

Committee Chair Responsibilities

Chairs should – in addition to the responsibilities of committee members:

• actively support the mission of ECTA;

• demonstrate a depth of knowledge in national and EU trade mark law;

• attend the Annual and Council Meetings;

• schedule at least 2 personal committee meetings per year;

• direct and oversee the committee’s activities;

• ensure timely reporting to other committees (if applicable), the Second Vice President and staff;

• develop the committee’s mission and objectives in line with ECTA`s action plan;

• maintain records and relevant information on committee work;

• consult by sharing expertise with management when requested, including an assessment of individual committee members’ performance;

• self-evaluate personal performance on the committee and determine needs for improvement;

• demonstrate a commitment to ECTA by regular meeting attendance, including national meetings, round tables;

• complete substantive tasks in a timely manner with high quality work product, especially draft minutes of meetings, draft position papers and other documents in excellent format and in accordance with ECTA templates and guidelines (in cooperation with Committee Secretaries); and

• resign from the committee when no longer able to support the mission or devote the necessary time to be a productive committee leader.

ECTA Committee Policy

The Council has delegated some of its powers to Committees, which are the heart of ECTA and it is from these Committees that its work stems. At this level, the principle of representation of a member from each Member State has been adopted. Nevertheless, Associate and Affiliate Members may be, and are, co-opted in a non-voting capacity to enhance the discussions of the various committees. The reports and position papers submitted by Committees and approved by the Council are therefore the result of a European Union approach to each matter under discussion.

Committees currently in existence are noted on the website: www.ecta.eu