The U.S. Commercial Service in Germany offers a wide range of support services to U.S. exporters. At SMM 2008 Specialist Juergen Mueller will conduct a pre-show outreach campaign to local German buyers. Working out the USA Pavilion during the show, he will meet with U.S. exhibitors and visitors, provide market input, ad-hoc interpreting, logistics assistance, and one-on-one counseling sessions to assist them in finding European representatives. Please contact Claus Faltin at 49-30-8305-2702 and email to: Claus.Faltin@mail.doc.gov, if you have any questions. He can give further information about our services, including the possibility to be featured on BuyUSA.gov Germany to generate additional business leads. The U.S. Commercial Service looks forward to seeing you at SMM 2008 in Hamburg! Background: The 22nd SMM Shipbuilding, machinery & Marine technology international trade fair in 2006 surpassed the previous events by a considerable margin: 1,669 exhibitors from 50 nations ? including 63% from outside Germany - met 45,000 trade visitors from 116 countries. 38% of the total visitors were from abroad, which underscored the international orientation of this bi-annual show. All 27 U.S. exhibitors were counseled and the majority of them obtained an exceptional number of leads and several concluded distributorship and sales agreements. As with previous participations at the SMM, the U.S. Pavilion proved successful for the 13 U.S. participating companies. The Commercial Service had a booth within the pavilion, so that a permanent presence and support could be provided to the exhibitors. With more than 140 congresses, conferences meetings, workshops and official receptions, the supporting program was particularly large. For the next event McNabb Marketing Resources, the U.S. representative of Hamburg Messe for SMM, again will apply for Trade Fair Certification from the U.S. Department of Commerce. For more information on the event as well as contact information to the show organizer, please visit this website: http://www.hamburg-messe.de/ IMPORTANT NOTE ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS (IPR): The U.S. Commercial Service in Germany is proactively engaged in defending American companies against counterfeit and copyright infringement. IPR is an important part of corporate value and international competitiveness. U.S. trademark, design and patent rights do not of themselves provide protection in Germany or the rest of the European Union (EU); U.S. companies must protect their IPR here in Europe. It is possible to register in countries individually or, for EU-wide trademark and design protection, there are a Community Trademark (CTM) and Registered Community Design (RCD). These provide a single right that protects industrial design or trademark in the entire 25-nation EU mega-market of 450 million people. Both national trademarks and the CTM can be registered through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The U.S. Commercial Service can provide information on EU-wide protection for IPR and defend IPR in Europe at trade fairs. More information is available on our website: http://www.buyusa.gov/germany/en/ipr.html. Please also visit our website to obtain info about U.S. Commercial Service programs and services designed to help U.S. exporters succeed in the German and European markets, and about VAT recovery procedures: http://www.buyusa.gov/germany/en/vat.html