BYE-LAWS
| 1. | Short Title | ||
| 1.1 | These Bye-Laws shall be called MARQUES ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION BYELAWS. | ||
| 1.2 | They are effective from September 2015 and updated from September 2020. | ||
| 1.3 | The place and address of the registered office of the Association is presently MARQUES, c/o Association Enterprises, Q House Troon Way Business Centre, Humberstone Lane, Thurmaston, Leicester, LE4 9HA, United Kingdom. The Association is registered under Company No. 02210172. | ||
| 2. | Teams, Task Forces and Committees: General | ||
| 2.1 | In accordance with Articles 73 and 86, the Executive Committee may form Teams, Committees and Task Forces for the purposes of implementing the Policies. | ||
| 2.2 | These bodies are assigned specific roles and tasks and are made up of Members of the Association based upon an election process. | ||
| 2.3 | These bodies will be governed by such regulations as the Executive Committee may determine from time to time. | ||
| 2.4 | Subject to Articles 73 and 86, the Executive Committee may form and disband these bodies as required in order to implement the Policies. | ||
| 2.5 | All Members of the Association shall be eligible to sit on Teams, Committees and Task Forces subject to the Policies adopted for the governing of these bodies. | ||
| 2.6 | It is the preferred practice for Council to assign at least one Council member to every Team, Task Force and Committee. | ||
| 3. | Teams | ||
| 3.1 | Teams will be established to address specific subject matters of interest to the Members. | ||
| 3.2 | Subject to Article 73, there may be as many Teams as the Executive Committee determines are necessary to address the needs of the Association and may disband Teams, which no longer fulfil the needs of the Association. | ||
| 3.3 | Teams will be made up of Members of the Association in accordance with a self-nomination process. The nomination process for Team members will take place every two years when Members will be given the opportunity to nominate themselves for membership of a Team. All Teams shall have among their membership a Council Member. | ||
| 3.4 | Members may not sit on more than one Team at the same time. | ||
| 3.5 | Members of a Team may self-nominate for reappointment to the same Team after the two year period expires. | ||
| 3.6 | Teams will liaise with and be supported by the Internal Relations Officer (IRO), for internal functioning team and the External Relations Officer (ERO), for external functioning teams. | ||
| 3.7 | Expert Members will be disqualified from being able to self-nominate for a Team if they have not attended at least two meetings and 50% of conference calls scheduled during the two year term. | ||
| 3.8 | Teams will be led by a Chair and Vice Chair (co-chairs as the case may be from time to time) who will be responsible for the management and effective operation of the Team. The Chair and Vice Chairs will be elected to their position by the members of the Team. Their appointment will be for a term of two years and run in the alternate years for the nomination and election of the Team members. | ||
| 3.9 | The Team Chairs will determine the optimum number of members, which make up their Team provided that the number of members will be sufficient to enable the Team to properly fulfil its objectives. | ||
| 3.10 | Where there are more nominees for Team places than there are places on the Team, the Chair of the Team will be the final arbiter of who is selected to sit on the Team. | ||
| 3.11 | The Team Chair may assign, from among its members, various roles such as minute taker, administrator, Team web content manager, project leaders. | ||
| 3.12 | Team members are expected to: | ||
| (a) | Support the mission, strategic objectives and Policies of MARQUES | ||
| (b) | Participate actively on their Team by attending meetings and conference calls | ||
| (c) | Completing assignments in a timely and professional manner. | ||
| 3.13 | Teams meet in person during both the Annual Conference and the Spring meeting, Team members are strongly encouraged to attend both meetings although they are voluntary. In addition, Teams can meet in person on an “ad hoc” basis if necessary and via conference calls. | ||
| 3.14 | Should Team members find that they are unable to spend the time required to participate actively and to meet Team commitments, members should immediately advise the Team Chair or Vice-Chair. | ||
| 3.15 | Should the inability to meet commitments last for a long period of time, Team members are advised to step down from the Team in order to be replaced and for the best interests of the Association to be served. Stepping down under such circumstance, if handled promptly and professionally, will not prevent future Team service. | ||
| 3.16 | Chair and Vice Chair of the Teams are obliged to keep an attendance schedule as provided by the Internal Relations Officer (IRO) and they shall be responsible for reporting in writing on the activities of their Team to Council at each meeting of Council. | ||
| 3.17 | The IRO and the ERO may liaise with a Team member, Chair or Vice Chair if Team members are not participating in a suitable manner. Any such occurrences will be reported to the Council member assigned to the Team and the Executive Committee. | ||
| 3.18 | Non-participating Team members or Team members absent from three Team meetings in a row without giving notice will result in being asked by the Executive Committee to step down. | ||
| 4. | Task Forces | ||
| 4.1 | Task Forces will be established pursuant to Articles 73 and 86, to address specific projects and will have a limited life coincident with the completion of that project. | ||
| 4.2 | Subject to Article 73, the Executive Committee may appoint those Members, both Corporate and Expert, with particular expertise relevant to the subject matter of the project to a Task Force. | ||
| 4.3 | Appointees to a Task Force need not necessarily be Members of a Team but if they are, they may retain their place on the Team. | ||
| 4.4 | Task Forces will be led by a Chair and vice Chair who will be responsible for the management and effective operation of the Task Force. The Chair and Vice Chairs will be elected to their position by the members of the Team. The Chair will report to Council from time to time and as required. | ||
| 5. | Committees (other than Executive Committee) | ||
| 5.1 | Committees (other than the Executive Committee) will be established to assist Council and to provide ongoing specialist expertise, support, assistance and guidance to Council on a particular topic, as Council requires. | ||
| 5.2 | Members of such Committees will be appointed to the Committee by Council from among the Members of the Association and will serve at the will of Council. | ||
| 5.3 | Such Committees will be made up of such number of Members as are thought appropriate for the effective performance of the role assigned to it. | ||
| 5.4 | The term of such a Committee will be indefinite but determined by Council who may disband such a Committee at any time. | ||
| 5.5 | Such Committees will be led by a Chair and vice Chair who will be responsible for the management and effective operation of the Committee. The Chair and vice Chairs will be elected to their position by the members of the Committee. The Chair will report to Council from time to time and as required. | ||
| 6. | Executive Officer and Other Appointments | ||
| 6.1 | In accordance with Article 92, the Executive Committee may propose for approval by Council the appointment of an Executive Officer as well as such other positions, whether part time or full time and whether employees of the Association or consultants, as Council recommends and Council determines are necessary to fulfil the Association’s objectives. | ||
| 6.2 | Such appointees will report to the Executive Committee, which will establish their terms and conditions of work, evaluation and reporting processes. The Secretariat and the appointees will work closely together to further the mission of MARQUES. | ||
| 6.3 | The Executive Committee may propose for approval by Council the appointment of an Internal Relations Officer. The IRO, who may be retained on a paid part-time basis, assists Council and Executive Committee. The IRO supports the professional administrative structure of MARQUES and works in close co-operation with the Council, Executive Committee and Secretary in proposing and implementing appropriate programmes of activities and events that add value to Members and attract members, revenue and esteem to the organisation. The IRO is also involved in communication activities to assist in the marketing of the organisation. The IRO's special focus is the Teams whose work affect the marketing and programming objectives of MARQUES, e.g. the Programming Team, the Communication & Membership Team and the Education Team. The IRO works closely with the relevant Teams and the Team Leaderships. | ||
| 6.4 | The Executive Committee may propose for approval by Council the appointment of an External Relations Officer. The ERO, who may be retained on a paid part-time basis, assists the Council and the Executive Committee. The ERO supports the Council and Executive Committee in actions related to policy development and advocacy. The ERO collects and effectively manages internal and external communications vital to MARQUES as “the European organisation representing brand owners’ interests worldwide”. The ERO proposes and implements appropriate actions to attract members, revenue and esteem to the organisation. The External Relations Officer’s special focus is the external teams, i.e. the remainder of Teams. The ERO works closely with the relevant Teams and the Team Leaderships and represents the Association externally as required. | ||
| 7. | Conference and contact information | ||
| 7.1 | Private receptions and other similar external events are not permitted during the Annual Conference and Spring meeting, as this would be contrary to the strategic goals of the Association. Instead members and non-members are encouraged to take up a sponsorship opportunity. The Annual Conference and Spring meeting begin at the first MARQUES social event occurring the evening before the day of the opening session and finishes following the MARQUES social event occurring after the closing session. | ||
| 7.2 | All contact information published in the membership section of the website is entrusted to MARQUES members for personal use only. | ||
| 7.3 | It is prohibited to use the information in the membership section of the website, as well as the various MARQUES meeting delegate lists, for unsolicited bulk e-mails or for dissemination of mass communications of a general nature. | ||
| 7.4 | Violation of this policy may expose the individual, firm or organisation involved to sanctions up to and including revocation of MARQUES membership and/or exclusion from any future event organised by MARQUES. | ||
| 8. | Representing the Association | ||
| 8.1 | Members (and particularly members of Council and Team Chairs) may be asked from time to time to represent the Association and its Members at meetings with official bodies such as EUIPO, WIPO and the European Commission. | ||
| 8.2 | When invited to represent the Association, Members must obtain the approval of the Chairman and the Treasurer before incurring costs on behalf of the Association. The Chairman and the Treasurer will decide if the activity supports the strategic goals of the Association and if it is within the Association's budget. | ||
| 8.3 | Team Chairs may communicate with the press in appropriate circumstances. All communications with the press must be approved by the Executive Committee and, in the interim, by the External Relations Officer. | ||
| 8.4 | It should be ensured where possible that the Executive Committee and Council are fully aware of and endorse any comments to the press. If this cannot be done, due to time constraints, the Team Chair should be non-committal in their answer. | ||
