ADDGENE TERMS OF USE
Last Updated: January 24, 2023
Thank you for visiting Addgene, Inc., a nonprofit organization, dedicated to helping scientists around the world (“Addgene”). This page describes the terms and conditions that govern your use of Addgene’s web pages, including without limitation www.addgene.org, microsites, mobile applications, plasmid profiles and sequencing information, Addgene profiles on social media sites, and any other digital services or properties operated or used by Addgene (collectively the “Site”). Please read these Terms of Use carefully as well as our Transparency & Privacy Policy.
If you have any questions about our Terms of Use or any provision below, please contact us.
Transparency & Privacy Policy
Addgene’s information collection practices are set forth in our Transparency & Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into and made a part of these Terms of Use. In the event of a conflict between these Terms of Use and the Transparency & Privacy Policy, the Transparency & Privacy Policy will prevail.
Conditions of Use
By choosing to use our Site, you are agreeing to abide by all of the terms and conditions of these Terms of Use between you and Addgene. We may change, add or remove portions of these Terms of Use at any time, which shall become effective immediately upon posting. It is your responsibility to review these Terms of Use prior to each use of the Site and by continuing to use the Site, you agree to any changes.
Site Content
Unless specifically noted elsewhere (e.g., our Terms of Access for antibody sequences; AAV Datahub image use permissions, etc.), the following provisions shall apply to the Content on our Site.
Scholarly Use. Addgene is dedicated not only to helping scientists share materials but also to disseminating educational and technical resources. We encourage you to download from our Site any of the material descriptions, FAQs, newsletters, technical bulletins, product information, regulatory and permit information, citations from scientific literature, blog posts, e-books, other data, text and graphics authored by Addgene or provided to Addgene by third parties (collectively “Content”) for your informational, noncommercial use only and pursuant to the IP Restrictions below.
IP Restrictions. Addgene and its contributing third parties retain all copyrights and/or applicable rights to all text, data, graphics, sounds, and any other media provided on the Site. Content may not be reproduced, duplicated, copied, sold, resold, or otherwise exploited for any commercial purpose without the express written consent of Addgene or the applicable third party(ies). You are free to use Content for your informational, noncommercial purposes, so long as you retain all copyright, Marks (defined below), and other proprietary notices contained on such Content.
The Site also contains the trademarks, service marks, logos, trade dress and other identifying marks of Addgene and various third parties in the United States and other countries (collectively, “Marks”). Marks may not be used in connection with any product or service that is likely to cause confusion among customers in regards to the source of the product or service, or in any manner that disparages or discredits Addgene or its contributing third parties. You may not frame or utilize framing techniques to enclose any Mark or use any meta tags or any other "hidden text" utilizing any Mark without the express written consent of Addgene.
Links and Linking. Our site contains links to internet sites operated by other parties. The linked sites are not under the control of Addgene, and Addgene is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of other internet sites. Unless otherwise specified, a link to another site does not imply any relationship, sponsorship, endorsement or affiliation with such organization. We provide links to other internet sites as a convenience to you and other users. Accessing any other sites linked to our Site is done at your own risk.
Unless otherwise set forth in a written agreement between you and Addgene, you must adhere to Addgene’s linking policy as follows: (1) the appearance, position and other aspects of the link may not be such as to damage or dilute the goodwill associated with Addgene’s name or Marks, (2) the appearance, position and other attributes of the link may not create the false appearance that your organization or entity is sponsored by, or endorsed by, affiliated with, or associated with Addgene, (3) when selected by a user, the link must display our Site on a full-screen without any additions or modifications and not within a frame on the linking Site, and (4) Addgene reserves the right to revoke its consent to the link at any time, at its sole discretion, without notice.
Content Control. Addgene retains the right to remove any Content or user-submitted information for any reason, including but not limited to, Content or user-submitted information that we deem threatening, demeaning, profane, obscene, a violation of intellectual property rights or privacy laws, off-topic, commercial or promotion of organizations or programs, or otherwise injurious or illegal. We also retain the right to ban or block a user from posting on our social media profiles without notice for a pattern of inappropriate postings or as we deem necessary or appropriate.
Content Contributions by You - Data, Comments, Etc.
Your Submissions. Portions of our Site will allow you to submit technical data (e.g., plasmid deposits), comments (e.g., Addgene’s blog and social media pages), and other information (collectively, “Submissions”). You are solely responsible for the content of your Submissions. You shall not upload to, or distribute or otherwise publish to our Site, any libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, abusive, or otherwise illegal material. You shall not provide us any false information nor submit any information of another without their permission. While Addgene has taken steps to secure our users’ accounts, you are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account and password, for restricting access to your computer and for all activities that occur under your account or password.
Please notify us if you know of, or suspect, any unauthorized use(s) of your account or suspected breaches of security, including loss, theft, or unauthorized disclosure of your login credentials.
Interactions. To the extent that our Site allows you to interact with us and others (e.g., blog comments and social media), you agree that you will not threaten or verbally abuse others, use defamatory language, or deliberately disrupt discussions with repetitive messages, meaningless messages or "spam." You agree not to use language that abuses or discriminates on the basis of race, religion, nationality, gender, sexual preference, age, region, disability, etc.
Use of Submissions. You acknowledge that any Submissions you provide to us through our Site may be copied, removed, modified, published, transmitted, displayed, indexed, adapted, and/or archived by Addgene and its agents. Additionally, by submitting ideas, suggestions, documents, and/or proposals (collectively, "Suggestions") to us through our suggestion or feedback webpages, you acknowledge and agree that: (1) your Suggestions do not contain confidential or proprietary information; (2) Addgene is not under any obligation of confidentiality, express or implied, with respect to your Suggestions; (3) Addgene shall be entitled to use or disclose (or choose not to use or disclose) such Suggestions for any purpose, in any way, in any media worldwide; (4) Addgene may have something similar to your Suggestions already under consideration or in development; (5) your Suggestions do not obligate Addgene to you in any way; and (6) you are not entitled to any compensation or reimbursement of any kind from Addgene under any circumstances.
Use of Site
Permitted Use. Our Site, including its Content, is dedicated to facilitating the sharing of materials and educational and technical resources. Unless you have been given explicit permission by Addgene, you are not permitted to: (1) access, nor attempt to access, portions of our Site that are non-public and otherwise unavailable to you; (2) use automated systems or software to extract data from our Site for commercial purposes (“website scraping”); (3) use Content for commercial purposes; and (4) share, distribute, transfer, copy or otherwise use our Site and its Content to any person or entity in any jurisdiction or country where such distribution or use would be contrary to law or regulation or which would subject Addgene to any registration requirement within such jurisdiction or country.
Ordering Materials. To order materials, you must acknowledge Addgene’s Terms of Purchase prior to submitting your order. The Terms of Purchase will be made available to you when you start to submit your order, and can also be downloaded from our webpage under the site map section. Additionally, to order certain third party materials that have been provided to Addgene for distribution, you may be asked to acknowledge and/or have approved by your organization separate third party terms (e.g., the applicable material transfer agreements) prior to submitting your order. You must have an approved, current account with Addgene to place an order with Addgene. We reserve the right to refuse service, terminate accounts, remove or edit content, or cancel orders at our sole discretion.
Regulatory Requirements. Anyone purchasing materials from or depositing materials with Addgene is ultimately responsible for obtaining all necessary permits and for complying with all applicable laws and regulatory requirements.
Rewards Program. Our rewards program for depositing is described here.
LEGAL
No Representations and Warranties. OUR SITE AND ALL CONTENT, ARE PROVIDED TO YOU ON AN “AS IS” OR “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, TYPICALITY, VALIDITY, SAFETY AND ACCURACY. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR VERIFYING THAT THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IS APPROPRIATE FOR YOUR SPECIFIC SITUATION BEFORE RELYING ON IT. NEITHER ADDGENE NOR ITS CONTENT CONTRIBUTORS SHALL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN RESULTS OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THIS INFORMATION. USE OF OUR SITES, MATERIALS, CONTENT, AND ANY OTHER RELATED INFORMATION PROVIDED TO YOU BY US IS DONE AT YOUR SOLE RISK. NEITHER ADDGENE NOR ITS CONTENT CONTRIBUTORS MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES THAT USE OF OUR SITES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE OR COMPLETELY SECURE. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR TAKING ALL NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS TO ENSURE THAT ANY CONTENT OR MATERIAL YOU OBTAIN FROM OUR SITE ARE FREE OF ANY POTENTIALLY HARMFUL DEVICES, INCLUDING VIRUSES.
Limitation of Liability. ADDGENE AND ITS CONTENT CONTRIBUTORS SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ANY LIABILITY, WHETHER BASED IN CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR SPECIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO ACCESS TO OR USE OF OUR SITES OR CONTENT, EVEN IF ADDGENE OR ITS CONTENT CONTRIBUTORS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO RELIANCE BY ANY PARTY ON ANY CONTENT OR MATERIALS OBTAINED THROUGH THE USE OF OUR SITE, OR THAT ARISES UNDER OR RELATES TO MISTAKES OR OMISSIONS IN, OR DELAYS IN TRANSMISSION OF, INFORMATION TO OR FROM YOU, INTERRUPTIONS IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS CONNECTIONS TO OUR SITE OR VIRUSES, WHETHER CAUSED IN WHOLE OR IN PARTY BY NEGLIGENCE, ACTS OF GOD, TELECOMMUNICATIONS FAILURES, THEFT OR DESTRUCTION, OR UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO, OUR SITES, CONTENT OR RELATED INFORMATION OR PROGRAMS.
Some jurisdictions do not allow the disclaimer or exclusion of certain warranties or the disclaimer, exclusion or limitation of certain liabilities. To the extent that they are held to be legally invalid, disclaimers, exclusions and limitations set forth in these terms of use, including those set forth in the preceding sections, do not apply and all other terms shall remain in full force and effect.
Applicable Law. Unless you are the United States government or its representative, the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, without reference to its choice of law rules, shall govern these Terms of Use and any agreement that you and/or your institution execute on our Site. For the United States government or its representative, these Terms of Use shall be construed in accordance with Federal law as applied by the Federal courts in the District of Columbia. Our Sites are operated by Addgene from its offices in Watertown, Massachusetts, USA. Neither Addgene nor its Content contributors make any representation that the Content in our Sites is appropriate or available for use in other locations, and access to our Sites from locations/territories where the Content may be illegal is prohibited. Those who choose to access our Sites from other locations do so on their own initiative and are responsible for compliance with applicable local laws. These Terms of Use constitute the entire agreement between Addgene (and on Addgene's Content contributors' behalf) and you with respect to our Site.
Arbitration. Unless you are the United States government or its representative, any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to these Terms of Use shall be settled by binding arbitration in accordance with the commercial arbitration rules of the American Arbitration Association. Any such controversy or claim shall be arbitrated on an individual basis, and shall not be consolidated in any arbitration with any claim or controversy of any other party. The arbitration shall be conducted in Watertown, Massachusetts, if available, or Boston, Massachusetts, and judgment on the arbitration award may be entered into any court having jurisdiction thereof. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the foregoing, Addgene may obtain from a court any interim or provisional relief that may be necessary to protect Addgene’s rights or property. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Addgene reserves the right to seek all remedies available at law and in equity for violations of the rules and regulations set forth in our Site, including the right to block access from a particular Internet address to our Site.