BPSA Terms of Use

Last updated: August 15, 2022

INTRODUCTION

This Website is owned and operated by the Bio-Process Systems Alliance (“BPSA”), an affiliate of the Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates (“SOCMA”) headquartered in Virginia. These terms of use apply to BPSA’s digital platforms, including this and other BPSA websites, mobile apps, tablet apps and other online content offerings (collectively the “Website.”).

PLEASE READ THESE TERMS OF USE CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS WEBSITE.

By using this Website, you signify your agreement to these Terms of Use. If you do not agree to these Terms of Use, please do not use this Website. We reserve the right, at our discretion, to change, add, remove or otherwise modify portions of these Terms of Use, along with any portion of our Website and Service, at any time. Please check these Terms of Use periodically for changes. By posting the amended Terms of Use on this Website, the amendments are effective immediately. Your continued use of this Website following the posting of changes to these Terms of Use means you accept those changes.

OWNERSHIP

All content included on this Website, including, without limitation, text, graphics, images, logos, audio or video clips, digital downloads, data compilations and software, is the property of BPSA or its content suppliers or licensors and protected by the laws of the United States and other countries and international treaties. The compilation of all content of this Website is the property of BPSA and is protected by the laws of the United States and other countries and international treaties. All trademarks that are not owned by BPSA that appear on this Website are the property of their respective owners, which may or may not be affiliated with or connected to BPSA.

USE OF WEBSITE AND SERVICE

BPSA grants you a limited license to access and make personal, non-commercial use of this Website. In accordance with these Terms of Use, you are not permitted to download any material (including, without limitation, software, text, graphics or other content), except for printing single copies of pages, as necessary to access the Website (for personal, non-commercial use provided that all copyright and proprietary notices are maintained), frame, link to any page within or modify all or part of the Website without our express written consent. You may not redistribute, sell, de-compile, reverse engineer, disassemble or otherwise reduce to a human-readable form software that you are permitted to download from the Website hereunder, except as may be permitted by law. Except only as expressly provided herein, this Website (or any derivative work version of it), its contents and any member or account information may not in any form or by any means now known or hereafter developed be reproduced, displayed, downloaded, uploaded, published, repurposed, posted, distributed, transmitted, resold, or otherwise exploited for any purpose without our prior express written consent. All rights not expressly granted to you above, including ownership and title, are reserved for the owner and not transferred or licensed to you.

You may use the Website and Service for lawful purposes only. You agree to be financially responsible for all donations and transactions made by you or someone acting on your behalf through the Website. You agree to use the Website and if desired, to donate to BPSA through the Website for legitimate, non-commercial purposes only. You will not post or transmit through the Website or Service any material which violates or infringes the rights of others, or which is threatening, abusive, defamatory, libelous, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, vulgar, obscene, profane or otherwise objectionable, contains injurious formulas, recipes, or instructions, which encourages conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any law.

By accessing or using this Website, you verify that you are at least 13 years of age or have the requisite approval and supervision of a parent or guardian to use and access this Website.

ACCOUNT CREATION AND REGISTRATION DATA

In order to access some of the services, applications or products offered by BPSA, you may be required to register and/or provide personal information, such as name, email, telephone number and birthdate (“Registration Data”).  Although information may be required to participate in certain activities or promotions, participants provide that information voluntarily.

By registering, you agree to: i) provide true, accurate and complete information about yourself as prompted by the registration form; and (ii) maintain and promptly update the Registration Data to keep it true, accurate, current and complete. You acknowledge and agree BPSA shall have no liability associated with or arising from your failure to maintain accurate Registration Data, including but not limited to your failure to receive critical information about the Website or any mobile service or your account. You further agree BPSA is authorized to verify such Registration Data. The information we obtain through your use of this Website, mobile Website, or any BPSA app is subject to our Privacy Policy.

With the exception of donation confirmation and transaction related communications, every subsequent BPSA email communication will carry a simple opt-out or unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email. Any suspected abuse of your Registration Data should be reported to BPSA using the contact information provided below.

If you use this Website, you are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your membership and account information, credit card information, usernames, passwords and IDs that may be required to use the Website from time to time (“Account Information”) and for restricting access to your computer or other devices, and you agree that you are responsible for all activity that occurs under or with the use of your Account Information (including, without limitation, usernames and password). BPSA reserves the right in their sole discretion to refuse access to the Website or Services provided through it, terminate accounts and usage rights, edit or remove content or Submissions (as defined below) and cancel orders or requests for materials made through the Website.

BPSA adheres to strict data management protocols as described further in the “Privacy Policy.”

MERCHANDISE AND ORDERING

We make reasonable efforts to display merchandise on this Website as accurately as possible. Sometimes, however, factors including the display and color capabilities of your computer monitor, may significantly affect what you see on your screen. We are not responsible for the display of any color or detail of merchandise on your computer screen and do not guarantee that that such display is accurate. In addition, some featured merchandise may be available only in limited quantities or only while supplies last.

Although we will attempt to remove any items that are out of stock from the Website in a timely manner, display of an item on the Website is not a guarantee that the item is currently available or that it will be available on a later date. The Service is offered subject to our acceptance of your order or requests. We reserve the right to refuse service to any order, person, or entity at our discretion without the obligation to assign reason for doing so. No order is deemed accepted until your payment has been processed. We may change or discontinue any aspect or feature of the Website or Service at any time, subject to our fulfillment of our prior responsibilities to you based on our acceptance of your payment. If we choose to refuse your order after payment has been processed, we will refund your money.

SUBMISSION OF MATERIALS

You will not upload, post, or otherwise make available on the Website any artwork, photos, or other materials (collectively, “Materials”) protected by copyright, trademark or other proprietary right without the owner’s express written permission, and the burden of determining that any Materials are not protected rests entirely with you. You will be liable for any damage resulting from any infringement of copyrights, trademarks, or other proprietary rights, or any other harm resulting from such a submission. For all Materials submitted by you to the Website, you automatically represent or warrant that you have the authority to use and distribute the Materials, and that the use or display of the Materials will not violate any laws, rules, regulations, or third party rights. You agree that no Materials submitted by you will contain libelous, abusive, obscene or otherwise unlawful material and you acknowledge and agree that you are exclusively liable for the content of any Submission made by you.

If you transmit or otherwise deliver Materials to BPSA, you grant BPSA a nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable (or the longest period permitted under law) license (with the right to sublicense and assign) to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform and display, transmit, make, sell, create derivative works from and distribute such Materials or incorporate such Materials into other works in any form or medium and through any means or modes of distribution or technology now known or hereafter developed

FORUMS AND PUBLIC COMMUNICATION

“Forum” means a chat area, message board, social media Website, app, email function or other function which allows you to transmit or submit material to the Website for display, storage or distribution, offered as part of any BPSA or by an affiliated company/organization and/or service provider of BPSA. Where the Forum is provided on a Website other than a BPSA Website, you will be bound by the terms of service and privacy policy of the Website you have linked to. If you participate in any Forum within the Website, you must not and agree that you will not through the use of any Submission or otherwise:

  • defame, abuse, harass or threaten others;
  • make any bigoted, hateful or racially offensive statements;
  • advocate illegal activity or discuss illegal activities with the intent to commit them;
  • post or distribute any material that infringes and/or violates any right of a third party or any law;
  • post or distribute any vulgar, obscene, discourteous or indecent language or images;
  • advertise or sell to, or solicit, others;
  • use the Forum for commercial purposes of any kind;
  • post or distribute any software or other materials which contain a virus or other harmful component; or
  • post material or make statements that do not generally pertain to the designated topic or theme of any chat room or bulletin board.

In addition, you must note and agree that you will not use a false email address, impersonate any person or entity or otherwise mislead others as to the source of origin of a Submission.

BPSA reserves the right to remove or edit content from any BPSA Forum at any time and for any reason but does not regularly review posted Submissions.

Any material transmitted, submitted or otherwise delivered to a Forum shall constitute a Submission and is hereby governed by the terms applicable to Submissions as described herein.

When participating in a Forum, never assume that people are whom they say they are, know what they say they know, or are affiliated with whom they say they are affiliated with in any chat room, message board or other user-generated content area. Information obtained in a Forum may not be reliable, and we are not responsible for the content or accuracy of any information.

CONTENT LINKED TO ANY BPSA WEBSITE

Please exercise discretion while browsing the Internet using any BPSA Website. You should be aware that while you are on a BPSA Website, you could be directed to other sites that are beyond our control. There are links to other sites from BPSA pages that take you outside of our service. This includes links from sponsors and content partners that may use our logo(s) as part of a co-branding or other agreement. These other sites may send their own cookies to users, collect data, solicit personal information, or contain information that you may find inappropriate or offensive. BPSA reserves the right to disable links from third party sites to any BPSA Website. We make no representations concerning the content of sites linked to any BPSA Website or listed in any of our directories. Consequently, we cannot be held responsible for the accuracy, relevancy, copyright compliance, legality or decency of material contained in sites listed in our search results or otherwise linked to a BPSA Website. If you have any concerns regarding any external link, you should contact the link’s administrator or Website.

 DISCLAIMER

THE MATERIALS IN THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE LAW, BPSA DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. BPSA DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE MATERIALS ON ANY BPSA WEBSITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT ANY BPSA WEBSITE OR THE SERVERS THAT MAKE SUCH MATERIALS AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. BPSA DOES NOT WARRANT OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OR THE RESULTS OF THE USE OF THE MATERIALS ON ANY BPSA WEBSITE IN TERMS OF THEIR CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY OR OTHERWISE. YOU ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION. APPLICABLE LAW MAY NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

We explicitly disclaim any responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, content or availability of information found on sites that link to or from any BPSA Website. We cannot ensure that you will be satisfied with any products or services that you purchase from a third party Website that links to or from any BPSA Website or third party content on our websites. We do not endorse any of the merchandise (if any) except as expressly provided, nor have we taken any steps to confirm the accuracy or reliability of any of the information contained in such third party sites or content. We do not make any representations or warranties as to the security of any information (including, without limitation, credit card and other personal information) you might be requested to give any third party, and you hereby irrevocably waive any claim against us with respect to such sites and third party content. We strongly encourage you to make whatever investigation you feel necessary or appropriate before proceeding with any online or offline transaction with any of these third parties.

INDEMNIFICATION

You agree to indemnify and hold BPSA and its affiliates harmless from and against any and all losses, damages, settlements, liabilities, costs, charges, assessments and expenses, as well as third party claims and causes of action, including but not limited to attorneys’ fees, arising out of any breach by you of any of these Terms, or your use of the Website or Service. You will provide us with such assistance, without charge, as we may request in connection with any such defense, including but not limited to providing us with any accessible information, documents, or records as necessary. You will not settle any third party claim or waive any defense without our prior written consent.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, NEGLIGENCE, SHALL BPSA OR ITS AFFILIATES BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES THAT RESULT FROM THE USE OF, OR THE INABILITY TO USE, ANY BPSA WEBSITE OR MATERIALS OR FUNCTIONS ON ANY SUCH WEBSITE, EVEN IF THE BPSA HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. APPLICABLE LAW MAY NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY OR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN NO EVENT SHALL OUR TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL DAMAGES, LOSSES AND CAUSES OF ACTION WHETHER IN CONTRACT OR TORT (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, NEGLIGENCE, OR OTHERWISE) EXCEED THE AMOUNT PAID BY YOU, IF ANY, FOR MEMBERSHIP IN THE BPSA.

IN NO EVENT SHALL BPSA BE LIABLE FOR ANY BREACH IN TRANSACTION SECURITY CAUSED BY A THIRD PARTY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO ANY PURCHASE OR ATTEMPT TO PURCHASE MERCHANDISE.

TERMINATION

These Terms of Use are effective until terminated by either party. Your access to any and all BPSA websites may be terminated immediately without notice from us if, in our sole discretion, you fail to comply with any term of these Terms of Use. You may terminate at any time by discontinuing use of all BPSA websites. Upon such termination, you must destroy all materials obtained from any and all such sites and all related documentation and all copies and installations thereof, whether made under the terms of this Terms of Use or otherwise.

ENTIRE AGREEMENT AND WAIVER

This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between you and BPSA pertaining to the Website and Service and supersedes all prior and contemporaneous agreements, representations, and understandings between the parties and shall not be modified except in writing signed by BPSA. No waiver of any provisions of this Agreement by BPSA will constitute a waiver or continuing waiver of any other provision.  No waiver will be binding unless executed in writing by BPSA.  

GOVERNING LAW

These Terms will be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of law. The exclusive venue for any mediation, arbitration, or court proceeding based on or arising out of this Agreement will be in the state or federal courts located in the Commonwealth of Virginia and you hereby consent and submit to the venue and personal jurisdiction of such courts for the purposes of such action. The parties agree to attempt to resolve any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms by mediation.  The parties further agree that their respective good faith participation in mediation is a condition precedent to pursuing any other available legal or equitable remedy, including litigation, arbitration, or other dispute resolution procedures.

SEVERABILITY

If any term, provision, covenant, or condition of these Terms is held by an arbitrator or court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, void, or unenforceable, the rest of the terms, provisions, covenants, or conditions will remain in full force and effect and will in no way be affected, impaired, or invalidated.

CONTACT INFORMATION

bpsa@socma.org