GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE (the "GTCU")

 

  1. Legal Notice

This website is owned and operated by :

  • Corporate name: Banque de France, an institution governed by Articles L 141-1 et seq. (Title IV, Book 1) of the Monetary and Financial Code
  • Registration RCS Paris: n° 572 104 891
  • NAF code: 6411Z
  • Capital: 1,000,000,000.00 euros
  • Registered office: 1, rue de La Vrillière 75001 PARIS
  • Telephone: 01 42 92 42 92

Created and hosted by Agorize, a simplified joint stock company with a share capital of €107,217.90, registered in the Paris Trade and Companies Register under number 530 774 439 and whose registered office is located at 15 rue Béranger, 75003 Paris, France, Tel: +33 (0) 1 55 43 79 45

 

  1. Purpose

The Banque de France provides an innovation platform service accessible on the website https:\innovation.banque-france.fr (hereinafter referred to as the "Website"), which allows the company to contact users through a challenge.

The present GTC or General Terms of Use govern access to the Website and its Services, as well as the use of these by the User.

By opening an account on the Website, the User must tick a box and confirm that he/she has read and accepted these GTUs, which constitute a legally binding contract with the Banque de France

If the User wishes to participate in a particular Challenge, he/she will be asked to consult and accept the rules applicable to that Challenge.

If the User does not accept these GCU, he/she will not be able to use the Website. The present GTC may be modified at any time by publishing an updated version on this web page. The User will be informed before the amended TOU come into effect.

In order to improve the user experience, the structure and design of the Website and certain Services or content may also be changed without notice.

 

  1. Definitions

In this document, the words or expressions defined in this article shall have the following meaning, whether used in the singular or plural:

"User": any person who does not have an Account and uses the Services offered on the Site.

"Member" means any individual of legal age who has an Account on the Website;

"Account" refers to the account that must be created in order to become a Member and access the Services offered by the Website;

"Summary" means the concise statement of instructions and guidelines for a Challenge prepared by a Sponsor;

"Challenge" means an invitation to submit proposals to address a specific problem or issue issued by a Sponsor that may result in a reward for winning Deliverables submitted via the Website by a Member registered to participate in the Challenge and in accordance with the Challenge Rules;

"Challenge Rules" means the rules applicable to a Challenge which are binding between the Sponsor and each Challenge participant. In the event of any differences or contradictions with the T&Cs, the Challenge Regulations shall apply;

"Community" means all Members of the Website;

"Deliverables" means all articles, original ideas, documents or other materials (such as presentations, videos, etc.) uploaded to the Website by Members in response to and as a solution to a particular Challenge;

 "Services" means all content and products, services, features, technologies or functions provided through the Website; and

"Sponsor" means the company sponsoring a Challenge and submitting a Summary and a Challenge to Members via the Website.

 

  1. Opening account
A. Conditions for opening an Account

The User may be invited to create an Account in the context of a given Service, this creation, and/or the use of a Service, entails the acceptance, without any reservation, of the General Conditions

The User must be at least 18 years old to use the Services. By opening an Account, the User declares that he/she meets this condition.

In case the User represents a company, the User must have the authorization to link his company. The User warrants that he/she has the authority to bind any company or entity on whose behalf he/she uses the Services, and that such company or entity agrees to these terms.

B. Creation of an Account

The Website allows Members to view and register for Challenges and to interact with other Members, Sponsors or the Banque de France through discussion forums, chats, emails and messages. The User may view the Summaries and Challenges if not registered, but may not register or participate in a Challenge without first opening an Account and becoming a Member.

To open an Account, the User must fill in the mandatory fields on the registration form (e.g. name, email address and password). An Account activation link is sent by e-mail; the Account is activated once the User clicks on this link.

The User may delete his or her Account at any time. For more information, please read the Privacy Policy.

To open an account, the User must have read and accepted these TOS and the Privacy Policy.

C. Accuracy of Account information

The User undertakes to provide accurate and truthful data about him/her for the Account associated with his/her profile. The User is solely responsible for updating the information provided.

D. Password

The User is responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the password associated with his/her Account. The User agrees to inform the Banque de France in the event of unauthorised use of his/her Account or in the event of a security breach, for example loss or theft of his/her login details.

 

  1. Services

The Website is an online innovation platform on which Sponsors may develop and publish Summaries and Challenges in which Members may participate, subject to the specific terms of each Challenge as set out in the Challenge Rules.

The Member is allowed to:

  • Access a personalised space on the Website, which contains the user profile and allows the Member to consult the Challenges for which he/she has registered, and to communicate and exchange messages, in particular by e-mail and by means of a chat, with Members, Sponsors, mentors and the Banque de France.
  • Entering Challenges, provided that the Member meets the conditions of the Challenge Rules;
  • Participate in a Challenge as an individual, as a representative of a business entity, or by forming or joining a team, as specified in the Challenge Rules;
  • Download Deliverables to complete a Challenge, as specified in the Challenge Rules;
  • Retrieve data and Deliverables submitted during participation in a given Challenge, as specified in the Challenge Rules.

Sponsors may award prizes for winning Deliverables submitted by Registered Members to participate in a Challenge, as specified in the Challenge Rules.

It is the sole responsibility of the Sponsors to evaluate all Deliverables and to decide independently, according to their own criteria, the winner(s) of a Challenge. Decisions made by the Sponsors are considered final.

 

  1. Content published by Members on the Website

A Member may communicate with other Members, mentors, the Banque de France or Sponsors via the Website. Any information communicated on the Website, both during registration and when using the Services (e.g. posts on public discussion forums, emails, discussions, Deliverables, etc.), is subject to the following:

  • Member certifies that the content it posts is accurate and that it:

- does not infringe or violate any copyright, trademark, patent or other proprietary right or right of publicity or privacy of any third party;

- violates any law (including export control, unfair competition, anti-discrimination or anti-misleading advertising laws).

  • With respect to the Deliverables, the Member warrants:

- that it has the intellectual property rights to the Deliverable ;

- that he/she is not obliged to transfer the rights he/she has in respect of the Deliverable to a third party by virtue of an employment relationship or other contract or that he/she has obtained any necessary authorisation from his/her employer or co-contracting party before submitting the Deliverables.

At any time, the Member may be required to make legally binding warranties and representations to the Sponsor with respect to a Deliverable or any particular information that the Member submits.

  • The Member acknowledges that he/she is solely responsible for the content he/she publishes or uploads to the Website, as well as for the transfer of technology or information in which he/she engages. The Banque de France expressly declines all responsibility in this respect.

 

  1. Rules of conduct for Members on the Website

Certain rules apply to Members.

When using the Website, the Member agrees:

  • not to submit to the Bank of France, or submit to other Members, mentors, the jury or Sponsors any false, misleading, malicious or fraudulent information;
  • not to publish content of a defamatory, abusive, obscene, pornographic, vulgar, offensive, aggressive, inappropriate, violent, threatening, harassing, racist or xenophobic nature, or content with sexual connotations, inciting violence, discrimination or hatred, encouraging illegal activities, or more generally content contradicting the purposes of the Website;
  • not to infringe the rights, and in particular the intellectual property rights, or the image of the Banque de France
  • not to open more than one Account on the Website and not to open an Account in the name of a third party
  • not to use the Account of another Member
  • not to bypass the Website, in particular by attempting to contact a Sponsor or send it Deliverables outside the Website;
  • not to transfer any data that contains viruses, worms, Trojan horses or any other files or computer programs that may disrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer or network directly or indirectly connected to the Website;
  • not to use any device, software or routine which may interfere with the proper working of the Website or which is intended to damage, disrupt, intercept or expropriate any system, data or personal information;
  • not to take any action (for example, sending spam) that imposes an unreasonable burden on the Website;
  • not to breach the principle of confidentiality that may exist in the context of a Challenge; and
  • more generally, not to act in any way that breaches the law or these TOS.

 

  1. Confidentiality

In the context of a Challenge, the Member may be required to keep certain information confidential.

The Member agrees to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Banque de France from and against all claims, actions or demands, liabilities and settlements, including but not limited to reasonable attorneys' fees, arising out of the Member's unauthorized disclosure of confidential information.

 

  1. Intellectual property rights

 A. Grant of licence to the Banque de France by Members

For the technical purposes of the Website and to enable the Services offered by the Website, the Member grants the Banque de France a non-exclusive, free and international licence, for the duration of the contractual relationship, to use the content and data that the Member submits on the Website. In particular, the Member authorises the Banque de France to display, distribute, publish, reproduce, represent, adapt, use and translate any content provided, to disseminate it via the Website and by means of any other communication protocol, and to communicate it to the public, the Community and the Sponsors.

 B. IP rights/limited licence of the Banque de France

This Website is controlled and operated by the Banque de France.

The proprietary software of the Banque de France and the materials contained on the Website, including logos, trademarks, trade names and images, text, illustrations, audio and video files, and the selection, coordination and arrangement of such materials, are protected by copyrights, trademarks, service marks or other proprietary rights owned either by the Banque de France or by other parties, All other trademarks, service marks and trade names used on the Website are the property of their respective owners.

The Banque de France grants a non-exclusive, revocable, personal and non-transferable licence to the Member to use the Website, for personal and private use, on a non-commercial basis and to serve the purposes of the Website.

It is forbidden to make any other use or exploitation of the Website and the Services, as well as their content, without the prior written authorisation of the Banque de France.

In particular, it is forbidden to:

  • to reproduce, adapt, distribute, represent in public and communicate the Website, the Services, the Summaries, the Challenges and the content of the Website;
  • extract or attempt to extract (including by use of data mining robots or any other similar data gathering tool) any substantial part of the data from the Website;
  • reproduce, modify or attempt to discover any source code, create a derivative work therefrom, or subject it to reverse engineering or assembly;
  • modify or attempt to modify the Website in any way or form, unless the Member has the right to modify the content that it has generated on the Website;
  • frame or utilize framing techniques to enclose any trademark, logo or other proprietary information (including descriptions of Challenges, images, text, layout or form);
  • use any meta tags or any other "hidden text" associated with the name or trademarks of the Banque de France.

Any unauthorised use that violates the above terminates the licence granted to the Member.

All new versions, updates or modifications to the Website, Services or associated content shall be subject to these TOU. The Banque de France reserves all rights not expressly granted by these TOU.

 C. Remedies

If the introduction of certain content on the Website has infringed the Member's legitimate intellectual property rights, the Member must inform the Banque de France and communicate the following:

  • Its contact details. If the Member submits the claim on behalf of a third party, he/she must present proof of his/her right to represent said third party;
  • An identification of the Website content in question, which the Member believes is protected by intellectual property rights, as well as its location on the Website (indicating the URL link);
  • The attribution of the aforementioned intellectual property rights; and the reasons for the alleged infringement.

 

  1. Role of the Banque de France / Limitation of liability

The Banque de France has no control over the behaviour of Members, Sponsors, Mentors or other users of its Website.

The Banque de France does not control the information provided by others and made available through the Website; the Banque de France is therefore not responsible for the inaccuracy of such information.

The Banque de France makes every effort to ensure that the information published on the website is accurate and up-to-date. The Banque de France reserves the right to correct this information at any time without notice.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the Banque de France shall not be liable for

- any ambiguity, inaccuracy or omission in the information available on the website; or

- any damage resulting from an intrusion by a third party that could alter the information published on the website or prevent access to the website.

Similarly, the Banque de France does not guarantee that the website will function without interruption, bugs or viruses. In this respect, the User declares that he/she accepts the features and limitations of the Internet.

Members act under their sole and entire responsibility.

The Banque de France accepts no responsibility for the content or use of any Deliverable, for the failure of a Member to complete a Challenge, for any harm caused by Sponsors to a Member, and for any consequential harm such as financial loss, loss of business, or pain and suffering that a Member may suffer as a result of his or her use of the Website or participation in a Challenge.

The Member agrees to submit only to the Sponsor any claim he/she may wish to make regarding the information provided by the Sponsor. If a Member has a dispute with another Member, he/she must inform the Sponsor of all claims, of whatever nature, arising from such dispute.

The Banque de France shall not be liable to the Member for any claims, damages, fees or other costs that the Member may incur or suffer as a result of third party claims related to the Member's use of the Services. In no event shall the Banque de France be liable for any consequential loss, or for any loss of any value whatsoever, assuming that such loss has been properly proven.

The Member agrees that it is his or her responsibility to indemnify the Banque de France at its request against claims by third parties resulting from information that the Member communicates to the Banque de France for publication, or resulting from any violation of these GCU of which the Member is guilty.

Unless otherwise provided by law, the Member agrees that any claim or cause of action related to the use of the Services must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose, failing which it shall be permanently barred.

 

  1. Suspension and termination of the Account, and limitations on access to it

Members may terminate their contractual relationship with the Banque de France and close their Account at any time by clicking on the "Delete your profile" tab on their profile page or by contacting the Banque de France. The termination will take effect immediately.

If the Member fails to comply with his or her commitments as set out in these GCU, or if the Member has a valid reason to believe that the security and integrity of the Banque de France, its Members, the Limited Partners or third parties are threatened, the Banque de France reserves the right to suspend the Account temporarily or permanently.

Where applicable, the Member shall be informed of such a measure so that he/she can react to it. The Banque de France shall decide, at its sole discretion, whether to lift the measures put in place.

 

  1. Personal data

The Banque de France collects and processes certain personal data of Members.

 

By using the Website and registering as a Member, the User acknowledges and accepts the processing of his/her personal data by the Banque de France in the manner set out in the Privacy Policy.

 

For all information concerning the protection of personal data and the exercise of related rights, please refer to the Privacy Policy accessible from the website

 

  1. Operation, availability and functionality of the Platform

The Banque de France makes every effort to ensure that the Website is constantly accessible. However, access to the Website or the use of certain functionalities may be suspended or interrupted without prior notice due to technical maintenance, migration or updates, or due to breakdowns or network constraints, or for other technical reasons.

The Banque de France reserves the right to modify or suspend all or part of the access to the Website or its functionalities, at its sole discretion, temporarily or permanently.

 

  1. Hyperlinks

The Website contains links to other websites. The Banque de France does not control these websites and is not responsible for their content. By including such links, the Banque de France does not endorse the material and content of such websites nor does it become involved in any association with their operators.

 

  1. Modification of the GCU

These GTC and the documents incorporated by reference herein set forth the entire agreement between the Member and the Banque de France regarding the use of the Website and the Services.

The Banque de France may modify these GTC in order to adapt them to its technological and commercial environment and to comply with the law. Any amendment to these GCU shall be published on the Website, mentioning the date of entry into force, and the Banque de France shall inform the Member before the amendments take effect.

 

If one or more provisions of the GCU are declared null and void, non-existent or unenforceable, this shall not affect the validity of the GCU. The other clauses will continue to be valid.

 

  1. Applicable law and jurisdiction clause

These GTU are governed by and interpreted in accordance with French law, without regard to any principle of conflict of laws.

Any complaint may be made to :

Banque de France

1, rue de La Vrillière 75001 PARIS

lab@banque-france.fr

In the event of any dispute arising in connection with the interpretation, performance, termination or conditions of this Agreement, the parties shall endeavour to settle their dispute amicably.

In the event of a contractual dispute with the Banque de France that cannot be settled amicably, it is possible to have recourse to mediation free of charge, by consulting the link https://www.economie.gouv.fr/mediation-conso in order to appoint a mediator.

If the dispute cannot be settled by mediation, the Member irrevocably agrees to submit all disputes to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Paris (France).

  1. Hosting AMAZON WEB SERVICES

Amazon Web Services,

Inc. P.O. Box 81226 Seattle,

WA 98108-1226, USA

http://aws.amazon.com

  1. Attribution of Website Design and Publisher Contact Information

Agorize

15 rue Béranger

75011 PARIS

contact@agorize.com

Tel: (+33) 0 1 55 43 79 45

  1. Date of entry into force

15/03/2023