Status: 28 March 2024

General Terms and Conditions - Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie  (pdf Download)

Status: 01 September 2019

General Terms and Conditions - Papiertechnische Service- und Vertriebs-GmbH (pdf Download)

1. Area of applicability 

a. The following terms and conditions apply to all of our business relationships with our contract partners who are not consumers.

b. Deviating, conflicting or supplementary terms and conditions of the customer shall not become part of the contract unless the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie agrees to their applicability in writing. This consent requirement applies in all cases, also if the Forschungs­stiftung der Papierindustrie fulfils the service without reservation in the knowledge of the general terms and conditions of business of the customer.

c. As a rule, the provisions of the law relating to service contracts (§§ 611 ff of the German Civil Code - BGB) shall apply to the orders issued by the customers, unless the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie owes the manufacturing or delivery of a service which corresponds to the state of technology as a research and development result or the delivery of a device and/or software under an express agreement. In such a case, the provisions of the law relating to sales agreements/Law on contracts for work and materials (§§ 433 ff, 650 BGB) or work contracts (§§ 631 ff BGB) shall apply in accordance with Number 8f.

d. Should a separate contract have been concluded between the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie and the customer in relation to the order or should such a contract be subsequently entered into, the general terms and conditions of business shall continue to apply alongside the contract which has been separately agreed. In reservation of counterproof, a written contract and its written confirmation shall be necessary for the content of such agreements.

2. Subject matter of the contract, performance time

a. The subject matter of the engagement is the services and work or properties stated individually in the service description and offer letter or contract. the Forschungsstiftung der Papier­industrie offers are subject to change without notice and limited to 30 days.

b. Should a timeframe or date for the service provision be contained in the service description or offer letter and should it become apparent during the performance of the engagement that this agreed performance time will not be complied with, the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie shall notify the customer of the reasons for the delay and agree a reasonable adjustment together with the customer. Should it become apparent that the delay is due to reasons connected to the object itself or for reasons for which the customer is responsible, the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie shall be entitled to unilaterally determine a reasonable extension. 

c. The Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie has the right to engage third parties in relation to the provision of services as subcontractors, should it not be able to provide the service itself.

3. Remuneration

a. The remuneration shall be determined in accordance with the agreements contained in the offer letter and will be charged as a fixed price and/ or as a price in according to time and expense. The respectively applicable statutory value added tax will be added to the stated price. 

b. Any travel expenses will be charged as a fixed fee, whereby the sum of 173 EUR will be taken as a basis for each overnight stay and mileage will be charged to the amount of 0.69 EUR per kilometre. Additional costs which go beyond the above must be reimbursed by the customer following the provision of proof by the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie. 

c. Ancillary expenses for delivery, telephone, letters and copying work are included in the agreed remuneration. 

d. Material costs are not included; these will be charged for separately unless otherwise agreed.

e. The Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie will immediately notify the customer if it becomes apparent that the performance objective cannot be attained with the agreed remuneration. Should this not have been foreseeable to the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie at the time of issuing of the engagement and should the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie not be responsible for this situation, the Forschungs­stiftung der Papierindustrie shall be entitled to have the remuneration adjusted. the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie will propose a corresponding adjustment to the customer. Should it not be possible to reach agreement in this respect, the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie shall be entitled to unilaterally determine a reasonable adjustment or to terminate the contract at the respective time.

4. Payments

a. Unless expressly agreed otherwise in writing, the remuneration shall be due for payment within 14 days of the invoice date without any deduction. the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie reserves the right to only provide certain services in full or in part in consideration of an advance payment. A corresponding reservation shall be declared at the latest at the time of the order confirmation. The payments must be made to the nominated bank account of the Forschungs­stiftung der Papierindustrie without any deduction, stating the invoice number. 

b. On the expiry of the above payment deadline, the customer will enter default. The agreed payment amount will accrue interest during the period of default at the current statutory default interest rate. the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie reserves the right to bring further damages claims due to the payment default. 

c. Reminders will incur fees.

d. It is only possible to offset against claims of the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie if the counter­claim is undisputed or has been recognised by a court.

e. The customer can only exercise a right of retention if its counterclaim is undisputed or has been recognised by a court.

f. In case of defects, the opposing rights of the customer shall however remain unaffected.

5. Rights and rights of use in relation to results, reservation of ownership

a. Work related knowledge is all knowledge which was already present or which is acquired during the performance of the orders and services in accordance with these general terms and conditions of business, in particular know-how, inventions, copyright protected results, protected and non-protected programs, procedural know­ledge and strategies, methods and techniques. 

b. Work results are all reports and their contained results which relate to the engagement which are created during the performance of the services and fulfilment of the order. 

c. The performance result will be handed over to the customer in accordance with the service description following completion of the order.

d. The rights in relation to the work results and products, as well as the rights to which the customer is entitled which were created in connection with the performance of the order will not be transferred to the customer until full payment of the agreed remuneration has taken place. (Reservation of ownership) The work related knowledge shall remain the property of the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie. In relation to the work related knowledge, the customer shall receive a non-exclusive right of use which shall be unlimited in terms of time and space and which shall be fully and finally settled by means of the agreed remuneration for the purpose of use which forms the basis of the engagement which it has issued. The property of the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie may not be pledged or handed over / provided as security. 

aa. The customer is entitled to use the work results which have been handed over to it regardless of the reservation of owner­ship. Should the customer not yet have paid the agreed remuneration in full, it is not permitted to resell the work results.

bb. In all cases, the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie shall be entitled to a non-exclusive right of use which shall be unlimited in terms or time and space and free-of-charge in relation to the work results or the ancillary copyright created by the Forschungsstiftung der Papier­industrie alone or together with the customer for research purposes or for use within the framework of the tasks of the Forschungs­stiftung der Papierindustrie which are stated in its articles of association.

cc. Should property rights (patents, utility samples etc) which need to be registered or which are capable of being registered arise in the course of the service provision, the customer and the Forschungs­stiftung der Papierindustrie shall reach a mutual position in an agreement to be concluded separately concerning ownership, the costs of registration, maintenance and protection of the property rights and the payment of the employee invention remuneration.

dd. Should the customer request the granting of exclusive rights in relation to the work results, a separate agreement must be concluded in this respect. 

e. Should ancillary copyright which has already been created by the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie be used during the service provision, the customer shall receive a non-exclusive right of use in relation to this which shall be fully and finally settled by the agreed remuneration, provided that the Forschungs­stiftung der Papierindustrie is entitled to carry out an assignment. 

f. The customer shall be obliged not to attack any ancillary copyright which exists or is created within the framework of the order or service or which is assigned to a subsidiary company.

6. Third party property rights

Should it become apparent in the course of the performance of the order by the Forschungs­stiftung der Papierindustrie that conflicting third party property rights must be taken into account in the course of the service provision or when using the work results in the future, the Forschungs­stiftung der Papier­industrie and the customer shall take a decision by mutual agreement as to how the said property rights will be taken into account in the subsequent performance of the order. The contracting parties shall be obliged to immediately inform the respective other contracting partner of such rights, once they themselves become aware of these.

7. Non-disclosure

a. The contracting partners shall be obliged not to disclose their mutually confidential information, in particular facts of a technical or business nature of commercial significance which are designated as confidential to third parties. Confidential information is information which was previously neither known in its entirety nor in its details or easily accessible, which is therefore of economic value, which is protected by appropriate secrecy measures on the part of the owner and in which there is a legitimate interest in its secrecy. Confidential information which does not comply with the requirements of the German Trade Secrecy Act (Geschäftgeheimnisgesetz) but which is recognizably confidential information shall also be subject to the obligation to maintain secrecy. This non-disclosure obligation shall continue to apply for (1) year following completion of the order. Such facts and circumstances which are already publicly known or become publicly known during the performance of the order without the contracting parties, their employees or vicarious agents being responsible for such or which must be disclosed due to mandatory orders of the authorities or a judge or due to mandatory legal regulations are not deemed to be confidential. 

b. Secret know-how which is provided by the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie and/or the customer and which belongs to the Forschungs­stiftung der Papierindustrie or the customer must be treated in the same manner as one's own trade secrets. In particular, this may not be disclosed to third parties and may only be made accessible to the employees and vicarious agents who necessarily come into contact with this during the performance of the order and have undertaken to maintain secrecy accordingly. The recipient must refrain from economically exploiting or imitating the confidential information outside the purpose of the order in any way ("reverse engineering"). Otherwise, the customer shall be obliged to maintain the strictest secrecy within its business operation. 

8. Liability

a. The customer shall be responsible for the transportation of sample materials to the testing location in accordance with the respective transportation regulations. Should the sample materials carry risks in accordance with the regulations pertaining to hazardous substances, the customer must label the packaging accordingly or place a note in the order and also attach the necessary safety regulations to the materials. Should the customer fail to do so, it shall be liable for any damage caused by its sample materials.

b. The Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie  shall only incur liability for intent and gross negligence on the part of its legal representatives and vicarious agents for losses connected to injury to life, body and health. In case of a breach of essential contractual obligations (cardinal obligations), the Forschungsstiftung der Papier­industrie shall also incur liability in case of simple negligence on the part of its legal representatives and vicarious agents. Thereby the liability shall be limited to losses which are foreseeable and typical of the contract.

c. The Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie guarantees that it will fulfil the obligations it has entered into under this contract in accordance with the current state of scientific knowledge and experience and in compliance with recognised rules of technology and using primary materials with the standard of care that is usual in its own matters.

d. The Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie does not provide any guarantee concerning the technical or commercial usability of its work results.

e. In case of a breach of the contractual obligations which the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie has entered into, a claim to damages in lieu of performance can only be brought against it if a reasonable deadline for supplementary performance was unsuccessfully set.

f. In case that the Forschungsstiftung der Papier­industrie must fulfil obligations under sales agreement or work contracts, the relevant statutory regulations shall apply in accordance with the following clauses:

aa. The Forschungsstiftung der Papier­industrie shall be granted a reasonable deadline to provide supplementary performance at least twice with the setting of a reasonable deadline, also multiple times depending on the circumstances.

bb. The right of rescission can only be claimed in case of significant defects.

cc. The customer must immediately inspect the work results handed over by the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie and must raise an immediate complaint in writing. Claims due to recognisable defects shall only exist if these are notified to the Forschungsstiftung der Papier­­industrie within 7 working days of handover, unless a shorter deadline is provided for by law. Should the defect become apparent at a later time, the customer must provide immediate notification of the defect in writing. Should the customer fail to make this defect notification, liability on the part of the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie for defects which are not notified, not notified on time or not notified correctly shall be excluded in accordance with the statutory regulations. 

g. In case of a breach of third party property rights, the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie shall only incur liability in case of an infringement of its notification obligation if such property rights exist in the territory of the European Union, the customer uses the work results in accordance with the contract and the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie is immediately informed in writing of the claims which are being brought. The Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie has the right to a second tender, whereby it can fulfil this either by the work results being modified in such a way that the relevant third party property rights no longer being breached or obtaining permission from the third party for the customer to use the work results in accordance with the contract.

h. The limits of liability shall also apply in case of breaches of obligations and in favour of persons whose fault is the responsibility of the Forschungs­stiftung der Papierindustrie in accordance with the statutory regulations. 

9. Limitation period

Claims of the customer shall be time barred within 12 months where permitted by law. Claims of the customer due to defects in the cases set out in § 438 Paragraph I Number 1, § 438 Paragraph I Number 2 and § 634 a Paragraph I Number 2 of the German Civil Code (BGB) shall be excluded from the above.

10. Copyright/Publications

a. The contents of all performance results, in particular test reports, certificates and the like, are the intellectual property of the Forschungs­stiftung der Papierindustrie or its subsidiaries or the respective creator and are protected by copyright. Performance results may not be reproduced or made publicly available, either in whole or in part, without the consent of the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie in text form. Any misuse can be legally prosecuted.

b. The Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie and the customer shall be obliged not to publish the work results without the agreement of the other party or to make these accessible to third parties, should the results be subject to non-disclosure in accordance with Number 7 of the general terms and conditions of business. The agreement concerning publication must take into account that undergraduate dissertations, bachelor theses and MA dissertations, as well as property right registrations must not be impaired.

c. The work results may not be used or duplicated in a legal dispute in full or in part without the written agreement of the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie.

d. The Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie and the customer shall be obliged to issue the agreement or rejection within four (4) weeks of receipt of the request which contains the necessary concrete information. Should no agreement or rejection take place within this deadline, the agreement to publication shall be deemed to have been issued. The request should contain the content of the publication, as well as a notice concerning the deadline and the consequences of the fruitless expiry of it. The agreement may not be refused without good reasons.

e. Should the work result which has been handed over be published, the customer must name the author and the Forschungsstiftung der Papier­industrie.

11. Minimum wage

a. The Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie hereby provides the customer with an undertaking that it complies with the statutory regulations under the German Minimum Wage Act (MiLoG) and the German Employee Lending Act (AentG). In particular, the Forschungs­stiftung der Papierindustrie pays its employees the statutory minimum wage and complies with the reporting and documentation obligations.

b. In case of a breach by the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie of the regulations under the MiLoG, the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie shall release the customer from all claims which are brought against it under guarantor liability in accordance with § 13 MiLoG and § 14 AentG. 

12. Events

a. The subject of the contract is the event of  the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie booked in each case. The contract shall come into force upon confirmation of participation by the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie by e-mail. The contents of the event are stated in the confirmation of registration. The participant shall be obliged to keep the registration data provided, in particular the contact data, up to date and to report any changes.

b. If a speaker is unable to attend, the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie reserves the right to provide an equivalent substitute speaker. In this case, there shall be no claim for reimbursement of the fees.

c. The Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie reserves the right to change the date and/or the venue or the event format or to cancel the event as a whole at any time if this is deemed necessary or advisable due to force majeure, health or hygiene reasons or other reasons beyond the control of the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie. A change may also be made if the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie deems it necessary for other reasons. In this case, the participant/exhibitor/speaker waives all claims he may have against the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie for reimbursement, damages or expenses. In the event of cancellation without substitution, any participation fees paid shall be refunded by the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie. 

d. The Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie shall not assume any liability for the topicality, correctness and completeness of the documents or the execution of the events. The Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie shall also not be liable for objects brought in by guests or for guests' checkrooms, neither on the premises of the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie nor at other venues, except in cases of intent or gross negligence. The use of the premises shall be at the guests' own risk.

e. In case of online events, the participant shall receive the respective access data in a separate e-mail. The participant is obliged to keep the access data carefully, not to pass them on to unauthorized third parties and to protect them from access. The participant is obliged to search his e-mail box for e-mails from the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie concerning the event. 

aa. Technical requirements for participation in webinars: When participating in an online event, each participant shall meet the minimum requirements (internet connection, current compatible browser version, download of the webinar platform program if applicable, loudspeaker or headset) and test it before the webinar. A test is already possible within the invitation.

bb. The failure of the technical requirements for which the participant is responsible does not release him/her from the contractual obligation to pay. If a participant does not report any technical problems during a webinar and the recording does not show any such reports, participation shall be deemed to have taken place. 

cc. By participating and logging in to the online event, the passive participant accepts that recordings can be made. If sound or image recordings of a participant are made, a separate consent will be obtained. 

dd. If recordings and video courses are offered on demand, the Forschungs­stiftung der Papierindustrie points out that failures may occur e.g. due to maintenance work or force majeure. Participants are not entitled to pass on the recordings to third parties or to distribute and reproduce them in any other way. 

f. The content of all events as well as all materials (documents on online events, recordings etc.) are the intellectual property of the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie or the respective speakers and are protected by copyright. They may only be used by the participant to whom they were made available. Copying, publishing, forwarding and editing, even in part, as well as recording an event in sound or vision or by means of screenshots is not permitted. The materials may not be reproduced or made publicly accessible, either in whole or in part, without the consent of the Forschungs­stiftung der Papierindustrie in text form, but may only be used for personal or other own use. Any misuse can be legally prosecuted. The participant undertakes to respect the copyrights and to use the online event for personal use only within the scope of the contractual agreement.

g. The following applies to presence events of  the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie: Cancellations must always be made in writing and must be received no later than 14 calendar days before the start of the event, otherwise the entire participation fee shall be due. From 30 days up to 15 days before the start of the event, 50% of the participation fee shall be charged. No costs are incurred if a replacement participant is registered. If the minimum number of participants is not reached, the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie reserves the right to cancel the event. In such a case the Forschungsstiftung der Papier­industrie will refund the participation fee. the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie shall not be liable for expenses incurred in vain.

h. The following applies to online events of the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie: Cancellations must always be made by e-mail and must be received no later than two (2) calendar days before the start of the event, otherwise the entire participation fee will be due. No costs will be incurred if a substitute participant is registered. The Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie reserves the right to cancel events up to two (2) days before the scheduled date if the minimum number of participants is not reached. If the event is cancelled for this reason or due to cancellation of the speaker, force majeure or other unforeseeable other unforeseeable events, there is no claim for realization. The participants will be informed immediately in in text form. Fees already paid be credited towards participation in other events or refunded. Participants have no further participants do not have any further claims against the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie. 

13. Other

a. Ancillary agreements, alterations or additions to the contact, as well as legally binding declarations and notifications shall require written form (for example email, letter, fax). This also applies to any omission of this text form requirement. Statutory form requirements and further proof, in particular in case of doubts concerning the legitimacy of the declaring party shall remain unaffected.

b. The place of performance for all obligations under the general terms and conditions of business shall be the place of business of the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie in Heidenau, Germany. 

c. Should the requirements of § 38 of the German Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO) be present, Dresden in Germany shall be deemed to be the exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes in connection with these general terms and conditions of business.

d. The substantive law of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply to the contractual relationship, to the exclusion of the reference norms under international law, as well as the United Nations Convention governing the International Sale of Goods (CISG).

e. Should one or more provisions be or become ineffective in full or in part, the validity of the remaining clauses shall not be affected thereby. The same shall apply in case of any loopholes.

f. In the event of discrepancies or inconsistencies with the German General Terms and Conditions of the Forschungsstiftung der Papierindustrie, the meaning of the German General Terms and Conditions shall be valid.