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| The Annual Conference |
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The MARQUES Annual
Conference, held each year in a different European city, now
enjoys an unrivalled international reputation for quality
and enjoyment. The event offers an effective combination of a challenging and relevant professional programme (with the emphasis on ownerrelated issues and audience interaction and participation) and varied opportunities for informal networking and social intercourse - all supported by top-quality organisation and concern for the welfare of each individual participant. The professional programme consistently addresses the wider range of issues facing the modern in-house IP counsel with speakers drawn from a range of disciplines and professions. Places at the Conference are limited - as a matter of deliberate organisational policy - to ensure that every delegate has the opportunity to derive maximum benefit from the experience. All MARQUES members pay a reduced fee for the annual conference. |
| Involvement in Committees/Teams |
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MARQUES is an open and
democratic organisation. Policies are determined by a
Council of elected volunteers with the support of a range of
Teams. All members are free to offer themselves for service and to participate fully in the management and development of the association. Proposals for the setting up of a team for a particular purpose or to cover a specific area of professional interest/concern are always welcome. Council will regularly invite Members who are known to have expertise in a particular field to head up or participate in such teams. |
| Website |
| The fully-interactive MARQUES Website supplies full details of all Members and membership services and features both the Class 46 trade mark blog and Class 99 design blog providing the very latest news on trade mark and design matters. |
| Newsletter |
| Members receive regular copies of the MARQUES Newsletter keeping them up to date with developments within the association, offering them the opportunity to raise issues and concerns and to seek responses from the wider professional membership. Contributions from members drawing attention to recent developments within their own companies or jurisdictions are always warmly welcomed. |
| Seminars and Workshops |
| Through a programme of regular meetings, at national, Regional and international levels, members of MARQUES are offered full opportunity for continuing professional development responsive to their needs and interests. Some events in the calendar are formally CPD accredited by the UK Law Society and the Institute of Trade Mark Agents. Suggestions and ideas for such events, all of which can be fully supported/managed by the MARQUES Secretariat, if required, are always welcomed by the Programming Team. |
| Informal Networking |
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MARQUES creates regular
opportunities for beneficial contact with fellow
professionals, each one a specialist in brand management.
These opportunities for networking and mutual support vary
from attendance at meetings, workshops and seminars to more
informal and continuous communications by telephone, fax,
email and the internet. The MARQUES
website and the UK - based secretariat can provide Members
with access to the hub of an international network of
expertise through which advice, support and guidance on any
matter affecting brand management can be quickly obtained. The spirit of mutual support, trust and professional respect engendered between Members of MARQUES makes the organisation an ideal medium through which potentially damaging and expensive disputes can readily be resolved without recourse to the courts. |
| Links with Kindred Organisations and Other Agencies |
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MARQUES is recognised by
the EU Commission and the Office for the Harmonisation of
the Internal Market (OHIM) as an accredited nongovernmental
organisation (NGO) and enjoys observer status within the
World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) structure. The views and opinions of MARQUES are regularly sought by and offered to these and other organisations. Formal and informal links are sought and sustained with kindred organisations such as ACG, AIM, AIPLA, AIPPI, BMM, ECTA, FICPI, IACC, INTA, ITMA, LES, Markenverband, PTMG, UNICE, and all national trade mark and patent offices. |
| Links with Academic Institutes |
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The Lewis Gaze Memorial Scholarship, established in memory of
the first President of MARQUES,
is presented annually to the student (based in the city
which hosts the Annual Conference) who submits the best
dissertation on a trade mark theme. The winning entry is
posted on the MARQUES
Web site. MARQUES is actively seeking to identify academic institutions throughout Europe which offer appropriate and relevant courses to explore the possibilities of endowing scholarships and offering its Members as tutors/lecturers as a means of highlighting IP as an attractive career option. |
| Information and Communication |
| MARQUES, through its contacts at National PTO's,WIPO, OHIM and other kindred organisations, regularly receives early notice of changes to legislation affecting IP rights and brand management as well as important meetings on both national and international trademark issues. This information is then rapidly distributed to Members ensuring they are kept well informed of developments. |
