Terms of Use

Acceptance of Terms

By using the SubmitMyInvention.com website ("SMI"), a service of Jacob Enterprises, Inc. d/b/a: InventionHome ("JEI"), you (the "User" or "You") agree to be bound by the following terms and conditions (the "Terms"), including those available by hyperlink. These Terms may be updated from time to time. Your use of SMI is governed by the Terms in existence each time You use SMI, and by using SMI You expressly agree to be bound by the Terms.

Description of Service

SMI provides corporate subscribers with a web-based submission management system to help manage product / invention submissions quickly and easily, online. SMI is designed to create a centralized, online submission site, which streamlines how information flows into a company, while consolidating all submission information into an online database for quick and easy access and management. Submission information may be entered into SMI directly by inventors and/or other outside entities (those parties shall be referred to as "Inventors", and those submissions as "Inventor Submission/s") or may be entered by JEI and represent JEI clients ("JEI Submission/s"). With respect to Inventor Submissions, SMI offers a simplified follow up process by providing automatic email responses generated by SMI at the following distinct points in the process: 1.) upon submission of the information by the Inventor; 2.) upon review of the submission by You and 3.) upon decline of submission by You. Finally, SMI offers a consistent viewing format and the ability to share submissions with other internal decision makers.

Privacy Policy

All registration data and other invention related information collected through SMI is subject to our Privacy Policy. For more information, see our full privacy policy at Privacy Policy. You understand that through your use of SMI, You consent to the collection and use (as set forth in the Privacy Policy) of this information.

Affiliate Program and Referral Process

There is no fee to use or access SMI. Your access to SMI is conditional on You giving JEI the opportunity to contact those Inventors whose submissions are collected via SMI and are declined by You (excluding JEI Submissions).

WITH THE EXCEPTION OF JEI SUBMISSIONS, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL JEI CALL, EMAIL OR CONTACT INVENTORS THAT ARE NOT WITHIN THE PROCESS/POLICY STATED BELOW:

JEI recognizes the sensitivity of offering a resource recommendation to Inventors that submit new products or inventions. As a result, JEI has created a seamless contact management process and policy to manage Inventor referrals appropriately and professionally.

  • First, when a submission form is completed, the Inventor has the option to "Opt Out" of receiving information from an affiliate when and if their submission is declined.
  • No mention of JEI or contact is made by JEI to any Inventor prior to the submission officially being declined in the system by You, WITH one exception described below.
  • SMI automatically triggers a rejection email to the Inventor when You decline the submission. That email will vary depending on whether the Inventor opted-out for affiliate information or not.
  • If the Inventor opted-out, he/she would receive a "rejection" email from You, which includes mention of JEI as an available resource; however, no direct contact by JEI would be made.
  • If the Inventor does not opt out, he/she would receive a "rejection" email from You, which includes mention of JEI as an available resource, and the email would carbon copy a JEI contact. This approach would serve as a seamless handoff to JEI. The JEI contact would subsequently respond to the Inventor via email offering additional information on JEI services.
  • JEI would have no interaction or contact with any Inventor prior to Your decline of the submission in SMI triggering the automatic rejection email unless the Inventor registered independently with JEI after he/she submitted to You.

Exception - If You specify in your Set Up / Manage Account section under Submission Criteria that You do NOT want to receive submissions without patent protection, the online submission form will display a note to the Inventor that does not have patent protection. The note will explain that patent protection is required for submissions and it will offer a link to JEI for assistance. The note is displayed on the third page of the submission form when an Inventor selects the "NO PATENT" option under the patent status drop down box.

JEI SUBMISSIONS

JEI may, from time to time, deliver JEI Submissions to SMI for review and consideration by You. JEI Submissions will be delivered into SMI just as Inventor Submissions, but will be managed by JEI personnel and will reflect only products for which JEI is an authorized agent. By agreeing to accept JEI Submissions, You acknowledge and agree that all information in the JEI Submissions is being provided on an AS IS basis and without any representations and/or warranties whatsoever. For the avoidance of doubt, JEI makes no representation or warranty that the information being submitted is patentable and/or does not infringe on the intellectual property rights of any third party.

MEMBER ELIGIBILITY, ACCOUNT, PASSWORD AND SECURITY

Eligibility: JEI has the right, in JEI’s sole discretion, to deny access to SMI to any parties.

Password: You will receive a password and account designation upon completing the SMI registration process. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the password and account and are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your password or account. You agree to (a) immediately notify JEI by email to support@submitmyinvention.com of any unauthorized use of your password or account or any other breach of security, and (b) ensure that You exit from your account at the end of each session. JEI cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to comply with this Section.

Account Information: You must keep your account information up-to-date and accurate at all times, including a valid email address.

Termination

You may terminate your use of SMI at any time by disabling the SMI link from your website and/or notifying JEI in writing of your wish to terminate the service. JEI may terminate the SMI service at any time with or without cause.

Content

JEI does not claim ownership rights in any content submitted to SMI (“Content”). You agree to allow JEI to store all Content submitted to You through the SMI system.

SubmitMyInvention's Intellectual Property

SMI and other SMI graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and service names are registered trademarks, service marks, tradenames or trade dress of JEI in the U.S. and/or other countries. SMI trademarks and trade dress may not be used, including as part of trademarks and/or as part of domain names or email addresses, in connection with any product or service in any manner that is likely to cause confusion.

Access and Interference

SMI may contain robot exclusion headers, which contain internal rules for software usage. Much of the information on SMI is updated on a real-time basis and is proprietary to JEI. You agree that You will not use any robot, spider, scraper or other automated means to access SMI for any purpose without SMI’s prior express written permission. Additionally, You agree that You will not: copy, reproduce, modify, create derivative works from, distribute or publicly display any content from SMI without the prior expressed written permission of JEI or interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of SMI or any activities conducted on SMI.

Warranty

JEI, JEI’S AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, AGENTS, EMPLOYEES, AND SUPPLIERS PROVIDE SMI "AS IS" AND WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY OR CONDITION, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. JEI, JEI’S AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES AND SUPPLIERS SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, PERFORMANCE, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. IN ADDITION, NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION (ORAL OR WRITTEN) OBTAINED BY YOU FROM SMI SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE DISCLAIMER OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO THE FOREGOING DISCLAIMER MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. THIS WARRANTY GIVES YOU SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS AND YOU MAY ALSO HAVE OTHER LEGAL RIGHTS THAT VARY FROM STATE TO STATE.

Liability Limit

IN NO EVENT SHALL JEI, AND (AS APPLICABLE) JEI’S AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, AGENTS, EMPLOYEES OR SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, WHETHER DIRECT, INDIRECT, GENERAL, SPECIAL, COMPENSATORY, CONSEQUENTIAL, AND/OR INCIDENTAL, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE CONDUCT OF YOU OR ANYONE ELSE IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OF SMI OR THESE TERMS, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOST PROFITS, BODILY INJURY, EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, OR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES. JEI’S LIABILITY, AND (AS APPLICABLE) THE LIABILITY OF JEI’S AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AND SUPPLIERS, TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTIES IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCE IS LIMITED TO $1,000. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

Indemnity

YOU AGREE TO INDEMNIFY AND HOLD JEI AND (AS APPLICABLE) JEI’S AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, AGENTS, EMPLOYEES AND SUPPLIERS, HARMLESS FROM ANY CLAIM OR DEMAND, INCLUDING REASONABLE ATTORNEYS' FEES, MADE BY ANY THIRD PARTY DUE TO OR ARISING OUT OF YOUR BREACH OF THESE TERMS OR THE DOCUMENTS IT INCORPORATES BY REFERENCE, OR YOUR VIOLATION OF ANY LAW OR THE RIGHTS OF A THIRD PARTY.

No Guarantee

JEI DOES NOT GUARANTEE CONTINUOUS, UNINTERRUPTED ACCESS TO SMI, AND OPERATION OF SMI MAY BE INTERFERED WITH BY NUMEROUS FACTORS OUTSIDE JEI’S CONTROL.

Legal Compliance

You shall comply with all applicable domestic and international laws, statutes, ordinances and regulations regarding your use of SMI.

Severability

If any provision of these Terms is held unenforceable, then such provision will be modified to reflect the parties' intention. All remaining provisions of these Terms shall remain in full force and effect.

No Agency

You and JEI are independent contractors, and no agency, partnership, joint venture, employee-employer or franchiser-franchisee relationship is intended or created by these Terms.

SMI Service

JEI reserves the right to modify or terminate the SMI service for any reason, without notice, at any time. JEI reserves the right to alter these Terms or other SMI policies at any time. If the alterations constitute a material change to the Terms, JEI will notify You via email to the email address in your account. What constitutes a "material change" will be determined at SMI’s sole discretion.

Choice of Law

These Terms shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania without regard to its or any other jurisdiction’s conflict of law principles. Any controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms shall be determined by arbitration in the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in accordance with the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) using arbitrators who are experienced commercial litigators admitted before the bar of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. You consent to personal jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the purposes of enforcing and applying this arbitration clause and further consent to the venue of the state and federal courts located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for the purpose of enforcing and applying this arbitration clause. All parties agree to be bound by the results of any arbitration; judgment upon the award so rendered may be entered and enforced in any court of competent jurisdiction.

Notices

Except as explicitly stated otherwise, any notices shall be sent by postal mail to Attn: Jacob Enterprises, Inc., 275 Center Road, Suite 105, Monroeville, PA 15146-1451 or, to the email address you provide to JEI (either during the registration process or when your email address changes). Notice shall be deemed given 24 hours after email is sent, unless the sending party is notified that the email address is invalid. Alternatively, JEI may give you notice by certified mail, postage prepaid and return receipt requested, to the address provided to JEI. In such case, notice shall be deemed given three days after the date of mailing.

Disclosures

The services hereunder are offered by Jacob Enterprises, Inc., located at 275 Center Road, Suite 105, Monroeville, PA 15146.