Vice-Chair

EXPECTATIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES FOR ECTA COMMITTEE VICE 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 Vice Chair Expectations

The Vice Chair is expected to attend both ECTA meetings each year.

Committee Vice 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 Vice Chair Rights and Duties

The Committee Vice Chair, apart from his general duty to replace the Chair in all his duties whenever the latter is unavailable, has the duty and the right, together with the Chair, to identify the agenda and the topics to be discussed among committee members. The Committee Vice Chair is also expected to assist the Chair in identifying and developing new leaders for the Committee, as well as in identifying non performing committee members".

Committee Vice Chair Responsibilities

Vice 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;

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

• Be aware of all Chair duties and replace the latter, when unavailable;

• Identify potential future leaders of the Committee;

• Monitor the projects/tasks of the Committee and chase members for timely answers;

• Identify non performing members and report to the Chair, accordingly;

• Update constantly the Committee Projects' Word Document and forward it to the Chair / Second Vice President / Manager Legal Affairs, when so requested;

• Help in the practical preparation of the Committee meetings (arrive in advance in the meeting room and see that everything is functional);

• Follow outside events / news relevant to Committee work and report to the Chair / Management, accordingly;

• 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