IEC Corporate Relations Policy

INTERNATIONAL ECZEMA COUNCIL POLICY ON CORPORATE RELATIONSHIPS
Approved July 2020

The International Eczema Council (IEC) is dedicated to raising the level of awareness and increasing the understanding of atopic dermatitis/eczema (AD) and promoting its optimal management through research, education, and patient/family care. IEC furthers its mission by:

  • Identifying and prioritizing unmet needs for research related to atopic dermatitis;
  • Facilitating atopic dermatitis research that addresses these needs through coordinative activities and infrastructure support;
  • Disseminating evidence-based information about atopic dermatitis and its optimal management to health care professionals and the public through direct communication and in conjunction with other organizations;
  • Promote good practices in the care of patients with atopic dermatitis worldwide; and
  • Collaborating with physicians, scientists, and stakeholder organizations worldwide toward fulfilling the IEC’s goals.

IEC works with many different organizations that share IEC’S goal of improving the understanding and treatment of AD, including other not-for-profit organizations, for-profit organizations (including pharmaceutical manufacturers and others in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries), corporate foundations and government-related entities. IEC’s relationships with these organizations support its mission and further its work in ways that would not be possible without their support. While these relationships are essential to IEC reaching its goals, IEC must manage these relationships in accordance with applicable laws and standards, and in an ethical manner that maintains its integrity and credibility with the public. Accordingly, IEC exercises great care not to endorse or appear to endorse commercial products, processes, services or organizations.

A corporate relationship is a relationship between IEC and one or more organizations in which IEC – through use of its name, trademark or other intellectual property or association with its conferences, events, research or publications – is associated with a third-party product, brand, process, service or organization. There are various types of corporate relationships including (but not limited to) sponsorships, corporate support, grants, endorsements, promotions, strategic relationships, consumer product purchases, licensing and certification.

IEC may from time to time be requested to enter into a corporation relationship by sponsoring, endorsing or otherwise accepting corporate support for products, services, publications, conferences and events, which may include the use of IEC’s name and logo by companies in connection with such support. IEC retains sole discretion to determine which organizations, products, services, publications and events may participate in the various corporate support, marketing, advertising, exhibiting and sponsorship opportunities available through IEC and the terms of such relationships. All corporate relationships and arrangements must relate to IEC’s mission, require a written agreement with IEC prior to entering into the relationship and are subject to this policy and Board of Director oversight.

Notwithstanding anything set forth in this Policy on Corporate Relationships (Policy) to the contrary, this Policy does not require IEC’s corporate members to enter into a separate written agreement with IEC with respect to such membership. Corporate membership in IEC is governed by the IEC Bylaws and such other policies as may be adopted by the Board of Directors from time to time.
IEC has adopted this Policy to minimize liability, ensure ethical decision making and avoid conflicts of interest, or the appearance thereof. This Policy sets out the standards by which IEC evaluates and approves corporate relationships. All corporate relationships will be managed in compliance with IEC’s Bylaws and policies, including, without limitation, this Policy and the IEC Conflicts of Interest Policy.

Guidelines

  1. IEC may pursue corporate relationships to support activities that further IEC’s mission. These relationships include corporate support including, without limitation, grants, sponsorships, charitable contributions, in-kind contributions, advertising, and exhibiting.
  2. IEC’s Board of Directors will exercise independent judgment in all decision-making related to any corporate relationship.
  3. IEC will accept corporate support only for activities that are consistent with IEC’s purposes and mission. Corporate relationships must not materially detract from IEC’s reputation for objectivity, independence, integrity, credibility, social responsibility and accountability or otherwise be inconsistent with the mission and values of IEC.
  4. IEC retains sole discretion to determine which companies, products, services and publications may participate in IEC’s various marketing, advertising, exhibiting and sponsorship opportunities. Participation in such opportunities is only be available to companies, services, products, programs, and publications that:
    1. Are consistent with IEC’s mission, values, policies, guidelines and principles
    2. Do not compete with products and/or services offered by IEC
    3. Are non-discriminatory
    4. Do not violate intellectual property rights
    5. Comply with the ACCME guidelines
    6. Are not otherwise illegal
    7. Are not deemed offensive
    8. Do not negatively impact IEC or its reputation
  5. In the event support from a corporation or other entity poses or implies a conflict of interest or perceived conflict of interest, such conflict or perceived conflict will be fully disclosed and managed in an appropriate manner, as determined by IEC.
  6. IEC will always make decisions with respect to policies, programs and publications independent of corporate support and will use its best efforts to avoid actions that would give the appearance that corporate support had any influence on, or was a factor in making, such decisions.
  7. IEC may accept corporate support for its educational programs and publications provided that:
    1. IEC has sole responsibility for the criteria, objectives, content and quality of such programs and publications.
    2. IEC will avoid the appearance that corporate supporters have authority to make decisions regarding program or publication content, program development, speaker/author selection, or the like.
    3. All decisions with respect to programs and publication will be made by IEC staff, volunteers or contractors who have no conflict of interest or relationship with the funding source.
  8. Acceptance of corporate support by IEC does not connote exclusivity. IEC must always be generally free to accept support from (or support) other similar companies, services, products, programs or publications (unless otherwise agreed to by IEC pursuant to the terms of a written agreement reviewed by legal counsel). Whenever possible, IEC seeks funding from a variety of sources. Occasions may arise when support of a specific program from a single source is necessary or appropriate, but special care will be taken in these circumstances to avoid conflicts of interest or any perception of a conflict of interest.
  9. IEC will not endorse any entity, organization, pharmaceutical drug, or over the counter drug or other non-prescription substance, commercial product, process or service and prohibits any sponsorship, corporate relationship or action that suggests or implies such endorsement. IEC will take all steps necessary to avoid accepting corporate support in a form or manner that could be interpreted as IEC’s endorsement of an organization and/or its products and services.
  10. IEC’s relationships with corporate sponsors must comply with all applicable national, state and local laws and regulations.
  11. IEC will not accept funds for, nor will it sponsor or co-sponsor, any programs or publications that are tied to the products or services of a corporate supporter unless such program or publication clearly discloses such corporate support.
  12. IEC may acknowledge corporate support, provided any such acknowledgement is made in a manner that minimizes the likelihood that the income from corporate support will be considered taxable by the Internal Revenue Service as unrelated business income.
  13. IEC’s corporate members may use IEC’s name for the sole purpose of reflecting or indicating membership in IEC in a manner acceptable to IEC. In addition, IEC may license its name and/or logo (collectively, the “IEC Marks”) for use in connection with corporate support or on non-IEC materials only if:
    1. The IEC Marks are used for the purpose of promoting or advancing IEC’s purpose and mission, as determined by IEC in its sole discretion.
    2. The use of the IEC Marks is provided on a non-exclusive basis.
    3. The use of the IEC Marks does not constitute an endorsement of any particular product, service or corporation (unless IEC specifically intends to provide its endorsement).
    4. The IEC Marks do not appear alongside the name, trademark, service mark, or logo of any association or corporation other than that of the corporate supporter without IEC’s prior written approval.
    5. All proposed uses of the IEC Marks are subject to the prior review and written approval of IEC.
    6. The provision of goods and/or services under the IEC Marks does not reflect adversely upon the IEC or the IEC Marks.
    7. IEC shall retain the right to terminate any use of the IEC Marks at any time and for any reason, upon reasonable prior written notice.
    8. IEC will receive fair value (in form of a royalty or other revenue stream) as consideration for the use of the IEC Marks. Such revenue stream shall, when possible, be constructed to avoid the generation of unrelated business income tax.
    9. No funds will be accepted with real or apparent expectations of reciprocity from industry.
    10. A corporate supporter’s use of the IEC Marks (outside of use by an IEC corporate member to indicate membership) must be pursuant to the terms of a written license agreement in a form acceptable to IEC in its sole discretion and approved by the Board of Directors and reviewed by IEC’s legal counsel.
  14. The receipt and use of corporate support (in any form, with the exception of corporate membership in IEC), including, without limitation, sponsorship of IEC events, conferences, grants or research, must be pursuant to the terms of a written agreement in a form acceptable to IEC in its sole discretion, approved by the Board of Directors and reviewed by IEC’s legal counsel. In addition, all such corporate support or sponsorship agreements must include and address the following conditions and terms:
    1. Specify the length, or term, of the agreement
    2. Permit IEC to terminate the agreement for (i) unsatisfactory performance or other identified conditions; (ii) unacceptable sponsor conduct, including but not limited to, unauthorized product promotion activities, that would lead IEC to determine that its continued participation in the arrangement with a particular company would adversely affect the goodwill and reputation of IEC or its affiliates.
    3. Include appropriate indemnification and hold harmless provisions protecting IEC from liability relating to the sponsorship arrangement or the sponsor’s products and services. IEC may also require corporate sponsors to add IEC to the sponsors’ liability insurance where appropriate.
    4. No corporate sponsor will be entitled to free advertising or a substantial return benefit (as that term is defined by the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”) or Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) rules and regulations) or other substantial return benefit from its sponsorship, grant or other contribution other than appropriate acknowledgements, items of nominal value, and/or the limited use of IEC’s name and logo in materials promoting a sponsored activity or project.
  15. Corporate sponsors may not be permitted to advertise, market, or otherwise promote specific products and services in connection with their sponsorship of IEC-related programs, events, and activities, but products or services may be listed or displayed in a non-qualitative manner.
  16. IEC will not enter into a sponsorship arrangement where the amount of payment by the corporation is contingent upon how well an event is attended or other measure of public exposure.