These Terms and Conditions (T&C) regulate the relationship between the users (referred to in the following as Users) and HYVE Innovation Community GmbH (referred to in the following as HYVE Innovation Community) for the use of the HYVE Innovation Community platform. HYVE Innovation Community can stand for the contractual service and/or HYVE Innovation Community GmbH. These T&C can be obtained at any time from the HYVE Innovation Community website using the «Terms & Conditions» link. The operator of this online platform www.innovation-community.de is HYVE Innovation Community GmbH Schellingstr.45, 80799 Munich, Germany.

‘User’ is any natural or legal person who has registered for participation on the HYVE Innovation Community platform or on a contest platform. ‘Ideas’ within the meaning of these T&C are all creative contents which the user sets up and makes available on a contest platform hosted by HYVE Innovation Community. In particular, graphic works, photographs, videos, texts, pieces of music, sketches and other images are covered by the term, also insofar as already existing files are uploaded therefore.

Contests are regularly presented on the HYVE Innovation Community platform, organized by HYVE Innovation Community and third-party companies. Participating users can win cash and non-cash prizes which are either advertised by third-party companies. HYVE Innovation Community or the third-party company hosting the contest stipulate specific rules for each contest. They lay down the basic conditions and terms of participation for the contest (e.g. topic, start and end of the Contest, prizes to be won, etc.). If the user infringes the these T&C, he or she may be excluded from the contest or even the HYVE Innovation Community platform itself by HYVE Innovation Community at its discretion. In particular, the T&C of the respective contest and third-party company apply.

The users must register with the HYVE Innovation Community and accept these T&C in order to be able to participate in idea- and design contests on the HYVE Innovation Community platform. These T&C are deemed accepted when the user registers on the HYVE Innovation Community platform and agrees to the T&C. The contractual relationship between HYVE Innovation Community and the user comes into effect upon the user account being opened by HYVE Innovation Community.

The following provisions apply for registration on the HYVE Innovation Community platform: Registering as a user is reserved for natural persons. Registration on the Platform is not allowed for minors and other natural persons who are not legally competent or are only legally competent to a limited degree without the permission of the legal representative. The user is obliged to the truthful and, insofar as the corresponding data have to be specified, full declaration of the data collected during registration. In doing so, the user is especially not allowed to enter third-party data. If the collected data is amended after successful registration, the user must update them immediately in his or her user account. Multiple registrations under different user names are not admissible. User, who upload a photo, are obliged to choose a photo, which does not contain any form of discrimination and infringement of copyright. HYVE innovation Community reserves the right to refuse a user’s registration without giving reasons.

The following regulations must be observed with regard to using the user account:

• Users must keep their passwords secret and carefully secure access to their user accounts.
• Users are obligated to immediately inform HYVE Innovation Community if there is evidence that a user account has been abused by third parties.
• HYVE Innovation Community don’t forward a user’s password to third parties and never ask a user for his or her password via e-mail or phone.
• As a matter of principle, users are liable for all activities that are undertaken while using their user account.
• A user account is non-transferable.
• After a reasonable period of time, HYVE Innovation Community reserves the right to delete user accounts with incomplete registrations.
• Users are obligated to observe applicable laws when using the HYVE Innovation Community platform as well as other services from HYVE Innovation Community.
• Users must ensure that their offers or content are not illegal, do not violate public decency or the rights of third parties.

The user recognizes that the 100% availability of the HYVE Innovation Community platform cannot be realized for technical reasons. However, HYVE Innovation Community makes the effort to keep the HYVE Innovation Community website constantly available to as great an extent as possible. In particular, maintenance, security or capacity issues as well as events that do not lie in HYVE Innovation Community’s sphere of influence (e.g. interruptions in public communication networks, power outages etc.) could lead to short-term interruptions or the temporary suspension of HYVE Innovation Community services.

The user acknowledges that the following rules apply for all users of the HYVE Innovation Community platform:

• Within the context of using the HYVE Innovation Community platform, users may not use any mechanisms, software or other scripts that could interfere with the functioning of the HYVE Innovation Community website.
• Users may not undertake any measures that could result in unreasonable or excessive stress to the HYVE Innovation Community infrastructure.
• Users may not block, overwrite or modify any contents generated by HYVE Innovation Community or disruptively interfere with the HYVE Innovation Community platform in any other way.
• Users may not introduce viruses, trojans and corresponding scripts and programmes and a similar malicious code in the HYVE Innovation Community platform. The same applies to denial-of-service attacks or similar attacks (e.g. hacking) on the platform and/or individual user profiles.
• The contents stored on the HYVE Innovation Community platform may neither be copied, distributed, used in any other way or reproduced without the prior consent of the owner(s) of the legal rights. This also applies for copying via «robot/crawler» search engine technology or other automatic mechanisms.

The participation for users is free of charge.

10.1 Right to a Prize or Compensation

Participation in the HYVE Innovation Community platform occurs for each user at his/her own costs and risk. For work performed by the user, a completed order or a completed project, no claim to a prize or compensation shall exist either vis-à-vis HYVE Innovation Community, a customer of HYVE Innovation Community (project tendering organization) or another user of the HYVE Innovation Community platform.

10.2 Payment of the prize

The following is to be observed regarding the payment of the prize:

• No rights can be derived based on participation in HYVE Innovation Community platform regardless of whether the prizes were distributed or not. Recourse to course of law is excluded.
• The user is personally responsible for all public and tax charges that may result from winning a prize.

11.1 Sanctions

HYVE Innovation Community can take the following measures if there is concrete evidence that a user is violating legal guidelines, the rights of third parties, the HYVE Innovation Community T&C or the HYVE Innovation Community principles, or if HYVE Innovation Community otherwise has a justified interest, particularly with regard to protecting users and the HYVE Innovation Community platform from fraudulent activities:

• Deletion of entries or other contents
• Warning users
• Permanent blocking and extraordinary termination of the account.

In selecting a measure, HYVE Innovation Community takes the justified interests of the affected user and the HYVE Innovation Community platform into consideration. The listed measures can be executed without warning and notification of the user. Legal recourse against a measure is excluded.

11.2 Exclusion from Use

HYVE Innovation Community can permanently exclude a user from using the HYVE Innovation Community platform (permanent blocking), if he/she

• distributes the ideas of third parties as his/her own or uses content that is protected by copyright, patent design, ancillary copyright or trademark.
• has entered false contact information, particularly a false or invalid e-mail address.
• places and/or offers any illegal, offensive, slanderous or otherwise insulting or otherwise inadmissible contents in the platform or creates access to or advertises such contents.
• transfers his/her user account.
• harms other HYVE Innovation Community members or HYVE Innovation Community itself, in particular through abusing HYVE Innovation Community services.
• places hyperlinks in his or her user profile that refer to offers of third parties.
• Repeatedly disregards the regulations of HYVE Innovation Community.
• There is another good cause.

11.3 Restoration

After a user has been permanently blocked or extraordinarily terminated, there is no claim to the restoration of the blocked user account or reimbursement of the paid fees. As soon as a user has been blocked, this user may not use the HYVE Innovation Community platform anymore, even with other user accounts, or re-register.

Participants warrant and represent that their materials are original to them and that they have the right to assign the rights or to grant licenses, free from any and all encumbrances and third party rights. To the extent that users or – based on their knowledge – third parties have pre-existing rights to Intellectual Property (copyrights and design rights, trademarks and patent rights, etc.), every users is obligated to inform HYVE Innovation Community of this immediately. In the event that a user fails to comply with this obligation, HYVE Innovation Community is entitled to assume that the user does not wish to assert any industrial property rights and resulting claims with regard to the project and all project results. The users take full and sole responsibility for compliance with all existing legal relationships with third parties (e.g. employment contracts).

The user shall grant HYVE Innovation Community the right to process the respective works so as to be able to present them better on the website. In addition, the user shall grant HYVE Innovation Community the right to process the idea and the works attributed thereto for the purpose of presentation outside the contest domain, for example, in categories such as Latest Ideas, especially to prepare and present short versions or individual images, smaller versions of photographs (thumbnails) etc. In order to guarantee the user the maximum attention and range for his or her ideas, the user shall also grant HYVE Innovation Community the right to also publish and/or have published the user’s ideas on websites of third-party providers and carry out the duplications required therefore and send the individual works (i.e. the corresponding files) to the third-party provider and/or grant these providers technical access to the ideas for the aforementioned purposes, including the right in this connection to reproduce the ideas for incorporation in their own website. To achieve the aims specified in this clause, HYVE Innovation Community may use standard technical procedures (e.g. embedded functions). The user agrees to the relevant third-party provider accepting the user’s respective works and also publishing them. The user shall not receive any remuneration in cash for granting the aforementioned rights of use. HYVE Innovation Community shall present the user’s ideas on its platform in return for granting the rights and give him or her the opportunity to present his or her ideas to third parties and participate in contests with his or her ideas. The parties see this counter performance as appropriate remuneration.

The parties are obligated to keep all recognizably confidential information, documentation and data made known to them within the scope of this contractual relationship secret and, in particular, neither to make it accessible to third parties or use it in any other way.

Users may not use addresses, contact data and e-mail addresses, which they received through using the HYVE Innovation Community platform, for any other purposes than those designated on the platform. The selling of this data or using them for advertising purposes is prohibited in particular. Furthermore, the parties are obligated to process the data in accordance with all applicable data protection laws of the Federal Republic of Germany (e.g. Bundesdatenschutzgesetz, BDSG, Gesetz über den Datenschutz bei Telediensten, TDDSG) and the EU- Directive for Data Protection. Participants further agree to the publication of their names if they are chosen as Winners. Moreover, we may use your e-mail address to send you e-mail newsletters that may contain, next to editorial content, advertising from HYVE Innovation Community or from third party companies. If you no longer wish to receive information by e-mail you may at any time unsubscribe from the newsletter by sending us an e-mail to info@innovation-community.de.

15.1 Cookies

Our websites use so-called cookies if you are registered with us and have, before logging on for a session, chosen the option of keeping your computer registered for the entire period between logging in and logging out. Cookies are small data files stored on your hard drive containing some unique information about you like your Login data, your browser type and its version, the URL-click stream (what websites you visited in what order on www.innovation-community.de), the date and the time of your visit as well as the cookie number. Session cookies allow you to carry information across pages of the Website and avoid having to re-enter information. Persistent cookies help us to recognize you as a unique visitor (just a number) when you return to the Website and to allow us to tailor content, advertisements and the presentation of the Website to match your preferences. To compile anonymous, aggregated statistics that allow us to understand how users use the Website and to help us improve the structure of the Website. We cannot identify you personally in this way. You have the ability to accept or decline cookies by modifying the settings in your browser. However, you may not be able to use all the interactive features of the Website if cookies are disabled.

15.2 Security

We have taken technical and organizational measures to ensure that your personal data are protected from loss, incorrect changes or unauthorized access by third parties. For our part we consistently make sure that only authorized persons will have access to your personal data and that such access is limited to what is required for the purposes referred to above. Our security precautions are continuously being improved as better technical solutions become available.

To the extent legally permissible, any liability by HYVE Innovation Community for direct or indirect damages is excluded. In particular, HYVE Innovation Community assumes no liability for the non-availability of or interruption to the system and/or individual functions, for the publishing or deletion of data or for the actual identity of a user and shall not accept any claims for damages. HYVE Innovation Community is not responsible for incorrect or inaccurate entry information, whether caused by persons or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized or by any human error which may occur in the processing of the entries. Most of the content posted on www.innovation-community.de is provided by third parties. Such third-party content is the sole responsibility of the person creating that content. HYVE Innovation Community does not control, and is not responsible for this third-party content. HYVE Innovation Community does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy, reliability, completeness, usefulness, non-infringement of intellectual property rights, or quality of any content regardless of who creates that content. The participant expressly understands and agrees that he or she bears all risks associated with using or relying on that content. The platform may contain links and references to the web pages of third parties. HYVE Innovation Community shall have no liability for the content of such web pages and does not make representations about or endorse such web pages or their contents as its own, as HYVE Innovation Community does not have control over the information or contents on such web pages. Neither shall HYVE Innovation Community be liable for the quality, correctness or completeness of any third party information expressly provided as third party information, including any information supplied by any of the sales partners.

Users can terminate the contractual relationship at any time. Sending a message with the respective information to the HYVE Innovation Community Support under info@innovation-community.de is sufficient for the termination. HYVE Innovation Community can terminate the contractual relationship at any time. The right to block an account remains unaffected by this. Once termination has taken effect, the user’s user profile, including the placed ideas, will be deleted. In the event of the disablement of a user account or termination by HYVE Innovation Community for good cause, the user in question is prohibited from registering on the platform again and opening a new user account until express prior consent has been given by HYVE innovation Community.

HYVE Innovation Community reserves the right to change these T&C at any time without stating a reason. The users will be informed through the HYVE Innovation Community platform if the T&C have changed. The new T&C shall apply as agreed if the user does not object to their validity within 14 days after receipt. The objection must be in text form. If a provision of these T&C is invalid, the other provisions shall remain unaffected by this. The invalid provision shall be replaced by a provision that comes as legally close to the economic meaning and purpose of the invalid provision as possible. The same applies for any possible regulatory loopholes. For the rest, German law applies for the contractual relationship. These T&C, the interpretation and enforcement of these T&C shall be exclusively governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany. Participants irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of the Federal Republic of Germany. The place of jurisdiction is Munich. © HYVE Innovation Community GmbH, November 2009