Other Policies: Privacy Policy | Intellectual Property
Effective Date of Last Revision: May 1, 2014
Welcome to thegeekplant.com, a web site that lets people submit app ideas to The Geek Plant. The web site is first and foremost designed to facilitate and provide general data and information to individuals or entities that submit an app idea. However, selected app ideas will further be developed by The Geek Plant and may ultimately be commercialized, produced and sold by The Geek Plant. The thegeekplant.com web site and its associated services (the “Services”) may be found at the domain and its related subdomains found at www.thegeekplant.com (the “Site”). The Site is owned and operated exclusively by The Geek Plant, LLC, a New York limited liability company, and its corporate affiliates (collectively referred to herein as “The Geek Plant”, "us", "we" or the "Company"). By creating an account and/or accessing or using the Site or by posting any content on the Site, you represent and warrant that you have read, understand and agree to be bound by these Terms of Use ("Terms of Use" or "Agreement”). We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to change, modify, add, or delete portions of these Terms of Use at any time without further notice. If we do this, we will post the changes to these Terms of Use on this page and will indicate at the top of this page the date these terms were last revised. If you have an account prior to any such changes, you will be prompted to review the revised Terms of Use, and accept them. Your continued use of the Site after any such changes constitutes your acceptance of the new Terms of Use. If you do not agree to abide by these or any future Terms of Use, do not use or access (or continue to use or access) the Site or the Services. It is your responsibility to regularly check the Site to determine if there have been changes to these Terms of Use and to review such changes.
PLEASE READ THESE TERMS OF USE CAREFULLY AS THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS, REMEDIES AND OBLIGATIONS. THESE INCLUDE VARIOUS LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS, AND A DISPUTE RESOLUTION CLAUSE THAT GOVERNS HOW DISPUTES WILL BE RESOLVED. PLEASE NOTE THAT BY AGREEING TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS PROVIDED FOR HEREIN YOU MAY BE TRANSFERRING VALUABLE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS TO GEEK PLANT FOR ITS COMMERCIAL USE.
The Geek Plant Control of the Site and Services
You acknowledge that The Geek Plant is a service provider that has created the Site to allow Idea submitters to interact via the Site regarding topics and content chosen by Idea submitters. As a result, The Geek Plant has very little control, if any, over the quality, safety, morality, legality, truthfulness or accuracy of content provided by Idea submitters. Nonetheless, The Geek Plant reserves the right to monitor and/or limit any content posted by an idea submitter to the Site, including, without limitation App Ideas.
Media Waiver
You agree that the Company has the absolute right and permission to use your name, voice, image, likeness, and your applicable compensation information, including for example any commissions paid, as well as representations made by you, in any media (including, without limitation, television, print, radio and the Internet), world-wide, for the purposes of advertising, promoting, reporting and disseminating information about the Company, the Company’s business or an accepted app idea.
Payments by the Company to App Idea Creators
The Company will share 25% of app net income with the idea submitter. Net income, also referred to as the bottom line, net profit, or net earnings - is an app's income minus cost of goods sold, expenses and taxes for an accounting period. Because the Company may elect in its sole discretion to cease commercializing any accepted app idea, there can be no guarantee that you will ever receive any payments or actual compensation in connection with participating or submitting on the Site. The Geek Plant makes no representations or warranties regarding any actual monetary compensation that may be earned in connection with use of the Site or the Services. The Geek Plant’s obligation to pay app net income to idea submitters, who are allocated such amounts pursuant to the Site, is limited to paying such allocations based upon App Sales Revenue that is actually received by The Geek Plant. Notwithstanding any App Sales Revenue that may be allocated to your account, The Geek Plant shall be under no obligation to distribute such amount to you until such time as the aggregate amount payable in your account exceeds $100. The Company will calculate all payments owed by the Company to an idea submitter as set forth above, on a daily basis, based on the previous day’s sales of a Accepted App Idea. All amounts earned by an idea submitter shall be rounded down to the nearest tenth of cent. If the total amount that an idea submitter earns for the previous day is less than a tenth of penny (e.g. $.001) then such amount shall be rounded down to zero and no amount will be credited to the Idea submitter. On an annual basis, The Geek Plant reserves the right to reset all Idea submitter accounts below $75 to $0 and to write-off all such unpaid amounts and The Geek Plant shall have no liability for any such write-offs. Prior to resetting any such account to $0, The Geek Plant will contact the Idea submitter associated with the account at the email address submitted, and request that the Idea submitter log into the account within thirty days. If the Idea submitter logs into the account within thirty days, The Geek Plant will not reset the account balance. The Geek Plant also reserves the right to withhold or forfeit payments due to any Idea submitter that has breached this Agreement or any of the other guidelines related to use of the Site. The Company will make payments to Idea submitters, upon request from Idea submitters for payments, by check, ACH, wire transfer (fee assessed to Idea submitter) or through any other commercially reasonable manner adopted by the Company from time to time. Subject to the foregoing terms, upon the death of an idea submitter, The Geek Plant will direct payments associated with the Influence accruing from the deceased Idea submitter’s participation on the Site prior to such Idea submitter’s death, to a replacement payee if: (a) the Person requesting a replacement payee presents verifiable documentation supporting the replacement payee’s legal entitlement to the deceased Idea submitter’s payments, and (b) the request for a replacement payee is received by The Geek Plant within one year from the date of the deceased Idea submitter’s death. If The Geek Plant does not receive a request for replacement payee that complies with the foregoing conditions, The Geek Plant may cancel the deceased Idea submitter’s account, and write-off any unpaid amounts, with no liability for any such write-offs.
Option to Acquire an Accepted App Idea
If an Accepted App Idea is not fully launched by The Geek Plant within twelve months of initial submission, the Accepted App Idea Submitter has the option to, within one week of the aforementioned twelve month deadline, acquire ownership from The Geek Plant of all Intellectual Property Rights in the developed and commercialized version of the Accepted App Idea, in return for paying The Geek Plant 10% of all revenues generated from such Intellectual Property Rights in perpetuity, and losing all accrued Influence concerning the Accepted App Idea. If the Idea Submitter exercises the aforementioned option, The Geek Plant shall receive a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, fully paid-up, fully transferable license from the acquirer of the Intellectual Property Rights to use such Intellectual Property Rights in The Geek Plant’s business, but not to develop apps that compete with the acquired commercialized version of the Accepted App Idea. The foregoing acquisition of Intellectual Property Rights shall be contingent upon the acquirer signing The Geek Plant’s standard intellectual property assignment and license agreement memorializing the foregoing terms. All net revenues, less associated costs such as, without limitation, attorney fees, actually received by The Geek Plant in connection with the foregoing option shall be included with App Sales Revenue when determining payments to Idea submitters under the above section titled “Payments by the Company to Idea submitters.”
Tax Withholding and The Geek Plant Payee Information Form
You acknowledge and agree that you be responsible for all taxes due on any payments made to you in connection with your participation on the Site. The Company will be under no obligation to make any payments to you unless you have properly completed and submitted a W-9 to The Geek Plant and the information required in the registration process related to backup withholding taxes. Backup withholding taxes are a type of withholding for federal income taxes on certain types of income. The Geek Plant may be required by law to withhold these taxes from amounts payable to you unless you are otherwise exempt from backup withholding. US citizens and resident aliens will typically be exempt from backup withholding if they properly report their name and Social Security number to The Geek Plant on the W-9 and that information matches the IRS records.
Service Interruptions and Site Changes
The Geek Plant reserves the right to interrupt the Site with or without prior notice for any reason or no reason. You agree that The Geek Plant will not be liable for any interruption of the Site, delay or failure to perform. The Geek Plant has the right at any time for any reason or no reason to change and/or eliminate any aspect(s) of the Site and/or the Services as it sees fit in its sole discretion.
Eligibility
Participation in the Site is void where prohibited. This Site is intended solely for idea submitters who are twelve (12) years of age or older. Any registration by, use of or access to the Site by anyone under 12 is unauthorized, unlicensed and in violation of these Terms of Use. By using the Services or the Site, you represent and warrant that you are 12 or older, and that you agree to and will abide by all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement.
Registration Data; Account Security
In consideration of your use of the Site, you agree, where applicable, to (a) provide accurate, current and complete information about you as may be prompted by any registration forms on the Site ("Registration Data"); (b) maintain the security of your password and identification; (c) maintain and promptly update the Registration Data and any other information you provide to Company, and keep it accurate, current and complete; and (d) be fully responsible for all use of your account and for any actions that take place using your account.
Proprietary Rights in Site Content; Limited License
All Site Content is the proprietary property of the Company, its Idea submitters or other licensors, with all rights reserved. No Site Content may be modified, copied, distributed, reproduced, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted, transmitted, or sold in any form or by any means, in whole or in part, without the Company's prior written permission, except that the foregoing does not apply to content that is legally posted on the Site, which is addressed in more detail in the section below titled “Ownership of content.” Provided that you are eligible for use of the Site, you are granted a limited license to access and use the Site and the Site Content and to download or print a copy of any portion of the Site Content to which you have properly gained access solely for your own personal use, in connection with participating on the Site, during the duration of the development of an Accepted App Idea for which such Site Content was originally posted. Except for your own content, you may not upload or republish Site Content on any Internet, Intranet or Extranet site or incorporate the information in any other database or compilation, and any use of the Site Content not explicitly permitted herein is strictly prohibited. The foregoing license is subject to these Terms of Use and does not include use of any data mining, robots or similar data gathering or extraction methods. Any use of the Site or the Site Content other than as specifically authorized herein, without the prior written permission of Company, is strictly prohibited and will terminate the license granted herein. Such unauthorized use may also violate applicable laws including copyright and trademark laws and applicable communications regulations and statutes. Unless explicitly stated herein, nothing in these Terms of Use shall be construed as conferring any license to Intellectual Property Rights, whether by estoppel, implication or otherwise. The foregoing license is revocable at any time by the Company without notice and with or without cause.
Ownership of content
The Company and each Idea submitter that is a party to this Agreement acknowledges and agrees that, subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, Idea submitters may retain any and all applicable copyright and other Intellectual Property Rights with respect to any content that an idea submitter creates or submits using the Services, to the extent such Idea submitter has such rights under applicable law.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, you understand and agree that by submitting Content to any area of the Site, you automatically grant (and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant): (i) to the Company: (a) a royalty-free, worldwide, fully paid-up, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce and distribute your idea within the Services, as permitted by you through your interactions on the Services, (b) the perpetual and irrevocable right to delete any or all of your content from Company owned, controlled or used servers and from the Site, for any reason or no reason, whether intentional or unintentional, and, without any liability of any kind to you or any other party; and (c) a royalty-free, fully paid-up, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to copy, analyze and use any of your content as the Company may deem necessary or desirable for purposes of debugging, testing and/or providing support services in connection with the Services; and (ii) to other Idea submitters a limited license to access and use your content for their own personal use, in connection with participating on the Site, during the duration of the evaluation and development of a submitted App Idea for which such content was originally posted. Other than as expressly provided herein, no Idea submitter shall acquire any license or ownership in other Idea submitters’ content, provided however that in the event an idea submitter withdraws an app Idea from the Site in accordance with these Terms, and desires to adopt content provided by another Idea submitter for use away from the Site, such Idea submitters may agree among themselves, separate and apart from these Terms, to terms governing use of such content. Further, you agree to grant to Company a royalty-free, worldwide, fully paid-up, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, sublicensable right and license to exercise the copyright, publicity, and database rights you have in your account information, including any data or other information generated by your account activity, in any media now known or not currently known, in accordance with our privacy policy as set forth below.
In connection with any Accepted App Idea, to the extent that you submit content in connection with that Accepted App Idea and your content is incorporated or made part of any commercialized version of that App Idea, you hereby assign (and you represent and warrant that you have the right to assign) to Company, and agree to deliver such additional assignments or other instruments of transfer or Intellectual Property Rights perfection as may be reasonably requested by the Company, all of your right, title and interest in such content, including without limitation all Intellectual Property Rights. You further agree that you will not make any claims against the Company or any third party who is assigned or licensed rights in such content by the Company, based on any allegations that any activities by the Company or such third party infringe your (or anyone else's) Intellectual Property Rights in such content. You further acknowledge and agree that in connection with any such assignment you reserve no rights whatsoever and the Company shall have the right to enforce all Intellectual Property Rights in such content against you and any subsequent use by you of such content. You further acknowledge and agree that any compensation that you might receive as a result of submitting such content and its inclusion in a successfully commercialized App Idea, may be inadequate or below fair market value, and you expressly agree to bear such risk in connection with submitting content on the Site. The provisions of this Section may be specifically enforced by either the Company or any third party who is assigned or licensed rights in such content by the Company, and any such third party is intended to be a third party beneficiary of this provision.
You further understand and agree that: (i) you are solely responsible for understanding all copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret and other intellectual property or other laws that may apply to your content hereunder, including without limitation, any rights or obligations you may or may not have concerning Open Source Software; (ii) you are solely responsible for, and the Company will have no liability in connection with, the legal consequences of any actions or failures to act on your part while using the Site, including without limitation any legal consequences relating to your or any other Person’s Intellectual Property Rights or Proprietary Information; and (iii) The Geek Plant’s acknowledgement hereunder of your Intellectual Property Rights in your content does not constitute a legal opinion or legal advice, but is intended solely as an expression of the Company’s intention not to require Idea submitters of the Site to forego certain Intellectual Property Rights with respect to content they submit to the Site, subject to the terms of this Agreement, including without limitation each Idea submitter’s agreement to assign all right, title and interest in content that is included in a commercialized Accepted App Idea.
The Geek Plant retains ownership of Idea submitter data, regardless of any Intellectual Property Rights in content.
You agree that even though you may retain certain copyright or other Intellectual Property Rights with respect to content that is submitted or created by The Geek Plant, you do not own the account you use to access the Site, nor do you own any data The Geek Plant stores on its servers (including without limitation any data representing or embodying any or all of your content). Your Intellectual Property Rights in any content, if any, do not confer any rights of access to the Site, the Services or any rights to data stored by or on behalf of the Company.
Trademarks
“THE GEEK PLANT” and other The Geek Plant graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts and service names are registered trademarks, trademarks or trade dress (collectively, the “Marks”) of The Geek Plant in the U.S. and/or other countries. The Marks may not be used, including as part of trademarks and/or as part of domain names, in connection with any app or service in any manner that is likely to cause confusion or association or affiliation with The Geek Plant and may not be copied, imitated, or used, in whole or in part, without the prior written permission of the Company.
Conduct by Idea submitters; Prohibited Conduct
You agree that you shall not: (i) take any action or upload, post, email or otherwise transmit to or via the Site any content that infringes or violates any third party rights, including without limitation all Intellectual Property Rights, or that constitutes any other Person’s Proprietary Information; (ii) impersonate any Person without their consent, including, but not limited to, a The Geek Plant employee, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with any Person; (iii) take any action or upload, post, email or otherwise transmit to or via the Site any content that violates any law or regulation; (iv) take any action or upload, post, email or otherwise transmit to or via the Site any content as determined by The Geek Plant at its sole discretion that is harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, causes tort, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable; (v) take any actions or upload, post, email or otherwise transmit to or via the Site any content that contains any viruses, Trojan horses, worms, spyware, time bombs, cancelbots or other computer programming routines that are intended to damage, detrimentally interfere with, surreptitiously intercept or expropriate any system, data or personal information; (vi) take any action or upload, post, email or otherwise transmit to or via the Site any content that would violate any right or duty 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 agreements); (vii) upload, post, email or otherwise transmit to or via the Site any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, or promotional materials, that are in the nature of "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or any other form of solicitation that the Company considers in its sole discretion to be of such nature; (viii) interfere with or disrupt the Services or servers or networks connected to the Services, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the Services; (ix) attempt to gain access to any other Idea submitter’s account or password; or (x) "stalk", abuse or attempt to abuse, or otherwise harass another idea submitter; (xi) charge any third party for use of the Site or the Services; or (xii) modify, adapt, reverse engineer, decompile or attempt to discover the source code of the Site or any of its algorithms that are utilized to allocate Influence. Any violation by you of the terms of the foregoing may result in immediate and permanent suspension or cancellation of your account and the forfeiture of any accrued Influence and any amounts otherwise due to you from the Company.
Idea submitter Marketing
Idea submitters may choose to produce a web application (including, without limitation, a website, blog, Facebook page, Twitter page, or similar) promoting or otherwise presenting The Geek Plant or The Geek Plant apps.
Any such application must comply with the following guidelines:
Copyright Infringement Complaints
We respect the intellectual property rights of others and we prohibit Idea submitters from uploading, posting or otherwise transmitting on the Site or via the Services any materials that violate another party's Intellectual Property Rights or that constitutes another Person’s Proprietary Information. Any infringing materials posted by any Idea submitter can be identified and removed pursuant to The Geek Plant’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the “DMCA”) compliance process, provided herein, and you agree to comply with such process in the event you are involved in any claim of copyright infringement to which the DMCA may be applicable.
If you believe that any Site Content infringes a copyright, please send a notice of copyright infringement containing the following information to [email protected]:
The Geek Plant will, upon receiving your notice of copyright infringement, if that notice complies with the foregoing five requirements, take one or more of the following actions: (a) reasonably determine that the allegedly infringing Site Content is not infringing, and allow the Site Content to remain, (b) contact the Person who posted the allegedly infringing Site Content concerning your notice of infringement, and (c) remove the allegedly infringing Site Content. By your use of this Site, you expressly agree to and accept the foregoing DMCA compliance process, acknowledge its compliance with US Copyright law, and waive any and all claims against The Geek Plant directly relating to, or arising from, the foregoing DMCA compliance process.
Repeat Infringer Policy
In accordance with the DMCA and other applicable law, The Geek Plant has adopted a policy of terminating, in appropriate circumstances and at The Geek Plant’s sole discretion, Idea submitters who are deemed to be repeat infringers. The Geek Plant may also at its sole discretion limit access to the Site and/or terminate the accounts of any Idea submitters who infringe any Intellectual Property Rights or who disclose Proprietary Information of others, whether or not there is any repeat infringement or disclosure. Any amounts that may otherwise be or may become due from the Company to any Idea submitter, who has submitted content that infringes any Intellectual Property Rights or discloses Proprietary Information of any other Person is subject to forfeiture, at the sole discretion of the Company.
Monitoring content
The Geek Plant is not responsible or liable in any manner for any content posted on the Site or in connection with the Services. Although we provide rules for Idea submitter conduct and postings, we do not control and are not responsible for what Idea submitters post, transmit or share on the Site and are not responsible for any offensive, inappropriate, obscene, unlawful or otherwise objectionable Site Content you may encounter on the Site or in connection with any content. The Company is not responsible for the conduct, whether online or offline, of any Idea submitter of the Site or Services.
Disputes Between Idea submitters
As a condition of access to the Site and the Services, you release The Geek Plant (and The Geek Plant’s shareholders, affiliates, directors, officers, subsidiaries, employees, and agents) from all claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way connected with any dispute you have or claim to have with one or more Idea submitters of the Site; including, without limitation, any claim that another Idea submitter infringes upon your Intellectual Property Rights in any content that you may provide. You further understand and agree that: (a) The Geek Plant will have the right but not the obligation to resolve disputes between Idea submitters relating to the Services, and The Geek Plant’s resolution of any particular dispute does not create an obligation to resolve any other dispute; (b) to the extent The Geek Plant elects to resolve such disputes, it will do so in good faith based solely on the general rules and standards of the Services and will not make judgments regarding legal issues or claims; (c) The Geek Plant’s resolution of such disputes will be final with respect to the Site, and any allocation of Influence or the allocation of any payments due to Idea submitters related to the foregoing, but will have no bearing on any real-world legal disputes in which Idea submitters of the Services may become involved; and (d) you hereby release The Geek Plant (and The Geek Plant’s shareholders, affiliates, directors, officers, subsidiaries, employees, and agents) from all claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way connected with The Geek Plant’s resolution of disputes relating to the Site or the Services.
All Data on the Company’s Servers is subject to Deletion, Alteration or Transfer
When using the Site or the Services, you may accumulate Site Content, Influence, objects, items, scripts, or other value or status indicators that reside as data on the Company’s servers. THIS DATA, AND ANY OTHER DATA, ACCOUNT HISTORY AND ACCOUNT NAMES RESIDING ON GEEK PLANT’S SERVERS, MAY BE DELETED, ALTERED, MOVED OR TRANSFERRED AT ANY TIME FOR ANY REASON IN GEEK PLANT’S SOLE DISCRETION. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company will maintain back-up records related to any actual accumulated unpaid cash amounts earned by Idea submitters, and to the extent such information is deleted or otherwise altered, the Company will use its best efforts to accurately recreate such information to satisfy its payment obligations.
YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT, NOTWITHSTANDING ANY COPYRIGHT OR OTHER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS YOU MAY HAVE WITH RESPECT TO USER CONTENT YOU POST ON THE SITE, AND NOTWITHSTANDING ANY VALUE ATTRIBUTED TO SUCH USER CONTENT OR OTHER DATA BY YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY, GEEK PLANT DOES NOT PROVIDE OR GUARANTEE, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS (SUBJECT TO ANY UNDERLYING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IN THE USER CONTENT OR SITE CONTENT), ANY VALUE, CASH OR OTHERWISE, ATTRIBUTED TO ANY DATA RESIDING ON THE COMPANY’S SERVERS.
YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT GEEK PLANT HAS THE RIGHT, BUT NOT THE OBLIGATION, TO REMOVE ANY SITE CONTENT (INCLUDING YOUR USER CONTENT) IN WHOLE OR IN PART AT ANY TIME FOR ANY REASON OR NO REASON, WITH OR WITHOUT NOTICE AND WITHOUT ANY LIABILITY OF ANY KIND.
All Services are Provided "as is" Without Express or Implied Warranties
GEEK PLANT PROVIDES THE SITE, THE SERVICES, YOUR ACCOUNT AND ALL RELATED GOODS AND SERVICES STRICTLY ON AN "AS IS" BASIS, PROVIDED AND ACCEPTED AT YOUR OWN RISK, AND HEREBY EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, WRITTEN OR ORAL, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF TITLE, NONINFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
Without limiting the foregoing, the Company does not ensure continuous, error-free, secure or virus-free operation of the Services, the Site or your account, and you understand that you shall not be entitled to make any claim based on The Geek Plant’s failure to provide any of the foregoing other than as explicitly provided in this Agreement. Some jurisdictions do not allow the disclaimer of implied warranties, and to that extent, the foregoing disclaimer may not apply to you.
All Services Provided and Sales Made on “as is”, no refund basis
THERE WILL BE NO REFUNDS FOR ANY REASON UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED BY THE COMPANY IN WRITING. ALL SALES MADE BY THE COMPANY ARE FINAL AND ARE MADE WITHOUT ANY GUARANTEE. BY MAKING A PURCHASE WITH THE COMPANY, YOU HAVE READ AND UNDERSTAND OUR NO REFUNDS POLICY.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company will refund fees paid to post an app Idea if such idea is rejected by the Company and not posted to the Site for Community review and feedback.
The Geek Plant’s liability to you is expressly limited, to the extent allowable under applicable law
IN NO EVENT SHALL GEEK PLANT OR ANY OF ITS SHAREHOLDERS, AFFILIATES, DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, SUBSIDIARIES, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR TO ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY DAMAGES FOR LOST PROFITS, ARISING (WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE) OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICES OR THE SITE (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ITS MODIFICATION OR TERMINATION), YOUR ACCOUNT (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ITS TERMINATION OR SUSPENSION) OR THIS AGREEMENT, WHETHER OR NOT THE COMPANY MAY HAVE BEEN ADVISED THAT ANY SUCH DAMAGES MIGHT OR COULD OCCUR AND NOTWITHSTANDING THE FAILURE OF ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY REMEDY. IN ADDITION, IN NO EVENT WILL GEEK PLANT’S CUMULATIVE LIABILITY TO YOU FOR DIRECT DAMAGES OF ANY KIND OR NATURE EXCEED ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS (U.S. $100.00).
Some jurisdictions do not allow the foregoing limitations of liability, so to the extent that any such limitation is impermissible, such limitation may not apply to you. You agree that The Geek Plant shall not be held responsible or liable for anything that occurs or results from accessing the Site or participating in the Services.
Indemnification
You hereby agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless The Geek Plant, its shareholders, affiliates, directors, officers, subsidiaries, employees, agents, suppliers, licensees, distributors, successors and assigns and other Idea submitters of the Services, from all damages, liabilities, claims and expenses, including without limitation attorneys' fees and costs, arising from any breach of this Agreement by you, or from your use of the Services. You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Company, its shareholders, affiliates, directors, officers, subsidiaries, employees, agents, suppliers, licensees, and distributors, successors and assigns from all damages, liabilities, claims and expenses, including without limitation attorneys' fees and costs, arising from any claims by third parties that your activity on the Site or your content (including your content as incorporated in a commercialized App Idea) infringes upon, violates or misappropriates any of their Intellectual Property Rights or discloses their Proprietary Information.
How am I protected?
There are several factors that mitigate the copying of product ideas submitted to the The Geek Plant platform. First, our Terms and Conditions prohibit use of content submitted to The Geek Plant outside of the The Geek Plant process. Second, initial idea submissions are often too conceptual to be readily converted into a product without significant design and development. Third, in many instances we move our products from idea to distribution quickly enough to retain a first-mover advantage in the marketplace over any would-be copycats.
Do I have to have a patent to submit?
An issued patent or pending patent application is not a necessary prerequisite, nor do such items guarantee submission acceptance. However, we do consider this information when reviewing product ideas.
What if I already have a patent?
By submitting your idea, you grant a license to all IP in the submission to The Geek Plant to consider and comment on your submission within the platform. If we accept your submission for further development and possibly eventual commercialization, you assign ownership of all IP in the submission to The Geek Plant.
Why does The Geek Plant need to own all IP in accepted idea submissions? Is this negotiable?
In order to successfully develop and commercialize a product, we must devote significant resources and accept exposure to a multitude of legal risks. We can't sustain this level of investment and risk taking without having the ability to control the exploitation of IP embodied in The Geek Plant products. In return for ownership of IP in a commercialized product, we'll pay the contributing user a perpetual royalty commensurate with the degree of contribution.
Can The Geek Plant help me get a patent?
We don't offer standalone-patenting services. However, if your idea is selected and green lighted throughout the process, our legal team will take on the task of both protecting the idea and/or ensuring that it doesn't infringe on any existing IP.
What if someone submits the same idea as mine?
With so many ideas coming to The Geek Plant every day, it's inevitable that two inventors will submit something similar. We gauge similarity on the key details of the idea and choose the oldest of the two if they are considered similar.
COLLECTION AND USES OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
You acknowledge and agree that The Geek Plant, in its sole discretion, may track, record, observe or follow any and all of your interactions within the Services. Except as otherwise provided herein, including without limitation, in the Section "Media Waiver", the personal information you provide to us during registration is used for the Company's internal purposes only. The Geek Plant uses the information it collects to learn what you like and to improve the Services.
You are required to provide a valid email address during app idea submission that will represent your identity on the Site. You may opt to provide your full name, gender, birthday, location and other personal information to be publicly displayed in connection with your account and activity on the Site. While we'd prefer that all Idea submitters use their real names, The Geek Plant offers an alias option for those who'd prefer more anonymity.
Your chosen name is publicly displayed and connected to your Site activity. Other information visitors to the Site may be able to see or eventually see includes, without limitation, your date joined, profile information, feedback, total earnings to date, App Ideas submitted, App Ideas influenced.
Some Idea submitters may connect to or register a The Geek Plant account using an external third-party application, such as Facebook. The Geek Plant may receive some data from those connected third-party applications. Connecting your The Geek Plant account to third-party applications or services is optional, and when you connect your account to an external application, you will be given the opportunity to grant permission. You can revoke your permission under your The Geek Plant account settings.
You agree that The Geek Plant may communicate with you via email, by phone (voice and/or text message) and any similar technology for any purpose relating to the Site.
CONTROLLING AND ACCESSING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
Content in an idea submitter profile on the Site is publicly available. Site visitors may be able to identify you, or associate you with your Idea submitter account if you include personal information in your profile. The messages you send or receive using the Site are only private to the extent that you and the sender/recipient keep them private. The Geek Plant does not have any control over whether a recipient of one of your personal messages publicly posts it or its contents.
Depending on what Services you use on the Site, The Geek Plant may request additional personal information from you, including but not limited to billing address, credit card information, proof of identification and physical mailing address.
You can access and update your personal information and communication settings by selecting the "Edit Your Profile" option on your account dashboard. You may also terminate your account at any time by emailing The Geek Plant at [email protected].
SHARING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
The Geek Plant will not give any of your personal information to any third party or otherwise disclose your personal information without your express approval except: as reasonably necessary to fulfill your service request or purchase order, to third-party fulfillment houses, customer support, billing and credit verification services, and the like; to comply with tax and other applicable law; as otherwise expressly permitted by this Agreement or as otherwise authorized by you; to law enforcement or other appropriate third parties in connection with criminal investigations and other investigations of fraud; in connection with a merger, sale, reorganization, dissolution or liquidation of The Geek Plant businesses, to prospective or actual acquirers of The Geek Plant assets; or as otherwise necessary to protect the Company, its agents and other idea submitters of the Services. The Geek Plant can (and you authorize The Geek Plant to) disclose any information about you to private entities, law enforcement agencies or government officials, as The Geek Plant, in its sole discretion, believes necessary or appropriate to investigate or resolve possible problems or inquiries, or as otherwise required by law. The Company may share general, demographic, or aggregated information with third parties about its Idea submitters and their content and Site usage, but that information will not include or be linked to any personally identifiable information without your consent.
SECURITY OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
The Geek Plant follows generally accepted industry standards for the protection of the personal information that you submit, both during transmission and after receipt. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or via mobile device, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. Therefore, although we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we do not guarantee the security of any of your private transmissions against unauthorized or unlawful interception or access by third parties.
RETENTION OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
We may keep the information that we obtain from or about you as long as is permitted or required under the law. If your account is deleted, we will remove your profile from the Site, but may retain your information as necessary for our future use as authorized under this Privacy Policy. If your account is terminated, we will terminate your access to your account, but will not remove your profile from the Site, and may retain your information as necessary for our future use as authorized under this Privacy Policy. We may use retained data to prevent, investigate, or identify possible wrongdoing in connection with the Site or to comply with legal obligations. Information may exist in backup storage even after it has been removed from our active databases.
COOKIES
The Geek Plant uses a browser feature known as a "cookie," which is a small text file number that is stored on your hard drive when you begin to navigate the Site. The cookies used by the Site do not contain any personal information about you, but they may identify your specific computer. If you would like to disable cookies from The Geek Plant, please use the help function in your web browser to restrict cookies from the Site. If you block cookies from The Geek Plant, you may not be able to use certain functions or features of the Site.
The Geek Plant may also use cookies to track activity and click-through behavior to better understand Idea submitters' preferences and browsing habits, and to provide a more personalized experience while visiting the Site, and for more personalized email alerts.
The Geek Plant uses third-party advertising services to serve The Geek Plant ads when you visit the Site or certain apps and sites upon which we advertise (often referred to as "online network advertising"). This advertising technology uses information about your visits to this Site and the sites upon which we advertise (not including your personal information) to serve The Geek Plant ads to you. In the course of serving The Geek Plant advertisements to you, a unique third-party cookie may be placed or recognized on your browser.
At the Date of Last Revision of these Terms of Use, you may manage and opt out of third-party cookie-based advertising.
LINKED WEBSITES
The Site may contain links to third party websites that are outside The Geek Plant's control and not covered by this Agreement. Except as set forth herein, The Geek Plant does not share your personal information with these sites, nor is The Geek Plant responsible for the privacy practices of these sites. Should you choose to visit these third party sites, we encourage you to review their privacy policies.
CHILDREN'S PRIVACY
The Site is not directed to or intended to be used by children under the age of 18. The Geek Plant does not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 18. If The Geek Plant learns that it has collected personal information of a child under the age of 18 without parental consent, we will delete that data from our systems and terminate the child's account. If you become aware that a child has provided The Geek Plant with personal information without parental consent, please contact The Geek Plant at [email protected].
CONTACT GEEK PLANT
If you have questions, suggestions or concerns related to this Privacy Policy, you may contact The Geek Plant at [email protected].
UPDATES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY
The Geek Plant may change, modify, add, or delete portions of this Privacy Policy at any time pursuant to the process disclosed above for changes to this Agreement.
Dispute Resolution; Governing Law; Venue and Jurisdiction
By visiting or using the Site and/or the Services, you agree that the laws of the State of New York, without regard to principles of conflict of laws, will govern these Terms of Use and any dispute of any sort that might arise between you and the Company or any of our affiliates. With respect to any disputes or claims not subject to arbitration (as set forth below), you agree not to commence or prosecute any action in connection therewith other than in the state and federal courts of the State of New York located in New York County, and you hereby consent to, and waive all defenses of lack of personal jurisdiction and forum non conveniens with respect to, venue and jurisdiction in the state and federal courts of the State of New York located in New York County.
YOU AND THE COMPANY AGREE THAT, EXCEPT AS MAY OTHERWISE BE PROVIDED IN REGARD TO SPECIFIC SERVICES ON THE SITE IN ANY SPECIFIC TERMS APPLICABLE TO THOSE SERVICES, THE SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE FORUM AND REMEDY FOR ANY AND ALL DISPUTES AND CLAIMS RELATING IN ANY WAY TO OR ARISING OUT OF THIS AGREEMENT, THE SITE AND/OR THE SERVICES (INCLUDING YOUR VISIT TO OR USE OF THE SITE AND/OR THE SERVICES) SHALL BE FINAL AND BINDING ARBITRATION, except that: (a) either of us may seek injunctive relief in state or federal court located in New York County, New York concerning infringement, misappropriation or other violation by either of us of the other party's Intellectual Property Rights, and (b) The Geek Plant may seek injunctive relief in state or federal court located in New York County, New York concerning violation by an idea submitter of any of the Idea submitter conduct rules set forth above, and in both such cases (a) and (b), the parties acknowledge that arbitration is not an adequate remedy at law and that injunctive or other appropriate relief may be sought.
Arbitration under this Agreement shall be conducted by the American Arbitration Association (the "AAA") under its Commercial Arbitration Rules and, in the case of consumer disputes, the AAA's Supplementary Procedures for Consumer Related Disputes ( the "AAA Consumer Rules") (collectively the "AAA Rules"). The location of the arbitration and the allocation of costs and fees for such arbitration shall be determined in accordance with such AAA Rules and shall be subject to the limitations provided for in the AAA Consumer Rules (for consumer disputes). The arbitrator's award shall be binding and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction.
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, YOU AND GEEK PLANT AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING, AND THAT NO ARBITRATION OR CLAIM UNDER THESE TERMS OF USE SHALL BE JOINED TO ANY OTHER ARBITRATION OR CLAIM, INCLUDING ANY ARBITRATION OR CLAIM INVOLVING ANY OTHER CURRENT OR FORMER USER OF THE SERVICES. In no event shall any claim, action or proceeding by you related in any way to the Site and/or the Services (including your visit to or use of the Site and/or the Services) be instituted more than three (3) years after the cause of action arose.
General Provisions
The Site and the Services is controlled and operated by The Geek Plant from its offices within the United States of America. The Company makes no representation that any aspect of the Services is appropriate or available for use in jurisdictions outside of the United States. Those who choose to access the Services from other locations are responsible for compliance with applicable local laws. You must comply with all export and import laws and restrictions and regulations of any United States or foreign agency or authority relating to the Services and its use.
The Company's failure to act with respect to a breach by you or others does not waive The Geek Plant's right to act with respect to that breach or subsequent or similar breaches. No consent or waiver by The Geek Plant under this Agreement shall be deemed effective unless delivered in a writing signed by a duly appointed officer of the Company. All or any of The Geek Plant's rights and obligations under this Agreement may be assigned to a subsequent owner or operator of the Site and/or the Services in a merger, acquisition or sale of all or substantially all of the Company's assets. You may not assign or transfer this Agreement or any or all of your rights or obligations hereunder without the prior written consent of the Company, and any attempt to do so is void. Notwithstanding anything else in this Agreement, no default, delay or failure to perform on the part of The Geek Plant shall be considered a breach of this Agreement if such default, delay or failure to perform is shown to be due to causes beyond the reasonable control of The Geek Plant.
This Agreement sets forth the entire understanding and agreement between you and The Geek Plant with respect to the subject matter hereof. The section headings used herein, including descriptive headings, are for convenience only and shall not affect the interpretation of this Agreement. If any provision of this Agreement shall be held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, then in such jurisdiction that provision shall be deemed severable from these terms and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions.
The Geek Plant may give notice to you by means of a general notice on our website, by electronic mail to your email address in our records for your Account, or by written communication sent by first class mail, postage prepaid, or overnight courier to your address on record for your Account. All notices given by you or required under this Agreement shall be mailed to us at [email protected] unless otherwise provided in this Agreement.