Patent Express Terms of Use

PLEASE READ THESE TERMS OF USE CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS SITE.

By using the Patent Express.com, Inc. website, you agree to follow and be bound by these terms of use and agree to comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including United States export and re-export control laws and regulations. It is your responsibility to review these Terms of Use periodically, and if at any time you find these Terms of Use unacceptable or if you do not agree to these terms of use, please do not use this Site. We may revise these terms of use at any time without notice to you. If you have any questions about these terms of use, please contact our Legal Department.

YOU AGREE THAT BY USING THIS SERVICE YOU ARE AT LEAST 18 YEARS OF AGE AND YOU ARE LEGALLY ABLE TO ENTER INTO CONTRACT.

Please also refer to Patent Express's Privacy Policy and Full Disclaimer , which are each incorporated by reference herein.

PatentExpress.com provides an online legal portal to give visitors a general understanding of the law, as well as to provide an automated software solution to individuals who choose to prepare their own legal documents. To that extent, the site publishes general information on legal issues commonly encountered. Patent Express's document service also includes a review of your answers for completeness, spelling and grammar, as well as internal consistency of names, addresses and the like. At no time do we review your answers for legal sufficiency, draw legal conclusions, provide legal advice or apply the law to the facts of your particular situation. Patent Express and its services are not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.

Patent Express strives to keep its legal documents accurate, current and up-to-date. However, due to rapid changes in the law, Patent Express cannot guarantee that all the information on the site is completely current. The law is different from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and is also subject to interpretation by different courts. The law is a personal matter, and no general information or legal tool like the kind Patent Express provides can fit every circumstance. Furthermore, the legal information contained on this site is not legal advice and is not guaranteed to be correct, complete or up-to-date. Therefore, if you need legal advice for your specific problem, or if your specific problem is too complex to be addressed by our tools, you should consult a licensed patent attorney in your area.

From time to time, Patent Express may perform certain attorney access services and introduce our visitors to patent attorneys through various methods, including but not limited to (i) plans of legal insurance, (ii) third party attorney directory listings, (iii) third party limited scope agreements, and (iv) third party attorney referral services. At no time is an attorney-client relationship fostered or created through the performance of any such services.

This site is not intended to create any attorney-client relationship, and by using Patent Express, no attorney-client relationship will be created with Patent Express. Instead, you are representing yourself in any legal matter you undertake through Patent Express's legal document service.

1. Privacy Policy. Patent Express respects your privacy and permits you to control the treatment of your personal information. A complete statement of Patent Express's current privacy policy can be found by clicking here. Patent Express's privacy policy is expressly incorporated into this Agreement by reference.

When you open an account to use or access certain portions of the Patent Express website or service, you must complete the registration process by providing the complete and accurate information requested on the registration form. You will also be asked to provide a user name and password. You are entirely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password. You may not use the account, username, or password of someone else at any time. You agree to notify Patent Express immediately of any unauthorized use of your account, user name or password. Patent Express shall not be liable for any loss that you incur as a result of someone else using your password, either with or without your knowledge. You may be held liable for any losses incurred by Company, its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, consultants, agents, and representatives due to someone else's use of your account or password.

2. Ownership. This Site is owned and operated by Patent Express.com, Inc. All right, title and interest in and to the materials provided on this Site, including but not limited to information, documents, logos, graphics, sounds, and images (the "Materials") are owned either by Patent Express or by its respective third party authors, developers, or vendors ("Third Party Providers"). Except as otherwise expressly provided by Patent Express, none of the Materials may be copied, reproduced, republished, downloaded, uploaded, posted, displayed, transmitted, or distributed in any way and nothing on this Site shall be construed to confer any license under any of Patent Express's intellectual property rights, whether by estoppel, implication, or otherwise. See the "Legal Contact Information" below if you have any questions about obtaining such licenses. Patent Express does not sell, license, lease or otherwise provide any of the Materials other than those specifically identified as being provided by Patent Express. Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved by Patent Express.

3. Limited Permission to Download. Patent Express hereby grants you permission to download, view, copy and print the Materials on any single, stand-alone computer solely for your personal, informational, non-commercial use and provided that (i) the copyright and trademark notice appearing below appears in such Materials, (ii) the Materials are not used on any other Web site or in a networked computer environment and (iii) the Materials are not modified in any way. This permission terminates automatically without notice if you breach any of these terms or conditions. Upon termination, you will immediately destroy any downloaded or printed Materials. Any unauthorized use of any Materials contained on this Site may violate copyright laws, trademark laws, the laws of privacy and publicity and communications regulations and statutes.

4. Links to Third Party Sites. This Site may contain links to Web sites controlled by parties other than Patent Express (the "Third Party Sites"). Patent Express works with a number of partners and affiliates whose sites are linked with Patent Express. Patent Express is not responsible for and does not endorse or accept any responsibility for the availability, the contents, the products, the services or the use of the Third Party Sites or any Web site accessed from a Third Party Site, or any changes or updates to such sites. Patent Express makes no guarantees about the content or quality of the products or services provided by such sites. Patent Express is not responsible for webcasting or any other form of transmission received from any Third Party Site. Patent Express is providing these links to you only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by Patent Express of the Third Party Site. You acknowledge that you bear all risks associated with access to and use of content provided on Third Party Sites and agree that Patent Express is not responsible for any loss or damage of any sort you may incur from dealing with a third party. You should contact the site administrator for the applicable Third Party Site if you have any concerns regarding such links or the content located on a Third Party Site.

5. Use of the Patent Express "Ask a Patent Expert". The Patent Express "Ask a Patent Expert" is a collaborative community where individuals are able to exchange ideas and opinions on legal or business-related questions. Access to and use of the "Ask a Patent Expert" is subject to this paragraph, in addition to the other terms and conditions listed.

Rights and Responsibilities of Patent Express:

Patent Express is not the publisher or author of any works posted on the "Ask a Patent Expert". It is a passive service for storage and dissemination of the ideas and opinions that Patent Express members may choose to post and distribute via the Forum. Patent Express does not screen works before they are posted, and no prior approval is required for posting. Patent Express disclaims all copyright and ownership in such works and all responsibility for them.

Although it cannot make an absolute guarantee of system security, Patent Express takes reasonable steps to maintain security. If you have reason to believe system security has been breached, contact us by E-MAIL for help.

If Patent Express's technical staff finds that files or processes belonging to a member pose a threat to the proper technical operation of the system or to the security of other members, Patent Express reserves the right to delete those files or to stop those processes. If the Patent Express technical staff suspects an user name is being used by someone who is not authorized by the proper user, Patent Express may temporarily disable that user's access in order to preserve system security. In all such cases, Patent Express will contact the member as soon as feasible.

Patent Express has the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to (i) edit, redact, or otherwise change the content of any Forum and Patent Q&A posting, (ii) re-categorize any post to place it in a more appropriate category, or (iii) delete any post that is determined to be inappropriate, including but not limited to offensive language and advertisements.

Patent Express reserves the right to refuse service to anyone and to cancel user access at any time.

Rights and Responsibilities of Patent Express Users or Other Posters to the "Ask a Patent Expert":

You are legally and ethically responsible for any postings - writings, files, pictures, or any other work - that you post or transmit on the "Ask a Patent Expert" (or any other Patent Express service that allows interaction or dissemination of information). In posting to the Forum, you are responsible for honoring the rights of others, including intellectual-property rights (copyright, patent, and trademark), the right to privacy, the right not to be libeled or slandered. For example, if you wish to post a copyrighted work on the "Ask a Patent Expert", you are responsible for obtaining the copyright holder's permission first.

Under United States Federal law, you retain copyright on all works you create and post to the Forum, unless you choose specifically to renounce it. In posting a work on the "Ask a Patent Expert", you authorize other members who have access to that service to make personal and customary use of the work, including creating links or reposting, but not otherwise to reproduce or disseminate it unless you give permission for such dissemination. You also give permission to Patent Express to copy your works as part of the normal backup process. You have the right to remove any of your works from the "Ask a Patent Expert" at any time.

The use of your Patent Express user account or posting on the "Ask a Patent Expert" for any illegal activity under the laws of California and the United States is a violation of these Terms of Use. Since the law as to jurisdiction of online systems is unsettled, we urge you to consider the possible effect of laws outside Patent Express's locality or your own residence. Patent Express is open to members worldwide (and works published on the World Wide Web, Usenet, or other such services are accessible to anyone on the Internet), and Patent Express cannot guarantee that you won't run into legal trouble from other jurisdictions over your posting.

Your Rights and Responsibilities as a Patent Express User and Reader of Postings on the "Ask a Patent Expert":

You are not required to provide your real name when signing up as a user of Patent Express. Patent Express permits anonymous or pseudonymous accounts. Any user may request that such member's e-mail address be hidden to provide for additional privacy.

If you have a complaint about the behavior or posts of another user, it is your responsibility to attempt to resolve the conflict, typically by contacting that person directly, if possible. Normally, Patent Express staff will not take a role in mediating conflicts between you and other users. Patent Express does not take responsibility for your behavior or that of other users. Notwithstanding the foregoing, should such a complaint or conflict arise, the user or users may request that a Patent Express moderator intervene and attempt to resolve any dispute. Any such request is not a guarantee that a moderator will (i) intervene, (ii) intervene in a timely manner, (iii) resolve the dispute in favor of one party or the other, or (iv) successfully resolve the situation. The decision to intervene rests with Patent Express, in its sole and absolute discretion.

Your access to the postings that users have posted on the Forum is for your personal use only. If you want to redistribute postings you find on the Forum, it is your responsibility to obtain permission from the poster (and any other person with rights in such work).

You agree to help protect your account and the security of other users by guarding your password. If you have reason to believe your password has been compromised or there has been any unauthorized use of your account, contact Patent Express via E-MAIL as soon as possible.

6. NO WARRANTY. THE SITE AND ALL MATERIALS PROVIDED ON THE SITE ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, PATENT EXPRESS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

PATENT EXPRESS MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT: (A) THE SITE OR THE MATERIALS WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS; (B) THE SITE OR THE MATERIALS WILL BE AVAILABLE ON AN UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE BASIS; (C) THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE SITE, OR ANY MATERIALS OFFERED THROUGH THE SITE, WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE; OR (D) THE QUALITY OF ANY PRODUCTS, SERVICES, INFORMATION, OR OTHER MATERIAL PURCHASED OR OBTAINED BY YOU THROUGH THE SITE OR IN RELIANCE ON THE MATERIALS WILL MEET YOUR EXPECTATIONS.

ANY MATERIALS OBTAINED THROUGH THE USE OF THE SITE IS DONE AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND AT YOUR OWN RISK. PATENT EXPRESS SHALL HAVE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE DOWNLOAD OF ANY CONTENT, MATERIALS, INFORMATION OR SOFTWARE.

7. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. IN NO EVENT SHALL PATENT EXPRESS, ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGE (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF BUSINESS, REVENUE, PROFITS, USE, DATA OR OTHER ECONOMIC ADVANTAGE), HOWEVER IT ARISES, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, OR ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THIS SITE OR MATERIALS AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE, EVEN IF PATENT EXPRESS HAS BEEN PREVIOUSLY ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. IF YOUR USE OF MATERIALS FROM THIS SITE RESULTS IN THE NEED FOR SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION OF EQUIPMENT OR DATA, YOU ASSUME ANY COSTS THEREOF. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

8. Indemnification. You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Patent Express, its officers, directors, shareholders, employees and agents from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses or expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees and costs, arising out of or in any way connected with your access to or use of the Site and the Materials.

9. Unsolicited Submissions. Patent Express does not want you to submit confidential or proprietary information to it through this Site. All comments, feedback, information or material submitted to Patent Express through or in association with this Site shall be considered non-confidential and Patent Express's property. By providing such submissions to Patent Express you hereby assign to Patent Express, at no charge, all worldwide right, title and interest in and to the submissions and any intellectual property rights associated therewith. Patent Express shall be free to use and/or disseminate such submissions on an unrestricted basis for any purpose. You acknowledge that you are responsible for the submissions that you provide, including their legality, reliability, appropriateness, originality and content.

10. Compliance with Intellectual Property Laws. When accessing Patent Express or using Patent Express's legal document preparation service, you agree to obey the law and you agree to respect the intellectual property rights of others. You use of the Service and the Site is at all times governed by and subject to laws regarding copyright, trademark and other intellectual property ownership. You agree not to upload, download, display, perform, transmit, or otherwise distribute any information or content in violation of any third party's copyrights, trademarks, or other intellectual property or proprietary rights. You agree to abide by laws regarding copyright ownership and use of intellectual property, and you shall be solely responsible for any violations of any relevant laws and for any infringements of third party rights caused by any Content you provide or transmit, or that is provided or transmitted using your User ID.

Patent Express has adopted a policy that provides for the immediate removal of any content, article or materials that have infringed upon the rights of Patent Express or of a third party or that violate intellectual property rights generally. Patent Express's policy is to remove such infringing content or materials and investigate such allegations immediately.

If you believe that your copyright has been infringed, and you would like Patent Express to remove the material in question, please contact the Legal Department.

11. Inappropriate Content. When accessing the Patent Express website or using Patent Express's services, you agree not to upload, download, display, perform, transmit, or otherwise distribute any Content that is (i) libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, abusive, or threatening; (b) advocates or encourages conduct that could constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any applicable local, state, national, or foreign law or regulation; or (c) advertises or otherwise solicits funds or is a solicitation for goods or services. Patent Express reserves the right to terminate or delete such material from its servers. Patent Express will cooperate fully with any law enforcement officials or agencies in the investigation of any violation of these Terms of Use or of any applicable laws.

12. Compliance with Export Restrictions. You may not access, download, use or export the Site or Materials in violation of United States export laws or regulations, or in violation of any other applicable laws or regulations. You agree to comply with all export laws and restrictions and regulations of any United States or foreign agency or authority and to assume sole responsibility for obtaining licenses to export or re-export as may be required. You acknowledge and agree that Materials are subject to the United States Export Administration Laws and Regulations and agree that none of the Materials, or any direct product therefrom, is being or will be acquired for, shipped, transferred, or re-exported, directly or indirectly, to proscribed or embargoed countries or their nationals, nor be used for any prohibited purpose.

13. Children. Minors are not eligible to use the Site, and we ask that they do not submit any personal information to us.

14. Governing Law; Venue. By using this Site, you expressly agree that your rights and obligations shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of California, excluding its choice of law rules. Any legal action or proceeding relating to your access to or use of the Site or Materials shall be instituted in a state or federal court in California, and in the County of Santa Clara. You and Patent Express agree exclusively and irrevocably to submit to the jurisdiction of, and agree that venue is proper in, these courts in any such legal action or proceeding. These terms of use expressly exclude and disclaim the terms of the U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, which shall not apply to any transaction conducted through or otherwise involving this Site.

15. Copyrights. All Site design, text, graphics, the selection and arrangement thereof, Copyright © 2008-2009, Patent Express.com, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

16. Trademarks. Patent Express, Patent Express.com, the Patent Express logo, all images and text, and all page headers, custom graphics and button icons are service marks, trademarks, and/or trade dress of Patent Express. All other trademarks, product names and company names or logos cited herein are the property of their respective owners.

17. Buy Now. For full and valid payment for a product designated as "Buy Now", Patent Express grants the customer a limited right to access the questionnaire related to the specific product for which the customer has made payment. This access right will be in place until either of the following events occurs ("access period"): a) 90 days elapse following the day the customer provides Patent Express with full and valid payment for the product in question, or b) the customer submits the product questionnaire for processing. Upon the termination of the access period, any and all rights created in the customer to access the questionnaire expire. If the access period lapses without submission of the product questionnaire for processing, Patent Express has no further obligation to customer including, but not limited to, providing access to the product questionnaire, delivering the product, and any refund of monies. This section is subject to all other provisions of the Terms of Use including, but not limited to, section six ("NO WARRANTY"), above.

18. Acknowledgement. BY USING PATENT EXPRESS'S SERVICES OR ACCESSING THE PATENT EXPRESS WEBSITE, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ THESE TERMS AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THEM.