1. HGF Limited is a full service IP firm with its registered office at 1 City Walk, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS11 9DX, registered company number 08998652. References to HGF in these terms shall include HGF Business Services Limited (UK), HGF Limited (UK), HGF Law LLP (UK), HGF BV (Holland), HGF GmbH (Switzerland), HGF Europe LLP (Germany, Austria and UK), HGF IP Limited (Ireland) and HGF SAS (France).
2. The information on this UPC portal (portal) is intended for use by clients of HGF only, and is not aimed at or intended for use by or for any other person.
3. You agree that you will keep your user ID and password secret and disclose it only to members of your staff using this portal on your behalf who you must ensure must also keep them secret. You agree that you are responsible, and accept liability, for any use of this portal by you or anyone else (whether or not authorised by you) using your user ID and/or password. Any unauthorised use of this portal and/or your user ID and/or your password must be notified to HGF immediately at admin@hgf.com. You agree that you are responsible for notifying HGF if you wish your user ID and/or password to be changed for any reason, for example, because a member of your staff leaves your organisation. If you do so, HGF shall issue you with a new user ID and/or password as appropriate.
4. You agree that you will indemnify HGF against any loss or damage, costs or expense incurred by HGF arising directly or indirectly out of any breach by you of these terms and conditions. You agree and warrant that if you are an employee, you are authorised by your employer to agree to these terms and conditions on your employer’s behalf and to access and use this portal. You further warrant that you are not less than 18 years old.
5. By using this portal, you confirm that you accept these terms and conditions of use and that you agree to comply with them. If you do not agree to these terms, you must not use the portal. These Terms and Conditions of Use solely relate to your use of this OCIS portal and/or the data generated by HGF’s OCIS portal. These terms are not intended to replace or alter HGF’s Terms of Business for any other service provided by HGF.
6. This portal is provided "as is" and whilst HGF has taken all reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information on this portal, HGF:
6.1. gives no warranty (express or implied) and makes no representation as to the accuracy or completeness of any content;
6.2. accepts no liability for any losses or damages (whether direct, indirect, special, consequential or otherwise and whether such possibility was brought to the attention of HGF or was foreseeable by HGF) arising out of errors or omissions contained in this portal;
6.3. gives no warranty that the portal shall be available on an uninterrupted basis;
6.4. accepts no liability for losses or damages arising out of such unavailability;
6.5. accepts no liability for losses or damages arising out of changes made to the content of this portal by you or unauthorised third parties.
7. HGF shall not in any circumstance be liable for a third-party challenge to an opt-out of a patent from the jurisdiction of the EU Unified Patent Court.
8. You acknowledge that it is your responsibility to ensure that you have the requisite authority to authorise HGF file the application to opt-out specific European patents. That is, you are a person who, in accordance with the laws of the relevant country (or state) of the applicant/proprietor’s incorporation, is duly authorised to sign for and on behalf of all of the applicant(s)/proprietor(s). Where applicable, such authority must include all applicants/proprietors entitled to be registered on the relevant European or national registers, including individuals who are employees and/or inventors.
9. HGF shall not in any circumstance be liable for a third-party failure, delay or refusal to agree to the opt-out.
10. You acknowledge that there is a risk that your request to opt-out certain patents may not be effective and that the effectiveness of such opt-out will be at the discretion of the Unified Patent Court.
11. The portal uses data provided by the EPO. Proprietorship and patent status data are not always updated promptly on the EPO register when changes are made. A number of countries do not provide data to the EPO regularly or at all. HGF is not liable for the accuracy of the data provided on the portal. It is incumbent on you to update data on the system that you know is inaccurate.
12. Where the portal contains links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your information only. As we have no control over the contents of those sites or resources, such links should not be interpreted as approval by us of those linked websites or information you may obtain from them.
13. Access to and use of this portal is at your own risk and HGF does not warrant that the use of this portal or any material downloaded from it will not cause damage to any property, tangible or intangible including but not limited to loss of intellectual property rights, data or computer virus infection.
14. Notwithstanding any other provision of these terms and conditions, nothing in these terms and conditions shall exclude or limit or restrict HGF's duties and liabilities to you under any conduct of business rules which we are bound to comply with or for any liability that, by law, cannot be limited or excluded.
15. You acknowledge that in accepting these terms and conditions you have not relied on any statement of fact or opinion by HGF that has not been expressly included these terms and conditions.
16. The aggregate liability of HGF, in any circumstances whatsoever whether in contract, tort, statute or otherwise and howsoever cause (including but not limited to, negligence) for loss or damage arising from or in connection with the provision of services shall be limited to the lesser of:
17. a sum representing a proportion of loss or damage which would be attributed to us by a court allocating proportionate responsibility (having regard to any contribution to such loss or damage by any other person, whether or not there exists any impediment on your part in securing such contribution including without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing impediments as to limitation, lack of means or reliance on exclusion of limitation of liability or otherwise) in proceedings for contribution under the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978;
18. the limit of the cover we hold under our policy of professional indemnity insurance which will not be less than £5 million and
19. any limit of liability for the relevant service set out in any applicable correspondence by the date of the service.
20. Any estimates or quotations given by us will be in Great British Pounds (GBP) and will exclude applicable local taxes which will be payable by you on the rendering by HGF of any proper local taxes invoice. Your invoice will be provided in the currency of your domicile, or in line with your preferences in so far as HGF has been notified and is aware of them. Value added tax (VAT), when charged, is on our fees and on those expenses and disbursements we charge that are liable for VAT.
21. We may require you to make payments on account, particularly in respect of significant instructions. When we make such a request, we will usually not carry out any instructed work until the requested payment has cleared into our bank account. You should allow sufficient time for such clearance.
22. If a requested payment on account is not made or if an invoice remains unpaid after its due date, we reserve the right to suspend all work on your behalf. We are entitled to charge interest at the National Westminster Bank base rate plus 6% on any overdue account. This is without prejudice to our right to invoice for work undertaken before such suspension and to take legal action for the payment of our costs. You will be responsible for the consequences of the suspension of work, which may include the irrevocable loss of, or failure to obtain, rights.
23. Please note that we do not normally accept payment in cash. Even where we do so agree, we may only do so up to a limit of £500 in any 28 day period. We are happy to receive payment by credit card.
24. HGF shall invoice you after you have completed the declaration. Unless otherwise agreed, our invoices are payable, in sterling in cleared funds, on presentation.
25. All rights in the portal (including intellectual and industrial property rights), save as expressly granted, are reserved. Reproduction in any form of any part of the contents of this portal without HGF's prior written consent is prohibited save that you may use and reproduce the information on the portal which is specific to your patent portfolio in hard copy form for use by and within your organisation.
26. The contents of this portal do not purport to provide any professional or other advice and nothing on the pages of this portal shall be deemed to constitute the provision of professional or other advice in any way. You acknowledge and agree that your use and reliance on this portal and its contents is not intended and does not replace the need for specific advice from your advisers when dealing with specific situations. As such, HGF can accept no liability for any action or step taken or not taken because of your use of this portal.
27. The terms and conditions of use of this portal and any non-contractual obligations arising out of or in connection with them are governed by the laws of England and any dispute regarding this portal shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts, save that nothing will prevent either party from seeking injunctive relief or enforcing a judgment of the English courts in any appropriate jurisdiction.
28. The content of this portal, including these terms and conditions of use, are subject to change by HGF without notice or cause. This portal may be withdrawn at any time without notice or cause.
29. HGF Limited, 1 City Walk, Leeds, LS11 9DX, United Kingdom T:+44 113 233 0100. For specific queries relating to the portal or the UPC generally please e-mail upcready@hgf.com.