Terms of Use Disclaimer

 

Effective Date: January 1, 2018

 

IMPORTANT: Please read these Legal Notices and Terms of Use (these “Notices and Terms”) carefully before accessing this website.

 

These Notices and Terms create a legal agreement between you (“You”) and Bass Patent Law (“BPL”) that governs: (1) the information of BPL (the “Information”) made available through this website; (2) the nature of the relationship between You and BPL; (3) certain other matters of professional responsibility; (4) BPL’s use of Your information gathered by it through this website; and (5) Your use of this website, related systems, and the Information (collectively, the “BPL Site”). By accessing any portion of the BPL Site, You are indicating that You have read and understood, and that You assent to be bound by, these Notices and Terms, which may be amended from time to time by BPL pursuant to the terms herein. If You do not agree to these Notices and Terms, You are not permitted to access the BPL Site.

 

1. No Legal Advice: The Information is made available for general informational purposes only, and is not intended to constitute specific legal advice or to be a substitute for advice from qualified counsel. Without limiting the foregoing, the Information may not reflect recent developments in the law, may not be complete, and may not be accurate in or applicable to Your jurisdiction. Because the Information is general in nature and may not pertain to Your specific circumstances, You should not act or refrain from acting based on any Information without first obtaining advice from professional counsel qualified in the applicable subject matter and jurisdictions.

2. No Attorney-Client Relationship: BPL has a policy of entering into attorney-client relationships with its clients only in accordance with certain procedures which include executing a formal client engagement letter and addressing professional responsibility conflicts as required by the Bar Associations of the states in which BPL maintains offices. You agree that Your access of the BPL Site or receipt of the Information, or Your transmission of electronic mail to addresses on the BPL Site, does not create an attorney-client relationship between You and BPL.

 

OTHER MATTERS OF PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY

 

1. No Advertising or Solicitation: The BPL Site is not intended to be an advertisement or solicitation, but may be deemed an ADVERTISEMENT in certain jurisdictions.

2. Sensitive Communications: You agree that electronic mail sent by You to BPL will not be treated as confidential or invoke an attorney-client privilege; provided, however, that if You are an existing client of BPL and You send an electronic mail to BPL pertaining to a matter in which BPL then represents You, such electronic mail may be entitled to be treated as confidential or privileged. Notwithstanding the foregoing, You acknowledge that electronic mail and the Internet are generally insecure media of communication, and BPL cannot guarantee the confidentiality of any electronic mail sent to or received by it or any information submitted by You to BPL through the BPL Site.

3. Authorized Jurisdictions; Certifications: While BPL practices patent law in jurisdictions throughout the U.S., each BPL attorney is licensed to the general practice of law only in those jurisdictions set forth in that attorney’s biography on the BPL Site.

4. Principal Office; Responsible Attorney: To the extent the requirements of the Bar Association in Your jurisdiction require such designation: BPL’s principal office is its Frederick, MD office. BPL’s responsible attorney for the BPL Site is Thomas Bassolino.

5. No Warranty of Results: The Information may contain descriptions of matters in which BPL successfully represented its clients. The results of these matters were dependent on their specific circumstances, and are in no way intended to be predictive of future results, even in similar circumstances, or offer any type of guarantee or assurance of outcome. Information pertaining to BPL clients may not reflect the opinions of such clients.

6. Privacy: With respect to information submitted or collected on the BPL Site, You accept BPL’s privacy policy as set forth in this Section 8. This Section 8 does not pertain to, and BPL is not responsible for the privacy practices of, any third party websites to which the BPL Site hyperlinks. Certain areas of the BPL Site may be subject to additional privacy-related provisions, links to which will be posted in those areas.

   1. Activity Logging: When You use the BPL Site, which may be hosted in part or in its entirety by a third party, the BPL Site will collect information indirectly and automatically (through, for example, the use of “cookies” or Your “IP address”) about Your activities. BPL uses this activity information (the “Activity Information”) for internal purposes such as to administer the BPL Site, improve the BPL Site, and help BPL understand how the BPL Site is being used including the demographics and “clickstreams” of its visitors. “Cookies” are small pieces of information stored on Your hard drive, not on the BPL Site. You are always free to decline cookies if Your browser permits, but in that case, some portions of the BPL Site may not operate properly. An “IP address” is a number that is automatically assigned to Your computer when You use the Internet.

   2. Personally Identifiable Information: The BPL Site is designed so that You may generally browse it without providing any Personally Identifiable Information (defined below). Certain areas of the BPL Site, however, may require or allow the voluntarily submission of Personally Identifiable Information (for example, registration to receive BPL publications). BPL uses Your Personally Identifiable Information for the purposes for which it was submitted by You to BPL and for BPL to send you publications and invitations that may be of interest to you. Except as otherwise set forth in this Section, BPL does not share Your Personally Identifiable Information with third parties. “Personally Identifiable Information” means information that would allow someone to identify or contact You, such as Your name, physical or electronic mail address, and telephone number; provided, however, that Personally Identifiable Information does not include aggregated information that, by itself, does not permit the identification of individual persons and does not include the Activity Information.

   3. Removal of Personally Identifiable Information: BPL will use reasonable efforts to remove Your Personally Identifiable Information from our then current BPL Site at any time upon Your written request to info@basspatent.com. Such removal of Personally Identifiable Information will not ensure the permanent removal of such Personally Identifiable Information from the BPL Site. For example, such Personally Identifiable Information may remain in BPL’s archival or backup copies of the BPL Site.

   4. Additional Disclosure of Personally Identifiable Information: BPL may share Personally Identifiable Information with third parties, including affiliated firms and third parties performing services for or on behalf of BPL. Such services may include communications, database, event management, hosting, mailing, and marketing services. Additionally, BPL cannot fully ensure that Your Personally Identifiable Information will not be disclosed to third parties. For example, BPL may be legally obligated to disclose information to the government or third parties under certain circumstances, third parties may circumvent BPL’s security measures to unlawfully intercept or access transmissions or private communications, or an error may occur in the administration of the BPL Site. In the unlikely event that BPL needs to investigate or resolve possible problems or inquiries, BPL may, and You authorize BPL to, disclose any information about You to government officials as permitted by applicable law.

   5. Miscellaneous Privacy Terms: BPL has implemented and follows appropriate technical measures to protect against the risks of unauthorized access to, erroneous disclosure of, and unlawful interception of Personally Identifiable Information. You should know, however, that BPL cannot fully eliminate such risks. BPL hopes this Section 8 clarifies BPL’s procedures regarding its collection, use and disclosure of Your information including Personally Identifiable Information. From time to time, BPL may modify this Section 8. Such modifications will be effective on the date that BPL posts the modified statement to the BPL Site. Questions or concerns regarding the privacy policy in this Section 8 may be submitted to info@basspatent.com.

 

GENERAL TERMS OF USE

 

1. Prohibited Uses: You will not use the BPL Site in violation of any applicable law. Without limiting the foregoing, You will not use the BPL Site in connection with (a) the infringement of intellectual property rights including BPL’s rights in its marks and its articles and alerts; (b) the unauthorized transmission of unsolicited commercial electronic mail; (c) the transmission of defamatory materials; or (d) fraud. You will not violate, attempt to violate, or knowingly facilitate the violation of the security (including access control or authentication systems) or integrity of the BPL Site.

2. Copyright in Information: The BPL Site including the Information is protected by United States and international copyright laws. All rights are reserved. Subject to the terms of these Notices and Terms, BPL grants to You a limited, nonexclusive, personal license to access, view, download and print the Information solely for noncommercial and informational purposes. You may not modify the Information in any way and You may not remove or obscure any copyright or permission notices provided on or in connection with the Information. BPL does not grant to You any rights in its marks. You are free to hyperlink to any page in the publicly available pages of the BPL Site; provided, however, that You agree to remove any such hyperlink upon BPL’s written request.

3. Electronic Mail: You may send electronic mail to those addresses made available on the BPL Site for the purposes of requesting alerts or other news notification services, submitting voluntary survey responses, responding to or making inquiries regarding BPL events, requesting information regarding BPL or legal or other services offered by BPL, and inquiring about employment opportunities. You agree to cease sending electronic mail to any BPL address upon BPL’s request.

4. No Warranties: THE BPL SITE IS PROVIDED TO YOU “AS IS.” YOUR ACCESS AND USE OF THE BPL SITE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY THE LAW AND RULES OF PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE APPLICABLE JURISDICTION, BPL DISCLAIMS ALL CONDITIONS, REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, ACCURACY OF INFORMATIONAL CONTENT, SYSTEM INTEGRATION, NON-INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS, QUIET ENJOYMENT, AND UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE OPERATION.

5. Disclaimer of Liability: TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY THE LAW AND RULES OF PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE APPLICABLE JURISDICTION, BPL DISCLAIMS LIABILITY FOR ANY LOST PROFITS OR INCOME, LOST BUSINESS, OR LOST DATA, OR FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO THE BPL SITE.

6. Third-Party Information: BPL may hyperlink to or otherwise make third-party information available on the BPL Site. This is done solely for the purposes of convenience. BPL does not endorse or approve of any such third-party information or such third parties.

7. Miscellaneous: In the event that You gain access to information not intended to be accessed by You, You agree that You will immediately notify BPL and lawfully destroy all copies of such information in Your possession. BPL may be contacted at info@basspatent.com.