Welcome to MARQUES!

We don't mean to turn you off from blogging, by immediately inundating you with legalese, but we need to make clear our respective rights and responsibilities in relation to social media.

INTRODUCTION

The mission of MARQUES is to educate and promote the professional development of brand owners in the selection, management, protection and exploitation of their trade marks within a global economy: to create a forum for the free exchange of ideas and information and to provide an effective platform for the representation of their interests. To advance this mission, the Communication Team has crafted and MARQUES has adopted the following Social Media Policy and it requires that all MARQUES Members adhere to that policy.

Social media are communication tools that can have a significant impact on organizational and professional reputations. This is because they blur the lines between personal voice and institutional voice. The MARQUES Social Media Policy is designed to help clarify how best to enhance and protect personal and professional reputations when participating in social
media.

Both in professional and institutional roles, each MARQUES Member needs to follow the same behavioral standards online as they would in real life. The same laws, professional expectations, and guidelines for interacting with others apply online as in the real world. Each MARQUES Member is liable for anything they post to social media sites.

Matter of trust

Each MARQUES Member is personally responsible for the content he or she publishes on any form of social media. Be thoughtful about how you present yourself in online social networks.

Think about the accuracy of the content of your posts, otherwise you might be required to amend and/or complete the information in such a post immediately after you discover that an information you disclosed needs amendments or clarifications.

You may have identified yourself as a MARQUES Member, either directly or as part of a user profile. If so, ensure your profile and related content is truthful and consistent with how you wish to present yourself to other MARQUES Members, your business contacts, your colleagues and your peers. Do not list yourself as a member of MARQUES if you are no longer in good standing.

Team Members of MARQUES have special responsibility with their internet presence by virtue of their position within the organisation, even if they do not explicitly identify themselves as being affiliated with MARQUES. Such Team Members should assume that his or her posts will be seen and read by MARQUES Members, colleagues and reporters, and that they will presumably associate such posts with MARQUES.

Trust is an essential ingredient in the constructive culture we are striving to achieve at MARQUES. We can't be there to guide every interaction, so we expect you to follow these guidelines and advice to help you better balance the risk vs. reward ratio.

Do not use Posts or other social media sites which are connected to MARQUES for legal advice and rather turn with your partners to the conversation to a more private channel.

• Protect confidential and proprietary information:
Keep in mind that posts are visible by all with online access. It may be fine to share your work at MARQUES as part of your participation in the online community, etc., but you DO NOT have permission to reveal any information that compromises the policy of public positon of MARQUES. Do not post confidential or proprietary information about MARQUES, its Members or employees. Members must still follow the applicable laws, but also adhere to all applicable privacy and confidentiality policies.

• Respect copyright and fair use:
When posting, be mindful of the copyright and intellectual property rights of others and of MARQUES. Do not copy protected material owned by others without prior consent and always cite the source of copyrighted statements that you quote Make every effort to avoid loading advertisements and other marketing material in your posts and remember to be very careful in linking to promotional material.

• Respect others' rights and use common sense.
You should refrain from posting items that could reflect negatively on MARQUES, its staff or its members or that might otherwise embarrass the organization. MARQUES reserves the right to request you to remove certain content that you may post. As a general matter, you may post content freely, so long as the content is not illegal, obscene, defamatory, threatening, infringing of intellectual property rights, invasive of privacy or otherwise injurious or objectionable. Nevertheless, given the diversity of the population using the social media platform of MARQUES, do your best to avoid Posts with political character.

• Don't use the MARQUES logo or any other trade mark for endorsements:
Do not use the MARQUES logo or any other trade mark, image or iconography belonging to MARQUES on personal social media sites. More generally, you may not use the MARQUES name to promote or endorse any product, opinion, cause, political party or political candidate. Representation of your personal opinions as endorsed by MARQUES or any of its Teams is strictly prohibited.

• Don't reference MARQUES Staff, Members or Partners without their approval.
Be respectful of others in your communications. Spirited debate and constructive disagreement on particular issues is acceptable. However, personal attacks, insults, disparaging statements or gossip must be avoided.

• Terms of service:
Obey the Terms of Service of any social media platform employed.

• Think twice before posting:
Privacy does not exist in the world of social media. Consider what could happen if a post becomes widely known and how that may reflect both on the poster and MARQUES. Search engines can turn up posts years after they are created, and comments can be forwarded or copied. If you wouldn't say it at a seminar or to a Member of the media, consider whether you should post it online. If you are unsure about posting something or responding to a comment, ask the MARQUES Communication Officer.

• Strive for accuracy:
Get the facts straight before posting them on social media. Review content for grammatical and spelling errors. This is especially important if posting on behalf of MARQUES in any capacity. Promptly correct any statements that are misconstrued or deemed confusing.

• Be respectful:
Understand that content contributed to a social media site could encourage comments or discussion of opposing ideas. Responses should be considered carefully in light of how they would reflect on the poster and/or MARQUES and its institutional voice.

• Remember your audience:
Be aware that a presence in the social media world is or easily can be made available to the public at large. This includes prospective Members, current Members, and peer organisations. Consider this before publishing to ensure the post will not alienate, harm, or provoke any of these groups.

• On personal sites:
Identify your views as your own. If you identify yourself as a MARQUES Team or Member online, it should be clear that the views expressed are not necessarily those of MARQUES.

• Photography:
Photographs posted on social media sites easily can be appropriated by visitors. Consider adding a watermark and/or posting images at 72 dpi and approximately 800x600 resolution to protect your intellectual property. Images at that size are sufficient for viewing on the Web, but not suitable for printing.

• Notify the MARQUES Social Media Coordinator:
Teams that have a social media page or would like to start one should contact the MARQUES Social Media Coordinator to ensure all institutional social media sites coordinate with other MARQUES sites and their content.

All institutional pages must have an appointed Member who is identified as being responsible for content. Ideally, this should be the head of the Team.

• Acknowledge who you are:
If you are representing MARQUES when posting on a social media platform, acknowledge this.

• Have a plan:
Teams should consider their messages, audiences, and goals, as well as a strategy for keeping information on social media sites up-to-date. The MARQUES Social Media Coordinator can assist and advise you with your social media planning.

• Link back to MARQUES:
Whenever possible, link back to the MARQUES main web site (www.MARQUES.org). Ideally, posts should be very brief, redirecting a visitor to content that resides within the MARQUES web environment. When linking to a news article about MARQUES, check first to see whether you can link to a release on the MARQUES website instead of to a publication or other media outlet. If and when you are putting links in your Posts, check the information you are linking to and that it conforms with the policy above.

• Protect the institutional voice:
Posts on social media sites should protect the MARQUES institutional voice by remaining professional in tone and in good taste. No individual MARQUES Team should construe its social media site as representing MARQUES as a whole. Consider this when naming pages or accounts, selecting a profile picture or icon, and selecting content to post - names, profile images, and posts should all be clearly linked to the particular Team rather than to the association as a whole.

Modification of this Policy
MARQUES reserves the right to change, at any time, at our sole discretion, the present Policy. As a Member, you are responsible for regularly reviewing the terms and conditions contained in this Policy.

July 2014.