Terms of Use

Terms of Use

Thank you for visiting our website and other digital services (collectively, the Service), which is provided by IP Progress.

These Terms of Use govern your access to and use of the Service. By visiting or posting comments, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use, so please review them carefully. We may occasionally revise the Terms of Use, so please check back frequently by clicking on the “Terms of Use” link on the Service websites.  Continuing use of the Service constitutes your acceptance to these changes. You will know whether the Terms of Use have changed by checking the effective date below.    

User Comments: You understand and agree that you are fully responsible for the content that you post. You agree that you may only post content that you own, or that you otherwise have the right to post. By submitting a user comment, you agree not to post any content that:

  • Violates any law;
  • Infringes on the copyright or other property rights of any third party;
  • Violates a third party’s right to privacy or publicity;
  • Is false, misleading, libelous, defamatory, obscene, abusive, hateful, profane, or sexually-explicit;
  • Degrades others on the basis of gender, race, class, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual preference, or disability;
  • Contains any commercial material, solicits funds, or promotes third parties, their products, or services; or
  • In our sole discretion, is otherwise objectionable or inappropriate.

IP Progress may monitor, review, remove, or reject user comments at any time, without prior notice and in its sole discretion. IP Progress may terminate the account of or disable access to users who, in our sole discretion, do not follow these rules. 

License: You understand and agree that for all of the content that you post through the Service, you grant IP Progress a royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, and fully sublicensable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform, and display, in whole or in part, the content world-wide and to incorporate it in other works, in any form, media or technology now known or later developed, including for promotional purposes.   

What’s Not Allowed: By visiting the Service, you agree not to:

  • Delete or revise any material or other information of any other user, IP Progress, its affiliates, or any third party;
  • Harvest or otherwise collect information about others without their consent;
  • Take any action that imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on the Service’s infrastructure;
  • Use any device, software, or routine to interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Service or any activity conducted on the Service;
  • Use or attempt to use any engine, software, tool, agent, or other device or mechanism (including, without limitation, browsers, spiders, robots, avatars, or intelligent agents) to navigate or search the  Service other than the search engine and search agents available on the Service and other than generally available third-party web browsers;
  • Attempt to decipher, decompile, disassemble, or reverse-engineer any of the software comprising in or in any way making up a part of the Service; or
  • Engage in any other conduct that restricts or inhibits any other person from using or enjoying the Service.

You further agree not to violate or attempt to violate the security of the Service, including, without limitation:

  • Accessing data not intended for you or logging into a server or account that you are not authorized to access;
  • Attempting to probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of a system or network or to breach security or authentication measures without proper authorization;
  • Attempting to interfere with service to any user, host, or network, including, without limitation, by way of submitting a virus to, or overloading, flooding, spamming, mailbombing or crashing, the Service; or
  • Forging any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any e-mail or posting. 

Violations of system or network security may result in civil or criminal liability. IP Progress may investigate and work with law enforcement authorities to prosecute users who are involved in such violations. 

Trade and Service Mark Rights

All rights in the company names, trade names, logos, service marks, and slogans, whether or not appearing in large print or with the trademark symbol, belong exclusively to IP Progress or its affiliates and are protected from reproduction, imitation, dilution, or confusing or misleading uses under national and international trademark laws.  The use or misuse of these trademarks or any materials, except as permitted herein, is expressly prohibited, and nothing stated or implied on the Service confers on you any license or right under any patent or trademark of IP Progress, its affiliates, or any third party.

Copyrights: The Service is protected under the copyright laws of the United States and other countries. All copyright rights in the Service are owned by IP Progress or its third-party licensors to the full extent permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act and all international copyright laws. Except for content that you have posted on the blog, or unless expressly permitted in writing, you may not copy, reproduce, distribute, publish, enter into a database, display, perform, modify, create derivative works, transmit, or in any other way exploit any part of this Service. 

Notice of Infringement: IP Progress respects the intellectual property rights of others, and requests that users do the same. If you believe in good faith that your work has been reproduced or is accessible on the Service in a way that constitutes copyright infringement or that your intellectual property rights have otherwise been violated, please provide IP Progress’s Designated Agent with the following information in writing:

  • Identification of the copyrighted work or other intellectual property claimed to have been infringed;
  • Identification of the allegedly infringing material, reference, or link that is to be removed and information reasonably sufficient to permit IP Progress to locate the material, reference, or link;
  • Your name, address and daytime telephone number, and an e-mail address if available, so that IP Progress may contact you if necessary;
  • A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;
  • A statement that you have a good faith belief that the use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright or other intellectual property owner, its agent, or the law;
  • A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

IP Progress’s Designated Agent is Mark Grayson; 950 F Street, NW, Suite 300; Washington, DC; 20004; T: (202) 835-3400; E: mgrayson@phrma.org.

Upon receipt of a notice of claimed infringement (or any statement in conformance with 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3)), IP Progress will expeditiously remove or disable access to the allegedly infringing content. IP Progress will terminate the service privileges of users who repeatedly infringe the copyrights or other intellectual property rights of others. Please note that U.S. law provides penalties for falsely submitting a notice of copyright infringement.        

Links To Third-Party Websites: The Service may contain links to third-party websites that are not controlled or operated by IP Progress. IP Progress does not endorse, sponsor, recommend, or otherwise accept responsibility for any of these linked sites. 

Applicable Laws: As a condition of your access to and use of the Service, you represent and warrant that you will not use the Service for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these Terms of Use. These Terms of Use will be governed by the laws of the District of Columbia, with the exception of conflicts of laws.

Registration and Security: You agree to provide accurate, current and complete information about yourself as requested or directed on the Service and to promptly update this information to maintain its accuracy by following our established procedures for updating your information. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and username, and you are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your account. You agree to immediately notify IP Progress if you become aware of any unauthorized use of your account or any other breach of security. IP Progress has the right to suspend or terminate your account and to refuse any and all current or future use of the Service if it suspects that such information is inaccurate or incomplete or that the security of the account has been compromised. 

Disclaimer of Warranties: THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS.” IP PROGRESS MAKES NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER RELATING TO THE SERVICE, LINKED SITES, OR OTHER CONTENT THAT MAY BE ACCESSIBLE DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY THROUGH THE SERVICE.  IP PROGRESS DISCLAIMS TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW ANY AND ALL SUCH REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES.  

WITHOUT LIMITING THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING, IP PROGRESS DISCLAIMS TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW ANY AND ALL (A) WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, (B) WARRANTIES AGAINST INFRINGEMENT OF ANY THIRD-PARTY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OR PROPRIETARY RIGHTS, (C) WARRANTIES RELATING TO THE TRANSMISSION OR DELIVERY OF THE SERVICE, (D) WARRANTIES RELATING TO THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, CORRECTNESS, OR COMPLETENESS OF DATA MADE AVAILABLE ON THE SERVICE OR OTHERWISE BY IP PROGRESS, AND (E) WARRANTIES OTHERWISE RELATING TO PERFORMANCE, NONPERFORMANCE, OR OTHER ACTS OR OMISSIONS BY IP PROGRESS OR ANY THIRD PARTY. FURTHER, THERE IS NO WARRANTY THAT THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR NEEDS OR REQUIREMENTS OR THE NEEDS OR REQUIREMENTS OF ANY OTHER PERSON.   

Limitation of Liability: IN NO EVENT WILL IP PROGRESS, ITS MEMBERS AND AFFILIATES, OR ANY PARTY INVOLVED IN CREATING, PRODUCING, OR DELIVERING THE SERVICE BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF YOUR ACCESS, USE, MISUSE, OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE OR ANY LINKED SITES, OR IN CONNECTION WITH ANY FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE, ERROR, OMISSION, INTERRUPTION, DEFECT, DELAY IN OPERATION OR TRANSMISSION, COMPUTER VIRUS, OR LINE OR SYSTEM FAILURE. IN THE EVENT THAT YOU HAVE A DISPUTE WITH ANOTHER USER RELATED TO, ARISING FROM, OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH USE OF THE SERVICE, YOU RELEASE IP PROGRESS FROM ANY CLAIMS, DEMANDS, AND DAMAGES OF EVERY KIND AND NATURE ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH SUCH A DISPUTE. 

THESE LIMITATIONS APPLY WHETHER THE ALLEGED LIABILITY IS BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, OR ANY OTHER BASIS, EVEN IF IP PROGRESS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. BECAUSE SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, IP PROGRESS’S LIABILITY IN SUCH JURISDICTIONS SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

Indemnification: YOU AGREE TO INDEMNIFY AND HOLD HARMLESS IP PROGRESS, AND ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, MANAGERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, AND MEMBERS FROM AND AGAINST ANY AND ALL LOSSES, EXPENSES, DAMAGES AND COSTS (INCLUDING REASONABLE ATTORNEYS' FEES) RESULTING FROM YOUR VIOLATION OF THE TERMS OF USE.

Termination: IP Progress may terminate this agreement for any reason at any time. IP Progress reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to restrict, suspend, or terminate your access to and use of the Service, with or without prior notice. Otherwise applicable sections of the Terms of Use shall survive termination.

No Waiver: The failure of IP Progress to enforce any provisions of the Terms of Use or respond to a breach by you or other parties shall not in any way waive its right to enforce subsequently any terms or conditions of the Terms of Use or to act with respect to similar breaches.

Miscellaneous: You agree that no joint venture, partnership, employment, or agency relationship exists between you and IP Progress as a result of these Terms of Use or your access to and use of the Service. Unless otherwise specified herein, the Terms of Use constitute the entire agreement between you and IP Progress and govern your use of the Service. If any portion of the Terms of Use is held invalid or unenforceable, that portion shall be construed in a manner consistent with applicable law to reflect, as nearly as possible, the original intention of the parties, and the remaining portions shall remain in full force and effect.

Dated:  June 7, 2016