1. Scope of General Terms and Conditions
The following delivery and payment conditions apply to all orders placed with the Patent and Trademark Centre Rhine-Main. Subsidiary agreements and amendments and the use of conflicting terms and conditions shall require our written confirmation.
2. Ordering
On principle, all orders must be placed in writing. A written order must be submitted subsequently in the case of orders placed by telephone.
3. Price clause
The prices in the fee schedule valid at the time of order placement apply to all services provided by the Patent and Trademark Centre Rhine-Main, unless prices are specified in a personalised offer. Prices listed are exclusive of VAT at 19%. Affiliates of the TU Darmstadt are exempt from payment of VAT.
4. Payment terms
Payment shall be made by bank transfer within four weeks of the invoice date without deductions. If the client is in default of payment, the Patent and Trademark Centre Rhine-Main shall be entitled to defer existing orders of the client in question and to refuse new orders. Costs (fees and expenses) are enforced by the tax offices in accordance with the Hessian Administrative Enforcement Act (HessVwVG) of 4 July 1966 (GVBl. I p. 151), as amended, if the client is in arrears with payment.
5. Place of performance
The place of performance is Darmstadt. The client bears the risk of dispatch. Unless otherwise agreed, data transmission shall be performed electronically. If this method of dispatch is not possible, the postal service shall be used.
6. Precise specification of the order
The prices for the performance of a search refer to one topic in each case, delimited in form and content. Orders that involve complex and very broad topics or require an extensive search in printed publications shall only be carried out after consultation with and precise specification by the client due to the additional work required. The order is to be formulated by the client as precisely as possible. Any ambiguities are at the expense of the client. The Patent and Trademark Centre Rhine-Main is not obliged to check the information and specifications of the client. In particular, the Patent and Trademark Centre Rhine-Main shall not be liable for delays caused by the client subsequently changing or specifying more precisely the search order or document delivery. Wherever possible, the order forms of the Patent and Trademark Centre Rhine-Main shall be used.
7. Profile services
a) Duration of periodic profile service
Unless agreed separately, the duration of the respective profile services is 3 months. The duration of the profile services shall be automatically extended by a further 3 months unless a request for termination is received by the Patent and Trademark Centre Rhine-Main at the latest four weeks before the end of the quarter.
b) Adaptation of periodic services
The prices for periodic profile runs include profile maintenance, i.e. adaptation to current formal changes in database structures and contents and to the client's wishes within the scope of the given topic. Necessary adaptations arising from changes to content or structure require considerable additional work and shall be charged separately.
8. Urgent orders and processing times
The Patent and Trademark Centre Rhine-Main shall process the order as soon as possible. The date of receipt of orders is applicable for the sequence of processing unless the nature and scope of the search order or order of documents necessitate separate processing. Orders marked urgent shall be given priority. A note to this effect shall be clearly added to the order form. If it is evident upon receipt of the order that it cannot be processed with the requested urgency, the client is to be informed of this fact immediately.
9. Termination
The Patent and Trademark Centre Rhine-Main must be informed in writing of any withdrawals, terminations, changes or cancellations of orders by the client. If costs have already been incurred, these shall be borne by the client.
10. Warranty
Should the information presented in the search result be incorrect or incomplete and thus useless to the client, the Patent and Trademark Centre Rhine-Main shall endeavour to correct and/or complete the information in question. If this correction is unsuccessful, the client may claim a reasonable reduction in the search price, however only up to a maximum of 20% of the invoice amount. The aforementioned rights may only be exercised within six months of receipt of the search results. No further warranty is assumed.
11. Liability
The Patent and Trademark Centre Rhine-Main shall not be liable for the truthfulness of the information retrieved from the various databases. The Technische Universität Darmstadt shall not be liable for material or non-material damage to the client arising from the use of incorrect or incomplete data searches conducted by the Patent and Trademark Centre Rhine-Main, unless the former can be proven to have acted with intent or gross negligence.
This passage also refers to the use of software supplied by the Patent and Trademark Centre Rhine-Main whose instructions for use are to be observed. Further claims are excluded.
12. Retention of title
The Patent and Trademark Centre Rhine-Main retains title of all services until full payment of all claims arising from the business relationship, irrespective of the legal grounds on which they are based.
13. Zero search
The available sources shall be fully utilised to the best of knowledge and belief. The full fee shall also be charged if no or only a few references are found for the specified topic.
14. Copyright
All rights remain reserved. Reproductions of the papers, expert reports, overviews etc. prepared by the Patent and Trademark Centre Rhine-Main as well as of any supplied search results, copies or the like may only be made for private or personal use in accordance with Section 53 Copyright Act (UrhG). Results from searches carried out by the client on request or as part of an order for third parties may only be made available to them for their own exclusive use.
All data collections, reports and other documents of the Patent and Trademark Centre Rhine-Main are protected by copyright. Copyright notices may not be removed or modified without explicit consent.
15. Indemnity clause
The client undertakes to indemnify the Patent and Trademark Centre Rhine-Main against all claims arising from the client’s infringement of the rights of third parties when using the services.
16. Confidentiality, data protection
The topics of searches as well as the name and address of the client shall be treated with the utmost confidentiality. In accordance with Section 26 of the German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG) the client shall be informed that their personal data shall be stored and processed insofar as this is necessary for order processing.
17. Jurisdiction clause
The place of jurisdiction is Darmstadt, provided that the client is a registered trader, a legal entity under public law or a special fund under public law (Federal Railway, Federal Post Office).
18. Legal arrangement
All legal arrangements shall be governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Please note: This is a convenience translation of a German text. In case of discrepancy between the German and English versions, the German version shall prevail.
Last updated: March 2024
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