Doing Business In - International Franchise Association

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and the Community Trademark system, administered by OHIM. As of October 1, 2004, Community Trademark applicants and holders are allowed to apply for international protection of their trademarks through the filing of an international application under the Madrid Protocol. Conversely, holders of international registrations under the Madrid Protocol will be entitled to apply for protection of their trademarks under the Community Trademark system. Key Links: http://oami.europa.eu/ http://www.wipo.int/madrid/en Designs The EU adopted a Regulation introducing a single Community system for the protection of designs in December 2001. The Regulation provides for two types of design protection, directly applicable in each EU Member State: the registered Community design and the unregistered Community design. Under the registered Community design system, holders of eligible designs can use an inexpensive procedure to register them with the EU’s Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM), based in Alicante, Spain. They will then be granted exclusive rights to use the designs anywhere in the EU for up to twenty-five years. Unregistered Community designs that meet the Regulation’s requirements are automatically protected for three years from the date of disclosure of the design to the public. Key Link: http://oami.europa.eu/ Trademark Exhaustion Within the EU, the rights conferred on trademark holders are subject to the principle of "exhaustion." Exhaustion means that once trademark holders have placed their product on the market in one Member State, they lose the right to prevent the resale of that product in another EU country. This has led to an increase in the practice of so called "parallel importing" whereby goods bought in one Member State are sold in another by third parties unaffiliated to the manufacturer. Parallel trade is particularly problematic for the research-based pharmaceutical industry where drug prices vary from country to country due to national price Regulation. Community wide exhaustion is spelled out in the Directive on harmonizing trademark laws. In a paper published in 2003, the Commission indicated that it had no plans to propose changes to existing legal provisions. Key Link: http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/indprop/tm/index_en.htm IPR Climate in the Czech Republic The Czech Republic is a signatory to the Bern, Paris, and Universal Copyright Conventions. In 2001, the government ratified the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Treaty on Performances and Phonograms. Domestic legislation protects all intellectual property rights, including patents, copyrights, trademarks, and semiconductor chip layout
design. Amendments to the trademark law and the copyright law have brought Czech law into compliance with relevant EU directives and WTO TRIPs requirements. The Czech Republic was put on the 301 Intellectual Property Watch list in 2008 for counterfeiting infringements taking place in markets along the borders with Germany and Austria. Although U.S. companies should exercise due diligence in choosing partners, theft of intellectual property is not a major problem here. We encourage technology-based companies to work with legal specialists to develop a global intellectual property protection strategy, using an appropriate mix of trade secret, copyright, or patent protection. U.S. companies will often find protection in the Czech Republic by gaining intellectual property protection within the European Union. Separate copyright and patent protection within the Czech Republic is possible, relatively low cost, and prudent. Information on IPR registration is available from the Copyright Office of the Czech Ministry of Culture. Due Diligence Return to top Due diligence on potential partners (as well as on suppliers, major clients, and other contacts) is important. The U.S. Commercial Service offers an International Company Profile service that researches the bona fides of Czech firms. Dun & Bradstreet also offers profiles and financial information on Czech firms. Prague has a cadre of U.S. and international law firms, accountants, and consulting firms that specialize in helping with market entry. We also suggest that U.S. companies new to the Czech market consider joining the American Chamber of Commerce in Prague. Web Resources Return to top Major Web trading sites: http://www.b2bcentrum.cz - major provider of services in the field of B2B in Central Europe http://www.abcb.cz/ - general business information, news, food products http://www.glob2b.cz/ - advertising banners on the internet American Chamber of Commerce in Prague Executive Director, Weston Stacey tel.: (+420) 222 329 430, e-mail: amcham@amcham.cz, web http://www.amcham.cz. Dun & Bradstreet tel.: (+420) 226 538 600, fax: (+420) 226 538 700 e-mail: custserv@dnbczech.cz, web http://www.dnbczech.cz
Page 1 and 2: Doing Business in the Czech Republi
Page 3 and 4: table for conversion to the euro ha
Page 5 and 6: Return to table of contents Chapter
Page 7 and 8: Key Link: http://www.ombudsman.euro
Page 9 and 10: lack of U.S. firms present, so U.S.
Page 11 and 12: Key Link: http://ec.europa.eu/inter
Page 13 and 14: sales. The cadre of agents has expa
Page 15 and 16: eceptions at industry trade shows i
Page 17 and 18: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/Scie
Page 19 and 20: Key link: http://ec.europa.eu/consu
Page 21: Copyright The EU’s legislative fr
Page 25 and 26: Provisions of Nutritional Labeling:
Page 27 and 28: Return to table of contents Chapter
Page 29 and 30: Resources Return to top Updated inf
Page 31 and 32: Automotive Parts and Equipment (APS
Page 33 and 34: Electronic Components (ELC) Overvie
Page 35 and 36: Medical Equipment (MED) Overview Re
Page 37 and 38: Telecommunications Eq. (TEL) Overvi
Page 39 and 40: Center for e-Commerce www.e-commerc
Page 41 and 42: • Project financing comes from va
Page 43 and 44: • Metal detectors • Monitoring
Page 45 and 46: Financial Services (FNS) Overview R
Page 47 and 48: Association of Czech Building Savin
Page 49 and 50: There is room for growth in the fas
Page 51 and 52: Contacts: Hana Obrusnikova, Senior
Page 53 and 54: Republic, the number of Czech stude
Page 55 and 56: Contacts: U.S. Commercial Service M
Page 57 and 58: Fish and crustaceans (HTS Number: 0
Page 59 and 60: For information on existing trade b
Page 61 and 62: • 20 days from the date on which
Page 63 and 64: Since May 1, 2007, with the impleme
Page 65 and 66: Customs Regulations and Contact Inf
Page 67 and 68: Contact Information at national cus
Page 69 and 70: technical committee whereas CENELEC
Page 71 and 72: standards-legislation/list-referenc
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http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_custom
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The European Union Eco-Label: http:
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property rights violations at open-
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investors from different countries,
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particularly those related to bankr
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made ex-parte search more accurate,
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oth representatives of the governme
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Labor Return to top The wide availa
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GE Aviation 7.8 JNJ Global Business
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Return to table of contents Chapter
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• Local bond offerings (for munic
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• Czech Embassy in Washington (ht
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Czech Holidays January 1 New Year's
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Constans Bretislavova 309, 118 00 P
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Citibank Contact: Kenneth E. Quinn,
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Daniel Mališ & Partners Contact: M
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HORREN s.r.o. Contact: Jaroslav Hor
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CzechInvest Main Office Mrs. Alexan
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