Terms and Conditions
A. General terms and conditions of Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH
1. General scope of application
These conditions are valid for all services conducted by Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH. Any other statements will become part of the contract solely by written agreement.
2. Placing an order
Orders shall be placed in written form, per fax or per email. Any transfer mistakes or discrepancies are to the orderer’s account. All orders are subject to confirmation, except express orders, which will be confirmed on request only. Contracts are only valid if confirmed or fulfilled.
3. Contracting parties
Contracting party is solely the direct orderer even though the order was submitted under a third party’s name. The duty of the direct orderer to pay the invoiced amount will not be affected by the fact that the invoice is made in the name of a third party.
4. Turnaround time
The turnaround time party for each service is defined in the latest price list. In case of force majeur, labour dispute, or any company activities disruption for which Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH is not liable, the turnaround time can be prolonged. National public holidays or changed opening times of Patent and Trademark Offices may also result in prolonged turnaround times. In this case, we will inform you as soon as we get notice of potential delays.
Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH does not assume any liability for any consequences arising from prolonged turnaround time. In case of a delay in carrying out services, the liability of Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH is limited to the difference in price between the chosen and actual turnaround times.
5. Services and Prices
Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH reserves the right to change, extend, limit, or to stop parts of the service, or to assign all parts or any part of the duties and rights contained in these conditions to one or several parties, or to transfer them to third parties in another way. Prices and turnaround times listed may be changed by Schutz Marken Diesnt GmbH at any time. In this case, the latest prices and turnaround times are applicable. All prices are given without legal taxes and transmission expenses. All prices mentioned are given in Euro, unless otherwise stated. Transmission fees and VAT will be charged additionally.
6. Payment
Invoices are payable within 30 days. Invoices for clients abroad include either nominal fee for bank transfer cost or have to be settled clear of all deductions as well as of bank transfer charges. In case of a delay in paying an invoice, Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH reserves the right to suspend all services requested by the client.
7. Liability and warranty
Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH does not give any warranty that the services offered and the information supplied with it, are suitable for the specified purposes intended by the client. Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH does not assume any responsibility for any damages arising from faulty processing of the information supplied. Claims for indemnity due to collateral negligence, fault on contracting or tort are restricted to malicious or grossly negligent lapse by Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH only. This liability restriction can be applied also to damages caused by a legal agent or a vicarious agent of Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH. Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH does not assume liability for the completeness and correctness of any databases used.
Any contractual or tortuous liability that SMD might exceptionally incur is in any circumstances limited to five times the net price of the single order, which is the object of contention.
Unless otherwise stated, liability, warranty, and statute of limitations follow the principles of German Civil Law (BGB).
8. Transfer of rights
The client is not allowed to transfer rights completely or partly from his contract with Schutz Marken Dienst to other parties, unless agreed upon with Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH.
Adverse claims can be compensated and payments be retained only in cases where claims against Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH are undisputed and subject to final decision.
9. Copyright and Limitation of Use
The rights for all information and services provided are reserved. All information provided by Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH is for the exclusive use of the client or in case of a third party, the use of the orderer.
In case of an order for third party, the client is entitled to transmit the information once and to this orderer only. Duplication, circulation, and reproduction for commercial purposes are prohibited. In particular, the client is bound not to use the information obtained from Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH in view to rendering services competing with those of Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH. If the client is an intermediary, he is bound to impose the obligations on his orderers. The client undertakes to indemnify Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH against any liability as a result of the client’s failure to observe this obligation.
10. Data protection and confidence
According to the Federal Law for Data Protection (Bundesdatenschutzgesetz) § 33 I Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH points out that all clients’ data will be stored electronically and processed within the limits of the contract terms entered with the client. All questions, search orders, and customer profiles are confidential.
11. Termination of watching service
Watching services for trademark protected in Germany can be terminated at the end of each quarter with a 2 weeks notice.
International watching services are valid for one year and termination has to be notified at the latest by October 15th. Otherwise the service will be automatically prolonged for another year.
12. Other Service
The special terms and conditions of all services and products provided by Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH are part of these general terms and conditions.
13. Place of performances and legal venue
The place of performance is Ahrensburg. The Law of the Federal Republic of Germany is the exclusive basis for the legal relationship with the client. Legal venue for all suits arising from any contract between Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH and general merchants as well as between Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH and persons who have changed their residence or usual place of abode out of the jurisdiction of the Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO) is Hamburg.
14. Effect
If any of these terms become ineffective for some reason, the terms in general are not affected. Any gap resulting thereof has to be filled according to the intended essence and purpose of these terms and conditions.
B. Terms and conditions particular to Country Index
1. Availability
www.country-index.com is generally available 24 hours, 7 days a week. In case of regular maintenance or outside influence, the service may not be available at certain times. Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH does not assume liability for damages due to the unavailability of the service.
2. Partnership subscriptions
Bronze, Silver and Gold Partnership subscriptions for www.country-index.com are valid for one year. Cancellation of partnership subscriptions must be made in writing to Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH. Unless cancellation notice is received at least 30 days prior to the expiry of the current term, the subscription will be renewed for another twelve month term.
Bronze, Silver and Gold Partnership subscriptions are not exclusive for any one country; there can be multiple partners featured per country. Bronze, Silver and Gold Partnership subscriptions do not constitute a claim to the placement at a certain rank or place on the site. Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH reserves the right to alter the rules regarding the order in which the company information of multiple Partners is featured. Unavailability of www.country-index.com for maintenance or due to force majeur or server failure does not entitle the subscriber to payment of damages.
3. Links
Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH does not assume any liability for the content of any external web sites linked on www.country-index.com, for the links on those external web sites, or for content changes to those external web sites.
4. Liability and warranty
Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH does not give any warranty that the services offered and the information supplied on www.country-index.com are suitable for the purposes intended by the user. Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH does not give any warranty that the information supplied on www.country-index.com are correct or up to date. Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH does not assume any liability for any damages arising out of or in connection with the use of www.country-index.com or any information contained there. This limitation of liability is comprehensive and applies to all damages of any kind. Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH does not assume any liability for damages arising from the unavailability of www.country-index.com.
5. Copyright and Limitation of Use
The rights for all information provided on www.country-index.com are reserved.
Reproduction of information from www.country-index.com elsewhere is prohibited without the consent of Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH.
When information from www.country-index.com is reproduced, “www.country-index.com by Schutz Marken Dienst GmbH” must be named as the source at all times.
Status of information given: December 2010.