A. About the Organizers

InnovAction Organizer: Young Americas Business Trust, 1889 F Street NW, Washington, DC, 20006.

InnovAction Co-Organizer: Inter-American Foundation, 1331 Pennsylvania Avenue NW #1200, Washington, DC 20004.

Henceforth jointly referred to as the “Organizers”.

B. Governing Law

These terms will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United States of America.

C. Confidentiality

The Organizers commit to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of Teams through the following actions:

1. Competition Materials

Due to the nature of InnovAction, the Organizers, Judges, Mentors, and Sponsors and other partners will have access to Confidential Business Information. “Confidential Business Information” means any information disclosed via the Competition Materials or other material submitted by Teams about their technologies, business plans, strategic or financial documents, projections, market research data on products and services, trade secrets, and production plans, etc. that is part of their business and is not public knowledge. Confidential Business Information does not include any information that (i) is now in or later enters the public domain through no wrongful act of a third party, (ii) was in possession of the Organizers, a Judge, Mentor, Sponsors, or other partner prior to the Team delivering the information, (iii) is or was independently developed by a third party, (iv) was disseminated with the authorization of a member of the Team to disclose the information to a third party, or (v) must be disclosed pursuant to requirements of law or valid legal process, provided that the team is notified in advance of the need for any such disclosure. Websites listed by the Teams during registration will be considered public knowledge.

By submitting Competition Materials, Teams agree that the Competition Materials and their corresponding Confidential Business Information will be collected and saved in the InnovAction database. The Organizers, Judges, Mentors, and Sponsors and other partners who gain access to Confidential Business Information shall not disseminate or use such materials or information for any purpose other than to judge or provide support to the Teams.

2. Team Profiles

Team Profiles, including but not limited to the business plan summary and photographs of Team Members, are considered public and may be shared in part or whole by the Organizers through their websites, informational bulletins, and magazines.

Personal identifying information (“PII”) contained in the Team Profile will remain confidential and be retained by YABT, who shall comply with applicable privacy laws of participating countries to adequately protect personal and business information of the applicants.^[1]

YABT will collect and store the Team Profile, including but not limited to personal information such as email, phone, gender, address, age, and education level, in part to direct communications regarding new programs, competitions, events, promotions, and new products to the Team. If at any point, the Team wishes to opt out of communications and/or delete their data, the Team may submit the request by emailing YABT directly.

D. Intellectual property

Teams maintain Intellectual Property Rights over all materials submitted, including but not limited to their individual Competition Materials and Team Profiles.

It is the Teams’ responsibility to decide which and how much information should be disclosed at any time during their participation in TIC Americas and InnovAction. YABT and Sponsors are not responsible for any type of complaints or demands from a third party claiming that a project or work submitted and presented to TIC Americas contains proprietary work that they consider to be their own.

1. Competition Materials

Teams shall retain the Author’s Rights^[2] of the Competition Materials. All Teams that register are considered authors of the Competition Materials they submit. The Organizers retain no interest in the Author’s Rights. If Teams have intellectual property rights, copyrights, or trademarks on content submitted as part of the Competition Materials, Team Members automatically grant the Organizers a non-exclusive, irrevocable, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide and perpetual license to use your materials.

By submitting Competition Materials, you agree that there are no intellectual property rights, copyrights, trademarks, or other restrictions imposed by you or other parties that would prevent any content of the Competition Materials from being shared. The Organizers are not responsible for any type of complaints or demands from a third party claiming that Competition Materials or other materials submitted and presented to InnovAction contains proprietary work that they consider to be their own.

2. Team Profiles

By submitting a Team Profile, Teams irrevocably grant to the organizers and their agents the unconditional and perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to copyright, post, display, publish, use, adapt, edit and/or modify such photographs and information, including the business plan summary but exclusive of PII, either alone or accompanied by other materials,  in whole or in part, in edited, modified or altered format, in any manner and in any media, for any purpose, at any time hereafter, without limitation, at the Organizer’s sole discretion and without prior examination, approval, or consideration to Teams and Team members. The Organizers will include written credits to the Team in any published material that uses data provided in the Team Profile.

Teams do not have any right to compensation in connection with the above granted rights and release and discharge the Organizers from any and all claims and liability related to said photographs or information, including, without limitation, any claims based on libel, the right of publicity, the right of privacy or the commercial appropriation or use of name or likeness.

All Teams further agree to release and indemnify and hold harmless the Organizers, Sponsors, Judges, and the U.S. Government and its affiliates, officers, agents, grantees, or other partners and employees harmless, including attorneys’ fees and losses for infringement claims, from any and all claims that any commercial, advertising, presentation, web content or any other material subsequently produced, presented, and/or prepared by or on behalf of the Organizers infringes on the rights of Teams’ work as contained in any Competition Materials.

E. Disqualification

YABT may disqualify any Team if:

• There is actual, alleged or publicized illegal conduct of any registered Team Member or mentor;
• Any registered Team Member’s behavior is considered offensive or violates generally accepted community standards of behavior including, but not limited to the use of illicit drugs or public intoxication; harassment or intimidation of other Teams; other obscene behavior; violation of intellectual property rights, copyrights, or trademarks; or any action that demonstrates an extreme lack of collegiality and sportsmanship

Disqualified Teams and each Team Member will no longer be eligible to compete in a future TIC Americas.

F. Tax and Legal Considerations

The cash award may have legal or tax implications for the Team’s domestic tax status in their home country and payments of any taxes will be entirely the responsibility of the winning Team(s). The Organizers hold no tax responsibility or related legal obligations over the Teams, nor does any Team represent or hold themselves to represent the Organizers.

G. Participation

Participation in any or all activities related to InnovAction is voluntary. Teams will be afforded no compensation in exchange for their participation beyond the training opportunities and Awards laid out in the Rules.

H. Acceptance of the Terms and Conditions

Registration for InnovAction constitutes acceptance, on behalf of all the persons registering as the Team, of all the Rules, Terms and Conditions included in this document. Furthermore, by registering, all Teams and Team Members agree that:

a) Any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with their participation will be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action;

b) Any and all claims, judgments and awards will be limited to actual third-party, out-of-pocket costs incurred, but in no event will attorneys’ fees be awarded or recoverable from the organizers;

c) The Team knowingly and expressly waives all rights to seek punitive, incidental, consequential or special damages, lost profits and/or any other damages;

d) They irrevocably waive any right to seek injunctive or equitable relief.

I. Limitations of Liability and Release

No liability or responsibility is assumed by the Organizers, Judges, or Sponsors resulting from any user’s participation in or attempt to participate in InnovAction or their ability or inability to upload or download any information in connection with participating in InnovAction. No responsibility or liability is assumed by Organizers, Judges, or Sponsors for technical problems or technical malfunction arising in connection with any of the following occurrences or any other circumstance which may affect the operation of InnovAction: hardware or software errors; faulty computer, telephone, cable, satellite, network, electronic, wireless or Internet connectivity or other online communication problems; errors or limitations of any Internet service providers, servers, hosts or providers; garbled, jumbled or faulty data transmissions; failure of any e-mail transmissions to be sent or received; lost, late, delayed or intercepted e-mail transmissions; inaccessibility of the Website in whole or in part for any reason; traffic congestion on the Internet or the Website; unauthorized human or non-human intervention of the operation of InnovAction, including without limitation, unauthorized tampering, hacking, theft, virus, bugs, worms; or destruction of any aspect of InnovAction, or loss, miscount, misdirection, inaccessibility or unavailability of an email account used in connection with InnovAction.

The Organizers, Judges, and Sponsors are not responsible for any personal injury or property damage or losses of any kind which may be sustained to user’s or any other person’s computer equipment resulting from participation in InnovAction, use of the Website or the download of any information from the Website. By participating in InnovAction, the Team releases the Organizers, Judges, or Sponsors from any and all claims, damages or liabilities arising from or relating to such Team’s participation in InnovAction. By accepting an Award in InnovAction, each Team agrees that the Organizers, Judges, or Sponsors shall not be liable for any loss or injury resulting from their participation, acceptance or use of any Award, or any travel related thereto. The Organizers, Judges, or Sponsors are not liable in the event that any portion of InnovAction, event or the event broadcast is cancelled due to weather, fire, strike, acts of war or terrorism, or any other condition beyond their control (a “Force Majeure Event”).

Teams agree that the Organizers have the sole right to decide all matters and disputes arising in InnovAction and that all decisions of the Organizers are final and binding. By accepting an Award the Teams agree to release, indemnify and hold harmless the Organizers, Judges, or Sponsors, as well as each of their respective parent and affiliated companies or organization(s), and each of their employees, representatives, contractors, advertisers from any and all liability, loss, damage, cost or claim related to any allegation regarding the acceptance or use of their prize, including but not limited to the airing of the commercial business plan.

J. Modification of the Rules, Terms and Conditions

The Organizers can modify the Rules, Terms and Conditions, including increasing, decreasing, or eliminating Awards. The Organizers may also modify the dates of InnovAction or suspend temporarily or definitively the execution of InnovAction as considered appropriate.

All the modifications to the actual Terms and Conditions will be published on the Website. The current version that is posted on the Website is considered the applicable and final version.

These Rules are the intellectual property of YABT. Total or partial reproduction is prohibited without prior written authorization. For any questions, contact ticamericas@yabt.net.

^[1] For Argentina residents, Article 14, paragraph 3 of Law No. 25.326, will be applied. The National Directory of Personal Data Protection, Law No. 25,326 Control Organ, has the authority to resolve grievances and complaints regarding the violation of the rules on personal data protection. For residents of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, Article 14 of Law No. 18,331-will be applied. The UNIDAD REGULADORA Y DE CONTROL DE DATOS PERSONALES, Law No. 18,331 Control Organ, has the authority to deal with complaints regarding the violation of the rules on personal data protection.

^[2] “Authors’ Rights” is a term frequently used in connection with laws about intellectual property. Author’s Rights have two distinct components: the economic rights in the work and the moral rights of the author. Author’s Rights are internationally protected by the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and by other similar treaties.