General Terms and Conditions

All relations with GEVERS VALIDATIONS (GV) are subject to the General Terms and Conditions hereunder at the exclusion of any other one.

Article 1: Mission

1.1. GV manages validations of European Patents and related administrative procedures and undertakes all the steps necessary to fulfil the validations requirements in any contracting state(s) designated by the Principal in the European Patent(s) object of a validation order from the Principal.

1.2. GV undertakes to use the services of qualified translators and patent agents/attorneys.

1.3. GV offers a web interface called Valipat® (www.valipat.com) with a platform for ordering validations of European Patents.

Article 2: Mandate

2.1. Any mandate given to GV shall be in writing or through GV’s web interface (for this specific procedure see 2.3). It will specify the name and the capacity of the Principal and the subject matter for which it has been written.

2.2. The Principal shall provide GV with all the necessary information for ensuring that the instructions are carried out correctly.

2.3. For any order passed through GV’s web interface, GV undertakes to send to the Principal an email confirmation and an invoice, as well as “ready to sign” Power of Attorney forms should the Principal need them.

2.4. The invoice shall be final unless:

• a) The Principal does not act within the prescribed deadlines, as specified below under Article 3,
• b) There is an obvious error (e.g. in the Principal’s word count should he use GV’s web interface),
• c) Service not encompassed within the scope of the quote should be rendered, those services being billed in addition; this includes, for instance, fees for late filing of Power of Attorneys forms.

2.5. Any electronic order transmitted by the Principal to GV by means of GV’s web interface can be cancelled by the Principal within 48 hours only from the time it has been transmitted.

2.6. The agreement between GV and the Principal is only formed upon the written acceptance by GV of the order of the Principal, at the conditions of GV.

Article 3: Principal’s commitments

3.1. Answer all questions sent by GV, including those asked by the translators of GV, within the deadline specified in the accompanying message.

3.2. Return the signed Power of Attorney forms to GV within the deadline prescribed in the accompanying message ; late filing of Power of Attorney forms may result in additional fees or in loss of rights.

3.3. Inform GV of any change of address and/or of status. GV may not be held responsible for any loss of rights if it has not been kept properly informed about changes which have occurred.

3.4. Accept GV’s Late Orders and Cancellations policies which form an integral part of GV’s GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

Article 4: Invoices

4.1. Unless agreed otherwise, GV’s invoices have to be paid within 30 days from the invoice date by cheque or bank transfer to GV’s bank account in ING BELGIUM SA IBAN BE40 3630 3940 3763 – BIC/SWIFT BBRUBEBB

Invoices for orders transmitted before the Grant Date of European Patent could only be payable by exception within 30 days from the Grant Date.

4.2. In case of a delayed payment, an interest of 10% per year will be invoiced.

4.3. In case of no or partial payment within the month of a reminder, GV will invoice a penalty of 10% of the invoice(s) unpaid above the costs of the currency fluctuations and subject to the GV’s right to cancel immediately all pending orders.

4.4. Unless specified explicitly otherwise, any order for the services commits the Principal whether the Principal is the beneficiary of the service, the representative or the intermediary. If the debit note is established in the name of a third party at the Principal’s request, the Principal is in any case responsible for payment and, if the case arises, shall jointly pay with the third party.

4.5. Any objection regarding debit notes shall be considered only if an objection is received by registered letter within fourteen days, at the latest, following the date of the debit note.

Article 5: Default by the Principal, bankruptcy, insolvency

5.1. Without affecting the content of article 4.3, in the event that the Principal has not respected its commitments and obligations, the contract can be terminated by GV eight days after giving notice where there has not been any response, and without affecting the GV’s right to claim compensation.

5.2. In every case where there is a change in the situation of the Principal, such as death, bankruptcy, dissolution or modification to the Principal’s business, or in any other circumstances which could allow one to anticipate the Principal’s insolvency, GV has the right to require immediate payment of the entire outstanding amount of all invoices, regardless of their settlement date, or to require an undertaking that the Principal will fulfill its obligations under terms of payment with the approval of GV, and to suspend or cancel the execution of the contract with immediate effects.

Article 6: Responsibilities

6.1. GV does not act either as attorneys or legal consultants and consequently does not manage the Industrial Property Rights on behalf of the Principal. As a consequence, in particular, GV has no conflicts of interest. If, for procedural reasons, GV cannot act as such, Attorneys signing as individuals with GV as an address may accomplish procedural acts, those acts not resulting in a possible conflict situation and/or personal liability.

6.2. Except in the case of fraud imputable to GV, the responsibility for possible damage suffered by the Principal in particular in the event of loss of Industrial Property Right, for which GV could be directly or indirectly involved, will not exceed the figure of two hundred and fifty thousand euros, even in the event of serious fault by GV.

6.3. In the case of force majeure, whatsoever that may consist of, the obligations of the Principal will be suspended so long as the event causing the force majeure endures.

Article 7: Applicable law and jurisdictions

7.1. Any claim based on GV’s services will be governed by the Belgian law only.

7.2. The Brussels Courts are exclusively competent to hear and determine any disputes relating to the relations between GV and the Principle.

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