1. Terms of Service:

Welcome to Patents In Commerce, Inc. ("PIC"). We provide our products and service to you subject to the following Terms of Service (TOS), which may be updated from time to time without notice or recourse. Users of www.PatentsInCommerce.com, or any and all other Websites owned or managed by PIC or assigns, together (Site) for any and all purposes agree that you are doing so after first reviewing and agreeing to these Terms.

The following terms, together with any additional terms, disclaimers, copyright and intellectual property notices posted below and at various places on the Site constitute all of the TERMS and are hereby incorporated into this TOS. The TOS constitutes the entire agreement between you and PIC and governs your use of the Service, superseding any prior agreements between you and PIC.

This Website is a public forum, and no confidential material should be posted or sent to PIC. By sending or posting confidential or secret information to PIC, you could lose your right to intellectual property protection or ownership.

2. Description of Service:

PIC currently provides users with access to various on-line resources, including online magazine articles, interactive testing facilities, and shopping facilities, and may offer Web-based management tools, forums and chat rooms, branded and co-branded content and online marketplaces through its Site (Service). These TOS will apply to new or enhanced Services and new sites upon their being made available unless explicitly stated otherwise. You understand and agree that the Service is provided "AS-IS" and that PIC assumes no responsibility for the timeliness, deletion, misposting, mis-delivery or failure to store any user communications or personalization settings.

3. About Registering to Use The Service:

When registration is required for your access or use of the Service, you agree to:

a.	provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself as prompted by the Service's registration form (such information being the "Registration Data") and,
b.	maintain and promptly update the Registration Data to keep it true, accurate, current and complete.

If you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, or PIC has reasonable grounds to suspect that such information is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, PIC has the right to suspend or terminate your account and refuse any and all current or future use of the Service.

You agree that you must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with, the use of any content, including any reliance on the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of such content available to users of the Service. Consequently, you acknowledge that you may not rely on any Content created by PIC or submitted to PIC, including without limitation information in message boards, testing facilities, chat rooms, webzine articles, and in all other parts of the Service.

4. Content and Third Party Listings:

You acknowledge that PIC does not prescreen Content.

On various locations throughout the Site, PIC provides listings or links to websites which we feel constitute valuable and useful resources for users interested in the broad aspects of intellectual property. As such, PIC at its sole discretion may list or link these sites. PIC is not responsible for the accuracy or completeness of information presented in third party sites. Therefore, you are encouraged to investigate any site prior to using services offered on those sites.

5. PIC Privacy Policy:

Users of the Service are to first read and understand the PIC Privacy Policy. If you have any questions about the Privacy Policy means, you may contact PIC for assistance.

6. User Account ID and Password:

Upon completing registration to obtain access to certain features of the Service, you will receive a personal identification and password (Account Information). You alone are responsible for maintaining the Account Information in confidence, and are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your Account Information.

You agree to:

a.	immediately notify PIC of any unauthorized use of your Account Information, and
b.	ensure that you LOG OUT from your account at the end of each session. PIC cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to comply with these provisions.

7. Conduct of User:

You understand that all information, data, text, software, music, sound, photographs, graphics, video, messages or other materials ("Content"), whether publicly posted or privately transmitted, are the sole responsibility of the person from which such Content originated. This means that you, and not PIC, are entirely responsible for all Content that you upload, post, e-mail, transmit or otherwise make available via the Service. You understand that by using the Service, you may on occasion be exposed to Content that is offensive, indecent or objectionable. Under no circumstances will PIC be liable in any way for any Content, including, but not limited to, any errors or omissions in any Content, or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any Content posted, e-mailed, transmitted or otherwise made available via the Service.

In the course of your use of this Service, you absolutely agree to:

a.	not harm minors or cause minors to be harmed in any way,
b.	not to forge headers of postings, e-mail, or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of any Content transmitted through the Service,
c.	not to impersonate any person or entity, including, but not limited to, a PIC employee, forum moderator, guide or guest, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity;
d.	to not upload, post, e-mail, transmit or otherwise make available any Content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortuous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable
e.	to not upload, post, e-mail, transmit or otherwise make available any Content that you do not have a right to make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as inside information, proprietary and confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under nondisclosure or confidential disclosure agreements);
f.	to not upload, post, e-mail, transmit or otherwise make available any information that you consider confidential in nature, which posting may cause you to lose your rights to the intellectual property associated with the information,
g.	to not upload, post, e-mail, transmit or otherwise make available any Content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary and lawful rights of any party, respecting the rights of others.
h.	to not upload, post, e-mail, transmit or otherwise make available any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or any other form of solicitation. You understand that such postings may violate laws of various jurisdictions, and that you are subject to prosecution,
i.	to not intentionally or unintentionally violate any applicable local, state, national or international law,
j.	to not "stalk" or otherwise harass another; or collect or store personal data about other users or entities listed on the Site.

8. Terms Governing International Use:

Recognizing the global nature of the Internet, you agree to comply with all applicable laws regarding the transmission of technical data exported from the United States or the country in which you reside.

9. Entire Agreement and Governing Law:

The TOS and the relationship between you and PIC shall be governed by the laws of the State of California without regard to its conflict of law provisions. You and PIC agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within the county of Sacramento, California. The failure of PIC to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the TOS shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of the TOS is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the TOS remain in full force and effect. You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to use of the Service or the TOS must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.

10. Violations:

Please report any violations of the TOS to our Customer Support department.

 

11. Public Forum:

This Website is a public forum, and no confidential material should be posted or sent to PIC by way of any of its Sites by any party for any purpose without first executing a confidential disclosure with an authorized representative of PIC. Persons using www. patentsincommerce.com, or any and all other Sites owned by PIC (together, Site) for any and all purposes understand and agree to the following:

12. Use "As Is":

Your use of the service is at your sole risk. The service is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. PIC 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 and non-infringement.

PIC makes no warranty that: (a) the service will meet your requirements, (b) the service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free, (c) the results that may be obtained from the use of the service will be accurate or reliable, (d) the quality of any products, services, information, or other material purchased or obtained by you through the Service will meet your expectations, and (e) any errors in the software will be corrected.

14. Use of Content:

All materials and resources presented on or accessed through the Site is provided by PIC as a service to its visitors and readers and may be used for information purposes only. PIC assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in these materials. PIC makes no commitment to update the information contained herein. PIC makes no, and expressly disclaims any, representations or warranties, express or implied, regarding the Site, including without limitation the accuracy, completeness or reliability of text, graphics, links and other items accessed from or via this server or the Internet. No advice or information given by PIC, its affiliates or their respective employees, agents or independent contractors shall create any warranty, nor will it create any attorney-client relationship or other substantive business or advisory relationship.

15. Limits for Data Storage:

You acknowledge that PIC may establish general practices and limits concerning use of the Service, including without limitation the maximum number of days that any Content uploaded by you will be retained by the Service, the maximum disk space that will be allotted on PIC servers on your behalf, and the maximum number of times (and the maximum duration for which) you may access the Service in a given period of time. You agree that PIC has no responsibility or liability for the deletion or failure to store any messages and other communications or other Content maintained or transmitted by the Service. You acknowledge that PIC reserves the right to log off accounts that are inactive for an extended period of time.

16. For Noncommercial Use:

Excepting licensed franchisees of PIC, information on PIC's business, products and services, and general information provided at the Site is intended for use by PIC visitors, customers, independent users for their personal noncommercial use, and other business partners. PIC expressly disclaims any liability for violations of copyright violation or infringement that may occur on or by websites hypertext linked from the Site and which Web sites PIC has no control.

17. No Resale:

Excepting licensed franchisees of PIC, you agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit for any commercial purposes, any portion of the Service, use of the Service, or access to the Service.

18. Not Legal Advice:

Individuals using Site agree that nothing on the site shall constitute legal advice or counsel, and that the individual must seek the services of competent legal counsel of proper jurisdiction to obtain any legal advice.

19. Non-confidential Submissions:

All Inventor's Submissions or other written information provided to PIC either via E-mail, facsimile, aurally or by mail or courier, shall either be non-confidential, or shall be provided under the terms of a prior executed confidential disclosure agreement separately executed between PIC and the provider of such information. The individual or entity submitting non-confidential information, or submitting confidential information without having first executed a confidential disclosure agreement with PIC per above, surrenders any and all claims to the information provided, and releases and holds harmless PIC and any and all individuals, principals, agents or entities associated with PIC, of any and all claims or direct and consequential losses attributable to such submitted information.

a.

Those individuals or entities which submit non-confidential, or confidential information without protection of a properly executed Confidential Disclosure agreement to PIC have done so either at the direction or instruction of an attorney skilled in protecting your intellectual property, or have chosen to forfeit the right to seek advise of counsel and release claim to the non-confidential information.

b.

Unsolicited information deemed to be of a confidential nature and sent to PIC without prior execution of PIC's Confidential Disclosure Agreement, will not be returned to the sender, and will be destroyed without prior notice.

20. Compliance With Law:

PIC has no control over, and is not responsible for any of the information provided by any entity listed on this site, including any entrepreneur or inventor, especially as to compliance with applicable Federal or State intellectual property or securities laws and/or regulations. PIC has not investigated, nor does it endorse any of the entrepreneurs, inventors, companies, consultants, or any other service or product providers listed herein nor has PIC engaged in any effort to confirm the contended truthfulness of the information provided by said entrepreneurs, inventors, companies, consultants, or any other service or product providers. You acknowledge and agree that PIC shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with use of or reliance on any such Content, goods or services available on or through any such site or resource.

In addition, PIC cannot control and cannot edit content provided by a third party prior to transmission on Site, nor can PIC ensure prompt removal of inappropriate or unlawful content after transmission. Third party postings are not reviewed for truth or accuracy and do not represent the opinion, beliefs, or statements of PIC

21. Release:

PIC, its officers, directors, employees, shareholders, partners, sponsors, successors or heirs shall not be liable for any claims, damages or related expenses or liabilities, including but not limited to incidental, consequential, special, general or punitive damages, arising from an actual or potential venture with, investment in, purchase of services or products from, or business financing arrangement with any entity that may have appeared on, offered goods or services through, or was contacted as a result of, listing on the Site or represented by PIC, or for any misprints or inaccuracies that may be found to exist at Site.

All visitors to and users of the Site also agree that he/she shall not sue or impute a claim against PIC, its officers, directors, employees, shareholders, partners, sponsors, successors or heirs in respect of any expenses or liabilities. By use of this Site, you expressly release PIC, its officers, directors, employees, shareholders, partners, sponsors, successors or heirs from liability for any such claims, expenses or liabilities.

22. Advertisers:

Advertisers of goods or services that may advertise at the Site fro time to time agree that the maximum recovery for any claim, or for any and all claims it may have against PIC shall not exceed the actual cost of the advertisement or space lease, but before lodging such claim, you agree to allow PIC to correct or change any inaccuracy or misprint and provide the same space for the same time or number of exposures as originally contracted for in lieu of any other remedy. Relationships of any kind which result between advertisers and users of the Site is solely between the advertiser and user. You agree that PIC shall not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings or as the result of the presence of such advertisers on the Service.

23. Confidential Disclosure:

Those individuals or entities desiring to submit confidential information to PIC and which require a Confidential Disclosure Agreement, are urged to request such Confidential Disclosure agreement, either by mail, fax, or e-mail, from PIC, and execute such agreement prior to submitting such confidential information to PIC or its agents.

24. PIC respects the intellectual property of others, and we ask our users to do the same.

PIC does not claim ownership of Content you submit or make available for inclusion on the Service. However, with respect to Content you submit or make available for inclusion on publicly accessible areas of the Service, you grant PIC the free, perpetual, irrevocable and fully sublicensable license to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform and publicly display such Content (in whole or in part) and to incorporate such Content into other works in any format or medium now known or later developed.

25. Copyright Infringement Claims:

If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide PIC the following information:

a.	an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest
b.	a description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed,
c.	a description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the Site,
d.	your postal address, telephone number, and e-mail address,
e.	a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law,
f.	a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your Notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf.

26. Notices:

Please send your Notice of claims of copyright infringement to:

Patents in Commerce
15850 McCourtney Rd.

Grass Valley, CA 95949
admin @ patentsincommerce.com

Contents of PIC's Site is Copyright © 2002, Patents In Commerce, Inc.

All rights reserved. Patents In Commerce, Inc.

PIC retains the copyright in all of the material on these Web pages as a collective work under copyright laws. You may not republish the information from the Site in books, online services, or other media, and may not reproduce or distribute such information or art work in whole or in part without the express written permission of PIC.

To obtain reprint permission or permission to republish Site content, please contact our Permissions Editor

Copyright Permission Request:

Patents in Commerce
15850 McCourtney Rd.

Grass Valley, CA 95949
admin @ patentsincommerce.com

Please include your name, address and a description of the purpose of your intended distribution and identify the information you would like to distribute. You may print, reproduce and use the information in, and retrieve downloadable files containing software or images from Site for noncommercial, personal, or educational purposes only, provided that you do not modify such information, and include any copyright notice originally included with such information and this notice in all such copies.

Other Internet WWW sites may freely provide hypertext or "Hot Links" to the Site.

28: Grant of Copyright License

PIC grants you a personal, nontransferable and non-exclusive right and license to use the object code of Software, that you may use online while accessing this Site, or that you may purchase from our retail shopping area, on a single computer; provided that you do not (and do not allow any third party to) copy, modify, create a derivative work of, reverse engineer, reverse assemble or otherwise attempt to discover any source code, sell, assign, sub-license, grant a security interest in or otherwise transfer any right in the Software. You agree not to modify the Software in any manner or form, or to use modified versions of the Software, including (without limitation) for the purpose of obtaining unauthorized access to the Service. You agree not to access the Service by any means other than through the interface that is provided by PIC for use in accessing the Service.

29: PIC Trademarks:

The following Trademarks and/or Service Marks, and patents/pending patents are property of Patents In Commerce, Inc.:

www.PatentsInCommerce.com, Patents In Commerce word mark and logo, and all related product and service names, design marks and slogans, including but not limited to primary domain names and derivatives of the root URLs:

www.PatentsInCommerce.org, www.PatentsInCommerce.us, www.PatentsInCommerce.net, or www.PatentsInCommerce.xxx, whereby ".xxx" is any top level domain (TLD) such as .com, .org, .net, .tv, or national domain listings such as .co.uk, .ca.

30: Permission:

Use of any intellectual property without express written permission by an officer of PIC is strictly prohibited, and constitutes unauthorized use, and is strictly prohibited. PIC will enforce any infringement or unauthorized use, and violators will be prosecuted in accordance with applicable laws.

31. Contact PIC Offices:

Patents in Commerce
15850 McCourtney Rd.

Grass Valley, CA 95949
admin @ patentsincommerce.com