Terms & Conditions
Submitter Terms & Conditions
Please read these Cincinnati Innovates Submitter Terms and Conditions (these "Submitter Terms") carefully prior to registering on the CincinnatiInnovates.com website, submitting any business concepts or ideas ("Submission(s)") for consideration in Cincinnati Innovates' ("Cincinnati Innovates", "we", "our", or "us") Contest (the "Contest") or voting on a Submission, as you ("you" or "Submitter") are subject to these additional terms as well as the Cincinnati Innovates Official Contest Rules and the general Cincinnati Innovates Website Terms and Conditions. Cincinnati Innovates ("Contest Provider") is a program sponsored by CincyTech, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, the Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile/U.S. Bank Foundation and other organizations. By submitting any business concepts and/or ideas for consideration or voting on a Submission in the Contest, you represent, warrant, and covenant that you agree to be bound to these Submitter Terms. You should review these Submitter Terms regularly as they may change at any time at our sole discretion without notice or other obligation to you. Your continued participation in the Contest following such changes signifies your agreement to be bound by such changes. If you do not agree to any term or condition of these Submitter Terms, you must not post any Submissions for consideration in the Contest.
I. Submitter Contest Terms
You and all Submissions submitted by you, are subject to the terms of the Cincinnati Innovates Official Contest Rules (the "Rules"). You acknowledge and agree that you have reviewed a copy of the Rules and agree to be bound by them. We reserve the right to amend the Rules at any time, which are available on the homepage of the CincinnatiInnovates.com website. You are responsible for periodically checking to see if the Rules have been updated.
You must register on CincinnatiInnovates.com website to be a Submitter. You must provide your name and email address when you register. If Contest Provider determines at any time that the information you provided is deceptive or false, Contest Provider reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to suspend or permanently discontinue your registration and/or remove your Submission(s) from consideration in the Contest.
There are restrictions on voting. Please see the Rules for the voting guidelines. Contest Provider reserves the right to disqualify any votes made through robotic, automatic, mechanical, programmed or similar entry duplication method and to prevent further participation by any voter using such methods.
You agree not to disparage, or to make any negative statements or participate in any negative publicity regarding Contest Provider, the Contest, the sponsors of the Contest, or the Greater Cincinnati region in your submission and during the contest period.
II. Your Submission
By posting a Submission, you represent and warrant that:
your Submission comports with and does not violate the Rules;
your Submission is your idea and owned by you, and it has not been copied in whole or in part from any other work. If your Submission is owned by the company for which you work and/or by the educational institution where you work or go to school, you represent and warrant that it is owned by your company (or educational institution, as applicable) and you have the legal authority to submit it on behalf of your company (or educational institution, as applicable).
your Submission does not, to your knowledge, infringe on any third party's copyrighted material, trademark, privacy, publicity, patent, or other proprietary right;
your Submission complies with all applicable legal and regulatory requirements of any court, agency, or jurisdiction;
any use of your Submission as contemplated under these Terms and Conditions, to your knowledge, will not infringe or violate any rights of a third party or entity, including, without limitation, copyright, trademark, patent, defamation, privacy, publicity, false light, idea misappropriation, or any contractual rights;
all statements and claims made in your Submission are true and not deceptive or misleading;
your Submission complies with content requirements for submission: i.e., it does not promote the use of alcohol, tobacco, or firearms, and is not unlawful, infringing, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, scandalous, inflammatory, pornographic, discriminatory, profane, or otherwise objectionable; and
your Submission complies with content requirement that it has a connection to Greater Cincinnati: i.e. it was invented in Greater Cincinnati, or it is the product of a student, staff or researcher of an educational institution in Greater Cincinnati, or it showcases a part of Greater Cincinnati, or you the submitter live or work or study in Greater Cincinnati, or you are originally from Greater Cincinnati.
If you post photographs or images with your Submission(s), the photographs or images may not use or contain any depiction of any trademarks, trade names, third party copyrighted material, or any material owned by any third party. Photographs or images posted with your Submission(s) may only depict individuals shown in groups and cannot depict a public figure. No individual may be prominently displayed, unless you have received prior written permission from that person(s) granting you the right to display the photograph or image for publication and use in the Contest and granting you the right to sublicense the right to use the photograph or image to Contest Provider. By submitting a photograph or image, you represent that you have received this written permission and agree to indemnify Contest Provider, the Contest's sponsors, and their respective employees, directors, partners, volunteers, contractors and affiliates for any claims arising out of said use.
Contest Provider does not claim any ownership rights in your Submission(s). When you post your Submission for consideration in the Contest, you hereby grant to Contest Provider, the Contest sponsors, the Contest judges, and their respective affiliates and service providers, and others acting on their behalf, a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, sublicensable, fully-paid limited license to use, copy, modify, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce, broadcast, and distribute such Submission(s) on and through the Contest websites located at www.CincinnatiInnovates.com and on and through any medium or format in any advertising or promotional material for the purpose of evaluating Submissions and/or showcasing, advertising and/or otherwise promoting the Cincinnati Innovates contest, its sponsors, Contest Provider, the Greater Cincinnati region and/or its technologies.
You understand and agree that Contest Provider has the right, in its sole discretion, not to post your Submission, to remove your Submission from the Contest, and not to use, exhibit, or otherwise exploit your Submission. Contest Provider also has the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify you, or suspend or terminate your access to the Contest or restrict your ability to vote, if you have not complied with, or acted inconsistently with, the Submitter Terms, the CincinnatiInnovates.com Website Terms and Conditions, the Rules, or any other additional terms or agreements related to the Contest (collectively referred to as the "Governing Terms and Conditions").
You understand and agree that you will not be paid any money for voting on a Submission(s), posting a Submission, for granting the rights to your Submission as set forth in these Submitter Terms, or for agreeing to the Submitter Terms or any of the Governing Terms and Conditions. You understand and agree that you may only be entitled to an award of a sum of money or in-kind pro bono services (a "Prize") if you are a Contest Winner (as hereinafter defined), as determined by Contest Provider.
You understand and agree that third parties may post a Submission(s), make public, or may in the future originate and submit, or make public, materials that are similar or identical to your Submission. You acknowledge and agree that Contest Provider shall have the right to use and post such similar or identical Submission(s) and that such Submissions will be evaluated, rated and voted upon individually as set forth herein.
You understand and agree that you will not post Submissions containing viruses or spyware and that if you use the site and are affected by a virus or spyware, that Contest Provider is in no way liable for your losses.
III. The Contest Winner
As provided in the Rules, if your Submission is a potential winner, you agree to be subject to, and comply with, a background check and/or additional requests for information, which may include, but are not limited to an investigation into your criminal background and credit history.
As provided in the Rules, Contest Provider reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to overrule whatever Submission is deemed to have received the highest number of votes or the highest evaluation and award any Prize to an acceptable alternate Submitter, for to the following reasons:
The Submission, or any aspect thereof, is unlawful, infringing, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, scandalous, inflammatory, pornographic, discriminatory, profane, or otherwise objectionable;
The Submission could give rise to any civil or criminal liability under the law;
You breached any of the Governing Terms and Conditions;
The Submission, or any aspect thereof, promotes the use of alcohol, tobacco, or firearms; or
Votes towards your Submission were disqualified where the votes were made through robotic, automatic, mechanical, programmed or similar entry duplication method and without the disqualified votes, and therefore, your Submission no longer received the most number of votes; or
Contest Provider is uncomfortable awarding the Prize to such Submission because doing so may reflect unfavorably on the sponsor or contest parties, as more fully described in Section 4 of the Rules.
As discussed in the Rules, if Contest Provider determines, in its sole discretion, that you are a Potential Winner, you agree to execute and return any documents provided by Contest Provider in order to receive the applicable Prize.
Limitation of Liability and Indemnification
Contest Provider will not use, and does not have any rights in, your Submission, except for the limited license enumerated above. This does not mean, however, that third parties, such as visitors to the CincinnatiInnovates.com website, will not infringe or violate your intellectual property or any other rights in your Submission. Contest Provider cannot guarantee the confidentiality or security of your intellectual property rights and cannot control the use of your Submission(s), or the ideas or concepts within them, by third parties. Therefore, you acknowledge and agree that Contest Provider, the Contest sponsors, the Contest judges, and their parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, licensees and assigns, and the respective directors, officers, employees, agents, representatives, partners, volunteers, vendors, and contractors of each of the foregoing (collectively, the "Contest Parties") are not responsible, and are not liable, for the misuse, infringement, or violation of your intellectual property rights or any other rights, in your Submission(s) by a third party. You are solely responsible for any protection or enforcement of your intellectual property rights in your Submission(s).
You hereby release, discharge and hold harmless Contest Provider and the Contest Parties from any claim or liability, whether now existing or arising in the future, arising from or related to your Submission(s) or Contest Provider's, or any third party's, use thereof, or arising from or related to the Contest, or your participation therein.
You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Contest Provider, the Contest Parties and third party information providers from and against all claims, suits, actions, losses, expenses, damages, penalties, and costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees resulting from any actual or alleged violation of these Submitter Terms, the Rules, your Submission(s), or your use of, or participation in, the Contest.
V. Miscellaneous Terms
Our failure to insist upon or enforce strict performance of any provision of these Submitter Terms shall not be construed as a waiver of any provision or right. You agree that no joint venture, partnership, employment or agency relationship exists between you and Contest Provider, the Contest sponsors, or their affiliates as a result of these Submitter Terms or the Governing Terms and Conditions. Neither the course of conduct between the parties nor trade practice shall act to modify any provision of these Submitter Terms. We may assign our rights and duties under these Submitter Terms to any party at any time without notice to you. If any provision of these Submitter Terms or the application thereof to any person or circumstances shall to any extent be invalid or unenforceable, the remainder of these Submitter Terms, or the application thereof to any person or circumstances other than those as to which it is invalid or unenforceable, shall not be affected thereby, and each provision of these Submitter Terms shall be valid and enforced to the fullest extent of the law. These Submitter Terms, together with the Governing Terms and Conditions, constitute the complete agreement between the parties and supersedes all previous communications and representations or agreements, either oral or written, with respect to the subject matter hereof. Sections II, IV, V and such other provisions that, by their terms, should survive any termination or expiration of these Submitter Terms, shall survive any termination or expiration of these Submitter Terms. The headings and titles in these Submitter Terms are for convenience only and shall not have any legal or contractual effect.
VI. Governing Law and Disputes
Any claims or disputes relating to this Contest, these Submitter Terms and Conditions or the other Governing Terms and Conditions will be governed by Ohio law and must be settled in the federal or state courts located in Hamilton County, Ohio.