NEOSENSORY HAPTIC APP CHALLENGE OFFICIAL RULES
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING A PRIZE.
THESE OFFICIAL RULES CONTAIN AN ARBITRATION AGREEMENT, WHICH WILL, WITH LIMITED EXCEPTION, REQUIRE YOU TO SUBMIT CLAIMS YOU HAVE AGAINST SPONSOR (AS DEFINED BELOW) TO BINDING AND FINAL ARBITRATION. UNDER THE ARBITRATION AGREEMENT, (1) YOU WILL ONLY BE PERMITTED TO PURSUE CLAIMS AGAINST SPONSOR ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS, NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION OR PROCEEDING, AND (2) YOU WILL ONLY BE PERMITTED TO SEEK RELIEF (INCLUDING MONETARY, INJUNCTIVE AND DECLARATORY RELIEF) ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS.
The Neosensory Haptic App Challenge (the “Contest”) is a skill competition which is governed by these Official Rules (the “Rules”). In order to enter the Contest, you must agree to these Rules. Therefore, please read these Rules prior to entry to ensure you understand and agree. You agree that submission of an entry in the Contest constitutes agreement to these Rules. You may not submit an entry to the Contest and are not eligible to receive the prizes described in these Rules unless you agree to these Rules. These Rules form a binding legal agreement between you and Neosensory, Inc. (the “Sponsor” or “Neosensory”) with offices at 1302 Waugh Drive, #447, Houston, TX, 77019. THE CONTEST IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW and is subject to applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations.
1. PRIZE: There will be one (1) winner for the Contest. The prize for the winner (the “Prize”) will be One Thousand U.S. Dollars ($1,000.00) cash.
2. ELIGIBILITY: This Contest is open to residents of, and legal organizations organized and domiciled in, any country in the world with the exception to Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria as well as the state of Rhode Island in the United States and the District of Columbia, who meet the following criteria:
a. Individual entrants and team members must be 18 years of age or older as of 11:59 p.m. Pacific time on the day before the Contest Start Date. Organizations must be organized and validly existing as of 11:59 p.m. Pacific time on the day before the Contest Start Date. All such information may be verified prior to awarding a prize.
b. If you enter as a team (a “Team”) or legal organization (an “Entity”), the Team or Entity must appoint and authorize one individual as a representative (the “Representative”). The Representative and each Team and Entity member must meet all eligibility requirements. By entering as a Representative, you represent and warrant that you are authorized to act on behalf of your Team or Entity, that each member of your Team or Entity has reviewed and accepted these Rules, and that you have the consent, authority and rights to fulfill all obligations for participation in the Contest, including but not limited to those necessary to grant the rights set forth in these Rules. Members of Teams and Organizations may be required to sign additional agreements acknowledging, and confirming Sponsor’s rights arising in, these Rules during the Contest Period and prior to being eligible to receive a prize.
c. Employees, volunteers, independent contractors, officers and directors of the Sponsor, its affiliates and subsidiaries, its advertising and fulfillment agencies, its legal advisors, and such parties’ immediate family members and persons living in the same household are not eligible to participate in the Contest.
3. CONTEST PERIOD: The Contest begins at 12:01 a.m. Pacific time on July 16, 2020 and ends at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time on September 10, 2020. The beginning of the Contest is referred to as the “Contest Start Date” and the end of the Contest is referred to as the “Contest End Date” with the period of the Contest referred to herein as a “Contest Period.” The Contest will be conducted in two phases:
a. First Phase: During the period from 12:01 a.m. Pacific time on July 16, 2020 to 11:59 p.m. Pacific time on July 30, 2020, Sponsor will accept entries. Each entrant (an individual, a Team or an Entity) (the “Entrant”) will send their profile (including past development experience and GitHub link) and feature ideas (with an abstract of how it would work) (the “Concepts”) to this online form. Judges will then pick the five (5) best ideas and send to the five (5) Entrants a Buzz product so that they can continue to the Second Phase. An Entrant can only proceed to the Second Phase if selected by the judges.
b. Second Phase: Following the end of the First Phase until the Contest End Date, Entrants selected for the Second Phase shall have until the Contest End Date to submit a fully-functioning mobile application, along with all source code, and any additional instructions or assets required to build, run, and test the application (collectively, the “Apps”). Judges will then select the winner of the Contest.
c. All dates and times are subject to change, in Sponsor’s sole discretion.
4. HOW TO ENTER: To enter, please follow the steps below:
To enter the First Phase, participants must visit this online form to provide the Judges with their email address, location, product idea, and other relevant experience. Upon an entrant being selected, Neosensory will contact the entrant to obtain shipping details for the Buzz product award. To enter the Second Phase, winning entrants must email their fully-functioning mobile application, source code, and other required materials as described in section 3b. to ndc@neosensory.com by the Contest End Date.
5. ENTRY REQUIREMENTS: All entries must comply with all of the following requirements (“Entry Requirements”):
a. Entrants must provide necessary information to enter into an API License with Sponsor at https://neosensory.com/developers/ and accept Sponsor’s API License Agreement (the “API License”).
b. All entries must be submitted in English. During the First Phase there is no limit to the number of entries that can be submitted by an individual, Team or Entity.
c. Other than open source libraries that are specifically identified in Second Phase submissions (“Authorized Additions”), all entries must be the original work of the Entrant.
d. Other than the use of Sponsor’s Buzz product or software license under the API License, entrants must use their own hardware and/or software they believe they need to participate (e.g. laptops, phones).
e. By submitting an entry, each individual participant (whether an individual or member of a Team or Organization), Team and Entity, warrants and represents: (i) that the entry, other than Authorized Additions, is your (or your Team’s or Entity’s) original work; (ii) that it has not been previously published, sold or submitted in any other contest or promotion; (iii) that it does not infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks, rights of privacy, publicity or other intellectual property or other rights of any person or entity; and (iv) that it was not developed in any substantive form prior to the Contest.
f. Entries must not include information or content that is false, fraudulent, deceptive, misleading, defamatory, threatening, trade libelous, slanderous, libelous, disparaging, unlawfully harassing, profane, obscene, pornographic, hateful, indecent, inappropriate or injurious to any individual, Sponsor, or any third party.
g. Other than the use of Sponsor’s Buzz product, use of Sponsor’s software license under the API License, or Authorized Additions, Entrants must use their own hardware and/or software they believe they need to participate.
h. All information provided to register for the Contest must be true and correct at all times applicable to the Contest.
i. By participating in a Contest, each individual participant (whether an individual or member of a Team or Organization), Team and Entity: (i) accepts the conditions stated in these Rules, agrees to be bound by the decisions of the Sponsor, and warrants that the participant is eligible to participate in the Contest; (ii) agrees not to submit any materials that are: (a) unlawful, libelous, slanderous, defamatory or invasive of another person’s right of privacy or right of publicity, or that may be harmful, vulgar, obscene, derogatory, pornographic, abusive, harassing, threatening, hateful, objectionable with respect to race, religion, creed, national origin or gender; or (b) is not his, her or its original work, other than Authorized Additions.
6. JUDGING CRITERIA AND WINNER SELECTION: Entries that fail to meet the Eligibility Criteria and the Entry Requirements by the end of the Contest Period will be deemed incomplete and, at the discretion of Sponsor, may be disqualified. Judging at each phase will be based on the judging criteria below by Sponsor representatives, which is subject to change on the discretion of the judges and specific to each of the Contest phases:
- Technical feasibility – 25%
- Innovation and originality – 25%
- Respect of users’ privacy – 25%
- Ability to harness the power of Buzz technology (as per this blog post) – 25%
Within ten (10) days following the end of the Contest Period, a winner will be selected. Decisions of Sponsor are final and binding in all respects. Neosensory will send a private message to the winning Entrant with instructions on how to claim the prize and, where lawful, may also include the requirement for execution and return of an Affidavit of Eligibility, Release of Liability and Publicity Release, and any other documentation required from Teams and Entities. Sponsor is not responsible for and shall not be liable for late, lost, misdirected or unsuccessful efforts to notify a potential winner. Each potential winner may also be required to provide proof of identification. In the event a potential winner does not accept the prize within five (5) business days of notification, or if such potential winner is ineligible, fails return or provide any documentation or identification requested in accordance with these Rules, or the prize or prize notification is not deliverable, then that prize shall be deemed forfeited and void as to that participant.
Each individual participant (whether an individual or member of a Team or Organization) agrees to the Sponsor’s use of the winner’s name, likeness and/or prize information for promotional purposes in any medium without additional compensation to the extent permitted by law. Further, while entrants retain the copyrights to their submissions, by entering a Contest, you grant Sponsor a royalty-free, perpetual, transferable, worldwide, irrevocable, sublicensable right and license to: (i) reproduce, publish, distribute, republish, publicly display and otherwise utilize your submission for advertising and promotional purposes, and to publish and display your name in conjunction therewith, and (ii) use, copy, make, have made, use, sell, market, distribute, export and import any product, software application or other time that may be based on or derived from, or include portions of, the Concepts or the Apps, in each case without further consideration or compensation.
The value of the Prize will be taxable to the winner as income. All federal, provincial, territorial, state and local taxes and any other costs and expenses associated with the acceptance and/or use of the Prize not specifically provided for in these Rules are solely the winner’s responsibility. Winner is solely responsible for reporting and paying any and all applicable taxes. If the Winner is a Team or Entity, the Representative shall be responsible for dividing the Prize amongst the participants of the Team or Entity and any tax consequences of the same. United States residents will have income reported to them on IRS Form 1099, as required under IRS rules and a copy of said form will be sent to the IRS. Please contact your own tax advisor for any questions concerning taxes.
7. ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS:
a. Release and Indemnity: Sponsor and its agents, directors, officers, shareholders, employees, insurers, parents, subsidiaries, divisions, affiliates, predecessors, successors, representatives, advertising, promotion and fulfillment agencies and legal advisors (each a “Released Entity” and collectively, the “Released Entities”), are not responsible for, shall not be liable for, and hereby disclaim all liability arising from or relating to: (a) late, lost, delayed, damaged, misdirected, misaddressed, incomplete or unintelligible entries; (b) telephone, electronic, hardware or software program, network, Internet, computer or other malfunctions, failures or difficulties of any kind, whether human or technical; (c) failed, incomplete, garbled or delayed computer or email transmissions; (d) any condition caused by events beyond the control of the applicable Released Entity; (e) any injuries, losses or damages of any kind arising in connection with or as a result of any prize, or any portion thereof that may have been awarded, or acceptance, possession or use of any prize, or any portion thereof that may have been awarded, or from participation in the Contest; (f) any printing or typographical errors in any materials associated with the Contest; or (g) any act, failure to act, or conduct of a third party. The Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to suspend, modify or cancel the Contest should any unauthorized human intervention or other causes beyond the Sponsor’s control corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness or proper conduct of the Contest. By participating in the Contest, each participant agrees to release, indemnify, discharge and hold harmless the Released Entities, and all others associated with the development and execution of the Contest from any and all losses, damages, rights, claims and actions of any kind arising out of or relating to the Contest, participation in the Contest, any prize, or any portion thereof that may have been awarded, and/or acceptance, possession, use or misuse of any prize, or any portion thereof that may have been awarded, including but not limited to statutory and common law claims for misappropriation, infringement, or a participant’s right of publicity. The Contest shall be governed by California law.
b. Privacy: Entrants agree that personal data submitted with an entry, including without limitation name, mailing address, phone number, and email address may be collected, processed, stored and otherwise used by Sponsor and its affiliates for the purposes of conducting and administering the Contest. Sponsor may also use your personal information to send you updates and promotional materials from time to time. The information collected is subject to Sponsor’s privacy policy located at https://neosensory.com/legal/privacy-policy. By participating in the Contest, you agree to Sponsor’s privacy policy, as it may apply to the collection and use of your personal information and acknowledge that you have read and accepted Sponsor’s privacy policy. If you are located in the European Union or other regions with laws governing data collection and use that may differ from U.S. law, please note that we may transfer information, including personal information, to a country and jurisdiction that does not have the same data protection laws as your jurisdiction, and you consent to the transfer of information to the U.S. or any other country in which Sponsor, its parent, subsidiaries, affiliates, or service providers maintain facilities and the use and disclosure of information about you as described in Sponsor’s Privacy Policy.
8. ARBITRATION AGREEMENT: PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY AS IT AFFECTS YOUR RIGHTS.
a. Agreement to Arbitrate. This Section 8 is referred to in these Rules as the “Arbitration Agreement.” You agree that any and all disputes or claims that have arisen or may arise between you and the Sponsor, whether arising out of or relating to these Rules (including any alleged breach thereof), the Contest, your participation in the Contest, the prizes, acceptance, possession use or misuse of the prizes, any advertising or any aspect of the relationship or transactions between you and the Sponsor, shall be resolved exclusively through final and binding arbitration, rather than a court, in accordance with the terms of this Arbitration Agreement, except that you may assert individual claims in small claims court, if your claims qualify. Further, this Arbitration Agreement does not preclude you from bringing issues to the attention of federal, state or local agencies, and such agencies can, if the law allows, seek relief against the Sponsor on your behalf. You agree that, by participating in the Contest and entering into these Rules, you and the Sponsor are each waiving the right to a trial by jury or to participate in a class action. Your rights will be determined by a neutral arbitrator, not a judge or jury. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this Arbitration Agreement.
b. Prohibition of Class and Representative Actions and Non-Individualized Relief. YOU AND THE SPONSOR AGREE THAT EACH OF US MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION OR PROCEEDING. UNLESS BOTH YOU AND THE SPONSOR AGREE OTHERWISE, THE ARBITRATOR MAY NOT CONSOLIDATE OR JOIN MORE THAN ONE PERSON’S OR PARTY’S CLAIMS AND MAY NOT OTHERWISE PRESIDE OVER ANY FORM OF A CONSOLIDATED, REPRESENTATIVE OR CLASS PROCEEDING. ALSO, THE ARBITRATOR MAY AWARD RELIEF (INCLUDING MONETARY, INJUNCTIVE AND DECLARATORY RELIEF) ONLY IN FAVOR OF THE INDIVIDUAL PARTY SEEKING RELIEF AND ONLY TO THE EXTENT NECESSARY TO PROVIDE RELIEF NECESSITATED BY THAT PARTY’S INDIVIDUAL CLAIM(S).
c. Pre-Arbitration Dispute Resolution. The Sponsor is always interested in resolving disputes amicably and efficiently, and most participant concerns can be resolved quickly and to the participant’s satisfaction by emailing resolution@neosensory.com. If such efforts prove unsuccessful, a party who intends to seek arbitration must first send to the other a written Notice of Dispute (“Notice”). The Notice to the Sponsor should be sent to Neosensory Inc., 1302 Waugh Drive, #447, Houston, TX, 77019, Attn: Legal (“Notice Address”). The Notice must (i) describe the nature and basis of the claim or dispute and (ii) set forth the specific relief sought. If the Sponsor and you do not resolve the claim within sixty (60) calendar days after the Notice is received, you or the Sponsor may commence an arbitration proceeding. During the arbitration, the amount of any settlement offer made by the Sponsor or you shall not be disclosed to the arbitrator until after the arbitrator determines the amount, if any, to which you or the Sponsor is entitled.
d. Arbitration Procedures. Arbitration will be conducted by a neutral arbitrator in accordance with the American Arbitration Association’s (“AAA”) rules and procedures, including the AAA’s Supplementary Procedures for Consumer-Related Disputes (collectively, the “AAA Rules”), as modified by this Arbitration Agreement. For information on the AAA, please visit its website, http://www.adr.org. Information about the AAA Rules and fees for consumer disputes can be found at the AAA’s consumer arbitration page, http://www.adr.org/Consumer. If there is any inconsistency between any term of the AAA Rules and any term of this Arbitration Agreement, the applicable terms of this Arbitration Agreement will control unless the arbitrator determines that the application of the inconsistent Arbitration Agreement terms would not result in a fundamentally fair arbitration. The arbitrator must also follow the provisions of these Rules as a court would. All issues are for the arbitrator to decide, including, but not limited to, issues relating to the scope, enforceability and arbitrability of this Arbitration Agreement. Although arbitration proceedings are usually simpler and more streamlined than trials and other judicial proceedings, the arbitrator can award the same damages and relief on an individual basis that a court can award to an individual under these Rules and applicable law. Decisions by the arbitrator are enforceable in court and may be overturned by a court only for very limited reasons.
Unless the Sponsor and you agree otherwise, any arbitration hearings will take place in a reasonably convenient location for both parties with due consideration of their ability to travel and other pertinent circumstances. If the parties are unable to agree on a location, the determination shall be made by AAA. If your claim is for $10,000 or less, the Sponsor agrees that you may choose whether the arbitration will be conducted solely on the basis of documents submitted to the arbitrator, through a telephonic hearing, or by an in-person hearing as established by the AAA Rules. If your claim exceeds $10,000, the right to a hearing will be determined by the AAA Rules. Regardless of the manner in which the arbitration is conducted, the arbitrator shall issue a reasoned written decision sufficient to explain the essential findings and conclusions on which the award is based.
e. Costs of Arbitration. Payment of all filing, administration and arbitrator fees (collectively, the “Arbitration Fees”) will be governed by the AAA Rules, unless otherwise provided in this Arbitration Agreement. Any payment of attorneys’ fees will be governed by the AAA Rules.
f. Confidentiality. All aspects of the arbitration proceeding, and any ruling, decision or award by the arbitrator, will be strictly confidential for the benefit of all parties.
g. Severability. If a court or the arbitrator decides that any term or provision of this Arbitration Agreement other than Section 8(b) above is invalid or unenforceable, the parties agree to replace such term or provision with a term or provision that is valid and enforceable and that comes closest to expressing the intention of the invalid or unenforceable term or provision, and this Arbitration Agreement shall be enforceable as so modified. If a court or the arbitrator decides that any of the provisions of Section 8(b) is invalid or unenforceable, then the entirety of this Arbitration Agreement shall be null and void. The remainder of these Rules will continue to apply.
9. WINNERS LIST: To obtain the first name, last initial, city and state of the winner after the Assessment Period, send a separate self-addressed, stamped envelope marked “Neosensory Contest Winners List” to the Sponsor. Requests for the winners list must be received no later than ninety (90) days after the Contest End Date (residents of Vermont and Washington need not include return postage).
10. NOTICE: The Sponsor reserves the right to prosecute and seek damages against any individual who attempts to deliberately undermine the proper operation of a Contest in violation of these Rules and/or criminal and/or civil law.
Copyright © 2020 Neosensory Inc. All rights reserved. Neosensory, Neosensory Buzz and the associated logos are trademarks of Neosensory Inc.