General Terms of Use

Royal Canin Academy

 

Royal Canin Hong Kong Limited, having its office at 23rd Floor, Dorset House, Taikoo Place,

979 King’s Road, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong (« Royal Canin ») provides a digital multi-service platform called “Royal Canin Academy” designed for Professionals and accessible from the internet (« Platform »).

 

The Platform is designed to provide some Training, whether online or in person, to support Professionals in their daily practice focusing on nutritional recommendations and scientific content. Some Trainings can include Royal Canin products related content.

 

By creating an account and using the Platform, you expressly agree to the following terms and conditions:

 

DEFINITIONS:

 

Account means the individual account allowing the User to access the Platform after acceptance of the General Terms.

 

Breeder means a person who selectively breeds carefully selected mates (dogs or cats), to sexually reproduce offspring with specific, consistently replicable qualities and characteristics.

 

General Terms means these general conditions applicable to the entire Platform. The General Terms are intended to govern all Trainings provided under the Platform, except when expressly modified or superseded by the Specific Terms.

 

Force Majeure Event means any acts, events or circumstances which are unforeseeable, outside the control of the affected Party and render said Party unable to comply totally with its obligations under this Agreement.

 

Pet Owner means a cat and/or dog owner that are clients of the Professional.

 

Professional may designate respectively a Breeder, a Vet, a Retailer, a Shelter Worker or all of them.

 

Registrant means a User that has registered to a Training.

 

Retailer means an authorized distributor of Royal Canin products.

 

Shelter Worker refers to any person that works in an animal shelter.

 

Training means all trainings, courses, whether online or in person, provided by Royal Canin and to which the User can access and register on the Platform.

 

Training Material means documentation, whether printed or available online, provided by Royal Canin in relation to the Training.

 

User means a Professional that is entitled to use the Platform through a direct agreement with Royal Canin.

 

Vet means a natural person exercising as veterinarian or vet practice, duly registered and licensed by the competent professional regulatory body, practicing animal medicine and surgery, as defined by applicable laws, rules and regulations.

 

Vet Student means a Vet Student allowed to use the Platform under the supervision of his/her school.

 

Article 1 – Acceptance of the General Terms

 

The User may use the Platform and the Trainings under his/her sole responsibility.

 

Registration and navigation on the Platform are subject to the full acceptance of the General Terms by the User.

 

The General Terms form a contract between Royal Canin and the User. If the User refuses to be contractually bound by the General Terms, the User may not use the Platform and Trainings.

 

The General Terms are available at any time on the Platform.

 

Article 2 – Registration on the Platform

 

2.1 Conditions for User’s registration

 

Users entitled to register on the Platform must be Professionals who undertake to use the Platform for strictly professional purposes.

 

Professionals may only be granted access to the Platform directly by Royal Canin and can only access the Platform through an active Account.

 

In order for the Professional to have Account, Royal Canin will send an invitation by email to the Professional, requesting him/her to fill in a digital form with his/her information (full name, unique email,  profession/role, Country of residence, time zone and preferred language).  The Professional must give true, correct and complete information about his/her identity. After verification of the information by Royal Canin, Royal Canin creates the Account for the Professional and sends him/her an email with a link to the Platform, his/her login and a temporary password. The Professional will then have a limited period, provided in the email, to activate his/her Account by clicking on the link and creating a new password. If the Professional does not activate his/her Account within this period, Royal Canin will send him/her a reminder to proceed with the activation of the Account within a period that will be indicated in the reminder email. In the absence of action by the Professional within this period, his/her account will be deleted.

 

Vet Students may only be granted access to the Platform pursuant to the authorization granted by and under the supervision of an Account Admin, i.e. their school. Vet Students are solely entitled to use the Platform for their personal use and informative and educational purpose only. The Vet Student shall be solely responsible and liable for any of his/her use of the Platform. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Royal Canin has no responsibility or liability for any advice given by Vet Student pursuant to the use of the Platform.

 

The User (a) guarantees the truthfulness, accuracy and completeness of the information provided to Royal Canin and will be solely responsible for any error, omission and update; (b) undertakes to promptly update the data and information provided when necessary; and (c) must, when no longer a Professional, (i) notify Royal Canin by e-mail and (ii) immediately stop using the Platform.

 

1. Access to the Platform through the Account

 

As soon as the User accepts the General Terms, the User (a) may access the Platform via the Account, using a login and password, provided by Royal Canin, which are personal and remain in the User’s custody; (b) must take all necessary precautions to ensure the confidentiality, security and correct use of the User’s login and password, in order to prevent them from being disclosed to or used by unauthorized third parties; and (c) is solely responsible for the use by any other person of the User’s login in and password as well as for any operations carried out via the User’s Account. Any connection to the Account and/or transmission of data made using the Account will be presumed to have been made by the holder of said account and under the User’s sole responsibility. In the event of fraudulent use of the User’s password and/or log in, the User undertakes to inform Royal Canin in writing as soon as possible.

 

The holder of the Account is fully responsible for any use of the Account and warrants and represents that the User undertakes to make proper use of the Platform and to comply with the General Terms.

 

Article 3 – Trainings

 

3.1 Registration

 

A User can register to a Training by clicking on the appropriate link and filling out the required information.

 

3.2 Cancellation of the Training

3.2.1 Cancellation by the User

Registrants may cancel their participation to an online Training at any moment.

[Registrants may cancel their participation to an offline Training by following the instructions in communications sent about the Training.]

3.2.2 Cancellation by Royal Canin

Royal Canin reserves the right to cancel Trainings, change online Platform ([including but not limited to] visual layout, descriptions, interactive widgets, etc.), change instructors, or change, update or delete Training content. In the event that a Training must be cancelled, registrants will be informed at least seven (7) days prior to its beginning. Registrants will be notified via email. Royal Canin will make every effort to avoid cancellations.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Royal Canin will not be liable for any cancellation, modification or removal of all or part of the Trainings.

3.3.  Proper participation to the Trainings

The User shall participate in the Trainings only for a professional purpose, in strict compliance with the applicable laws, rules and regulations that govern the practice of its profession (in particular the applicable rules of professional ethics and responsibility).

 

The User undertakes to:

 

• attend the Trainings under normal and reasonable conditions.

   

• -not to engage in acts or behaviors of any nature (in particular, without limitation, downloading, sending, distributing, editing, publication) which are contrary to local law or regulation, infringe public order, any third party’s rights, its rules of professional ethics or the image or rights of Royal Canin.

   

• -not to: (a) deliberately download, upload, disseminate or forward any information, data including or constituting computer virus or any other code or computer program conceived to interrupt, destruct, distort or limit the features of any software, computer, service or online communication tool; (b) deliberately download, upload, disseminate or forward any false information, illegal, inappropriate or improper content; (c) disrupt, slow down, block or alter the normal data flow exchanged through the Platform; and (d) reproduce, copy, sell, exchange, resell, or use for any commercial purpose any part of the Platform or Trainings.

   

• comply with all safety rules and regulations and any other reasonable security requirements that apply at the premises at which the Trainings are provided. Royal Canin reserves the right to remove any Registrant from a Training whose behavior is deemed inappropriate by Royal Canin or its trainers.

 

Article 4 – Content

 

4.1 Nature - Content proposed to the User on the Platform will depend on its profession (i.e. Vet, Breeder, Retailer, etc.). The content will be of an educational nature and will be of two types:

• Editorial content: content that will not be related to Royal Canin products (e.g. neutral information on pet healthcare or nutrition);
• Promotional content: content related to Royal Canin Products, identified through a specific sign.

Some contents might be available for a limited period of time. Information on such limited-time availability will be provided on the Platform near each content.

 

4.2 Ranking – The content (Trainings) that might be proposed to the User on the Platform might be ranked according to the following criteria:

• Date of creation of the content or of last modification;
• The interests of the User for certain contents or information.

   

  4.3 Discounts - Royal Canin might decide, but does not undertake, to offer discounts on Royal Canin products to Users who receive Training consisting of some Promotional content. Benefit of such discounts will be subject to conditions, which will be indicated in relevant promotion terms.

   

  Article 5 – Royal Canin warranty and disclaimer

   

  Royal Canin ensures that all Trainings are delivered diligently and in a good, workmanlike, timely and professional manner consistent with industry standards.

  The Trainings will be performed as described in the individual class agendas.

  Royal Canin shall provide trainers to present the Training course as it, in its sole discretion, deems fit and Royal Canin shall be entitled at any time to substitute any trainer with any other person who, in Royal Canin's sole discretion, it deems suitably qualified to present the relevant Training.

  Royal Canin does not warrant that the provision of any content online will always be available or be uninterrupted, timely or error free, that defects will be corrected or that such content is secure or free from bugs, viruses, errors and omissions.

  To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the Training and Training Material are provided  “as is”, and there are no warranties, express or implied, by operation of law or otherwise for the use or results of the course and materials, that the User will successfully complete the course, or that any particular level of knowledge will be attained by the User. The User is therefore solely responsible to determine whether the training hours completed via the Platform are eligible for any official recognition by their local authorities in terms of continuing education.

  
  To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Royal Canin disclaims any implied warranties including the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.

   

  Article 6 – Duration and Termination

   

  The General Terms come into force for an indefinite period as from their acceptance by the User.

   

  Each party has the right to terminate the General Terms for any reason whatsoever (except in the event of non-compliance with the General Terms) by written notification including e-mail to the other party with 30 days previous notice.

   

  In the event of non-compliance with the General Terms by the User, Royal Canin may decide to terminate the General Terms immediately.

   

  In the event of termination by either party and for any reason whatsoever, Royal Canin will terminate the User's access to the Platform.

   

  Article 7 – Deactivation and deletion of the Account

   

  7.1 Deactivation of the Account

   

  The User may deactivate his/her Account at any moment. The deactivation of the Account does not lead to its deletion. The User may ask to Royal Canin to reactivate his/her Account.

   

  Royal Canin may also deactivate the User Account in the following cases:

• Failure to activate the Account within the limited period, provided in the reminder email sent by Royal Canin;
• Inaction: should the User not log on to its activated Account after a period of 5 months, a reminder email will be sent encouraging activity to maintain the Account within the next 30 days. Should no further activity occur in these following 30 days, the Account will be turned inactive;
• Non-compliance with the General Terms or refusal to accept the General Terms updates.

   

  7.2 Deletion of the Account

   

  The User may decide to delete his/her Account for any reason whatsoever by sending a request to Royal Canin.

   

  Royal Canin will delete the User Account in the following cases:

• Under the conditions set out in Article 2.1, if the User does not activate his/her Account after receiving the reminder email set by Royal Canin,
• After 18 months of deactivation of the Account.

 

Article 8 – Financial Conditions

 

No fees for use of the Platform are charged by Royal Canin to the User. However, fees for certain existing or future Trainings might be charged by Royal Canin to the User.

 

Article 9 – Liability

 

9.1 Royal Canin’s liability

 

Royal Canin does not guarantee the accessibility and permanent, proper functioning of the Platform or the Trainings, which the User acknowledges and accepts. For technical reasons, an interruption of the Platform or the Trainings is possible.

 

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Royal Canin incurs no liability in the event of unavailability of the Platform and/or of all or part of the Trainings due to any technical defect, problem or reason, including (but not limited to) traffic congestion on the Internet, failure of Internet service providers, human or electrical error, malicious intervention, software or hardware malfunctions and/or Force Majeure Event.

 

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Royal Canin does not accept responsibility for anyone acting as a result of information in, or views expressed on, its Training. Royal Canin provides information related notably to the nutrition and health condition of the pets through the Trainings. Such information shall not, in any case, replace the Professional's independent and professional expertise, judgment and, if applicable, diagnosis. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Royal Canin is not liable if the information appears to be inadequate or if the health condition of a pet is not in line with the information provided on the Platform.

 

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Royal Canin shall not be liable for any direct, indirect or special damages (loss of data, financial loss, loss of profit, loss of opportunity) that the User and the Pet Owners may suffer as a result of the Platform and Trainings, for any reason whatsoever, including (but not limited to) access or inability to access the Platform and Trainings, use or inability to use the Platform or any specific Training or the functioning or non-functioning of all or part of the Trainings. This applies notably to damages that may result from inaccurate content and notably errors, slowness or interruption in transmission, loss, disappearance or alteration of data, computer virus, whatever their origin, intrusions by third parties, etc.

 

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Royal Canin shall not be liable whatsoever in relation to User content, which is provided by the User under its sole responsibility, and in full knowledge of the facts.

 

9.2 User’s liability

 

The User is solely responsible for (a) complying with the applicable and legally binding rules governing his/her profession; (b) the decision to register on the Platform and participate in the Trainings; (c) if applicable, the diagnosis and treatment of the medical condition and health status of the pets (Vets solely are able to physically examine the pets and treat them); (d) the choice to share certain information or recommendations provided by the Platform as part of the Trainings with the Pet Owners; (e) any direct and/or indirect damage suffered by a Pet Owner or a third party as a result of any information provided by the Platform and the Trainings.

 

The User (a) shall indemnify, hold harmless and defend Royal Canin against any action, proceedings, claim, complaint or demands whatsoever, by any person (including Pet Owners) arising out or resulting from the User's activity or use of the Platform and Trainings; and (b) undertakes to bear all costs, attorneys' and experts' fees and all damages that Royal Canin may be ordered to pay in this context by a court decision relating to the formation, performance and/or termination of a contract concluded between the User and a Pet Owner, without prejudice to any damages that Royal Canin may claim from the User.

 

 

Article 10 – Intellectual Property

 

1. Platform

    

   All intellectual property rights in relation to the Platform and its content (texts, images, videos, databases, sounds, photographs, business names, logos, trademarks, etc.) but excluding the User content, are and remain the property of Royal Canin and/or its affiliates, or are subject to licenses and/or authorizations granted to Royal Canin by third parties.

    

   The User is only authorized to use the Platform and its content in accordance with the General Terms. The User may not reproduce, make available to the public, perform, publish or modify any part of the Platform and its content without the prior, written agreement of Royal Canin.

    

2. Training Material

 

Training Material are the sole property of Royal Canin. All intellectual property rights in all Training Material available, including the design, graphics and text of all printed materials and the audio and video of all webinars and podcasts, are owned by Royal Canin or are subject to licenses and/or authorizations granted to Royal Canin by third parties.

 

When the User is given access to the Training Material, the User is granted a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Training Material. No Training Material may be copied, reproduced, uploaded, posted, displayed or linked to in any way, in whole or in part, without Royal Canin's prior permission. Any such use is strictly prohibited and will constitute an infringement of Royal Canin's intellectual property rights.

 

Article 11 – Personal Data Protection

 

We may collect or process various categories of personal data that you provide to us and we will keep your personal data secure.  For more information please see our Privacy Statement.  In the Privacy Statement, you can also find out how to manage your marketing preferences.

 

Our Sites may use cookies for a variety of purposes. See our Cookie Notice to learn more about what cookies we use and how we use them.

 

Article 12 – Insurance

 

The User acknowledges that the User has subscribed an insurance policy with an insurance company known to be solvent and that the User remains the holder, for the entire duration of the General Terms, of an insurance policy covering his/her professional civil liability risks up to the amount of sufficient capital. All types of damage (physical, material, intangible, consequential or not) must be covered by the policy.

 

Upon request, the User will provide a certificate of insurance to Royal Canin at any time.

 

Article 13 – Confidentiality

 

The User undertakes to keep strictly confidential all information relating to Royal Canin and the Platform, except for information that is properly in the public domain through no action or fault of the User. The User will take the necessary measures to ensure that this obligation is respected by any person that may be authorized to access to such confidential information.

 

The User’s confidentiality obligations will apply during the use of the Platform and for a period of 5 years after the termination of the General Terms.

 

Article 14 – Modification of the General Terms

 

The User acknowledges and accepts that the Platform developed by Royal Canin is an innovative tool and will evolve in order to add, replace or remove certain features and Trainings.

 

Royal Canin reserves the right to amend the General Terms at any time.

 

Upon the User’s first log in to the Platform after the General Terms have been amended, the User will be provided with the opportunity to read and review the new Terms, and either (i) accept; or (ii) refuse them. If the User refuses the new Terms, the User’s access to the Platform will be deactivated and the User will not be able to use the Platform anymore.

 

Article 15 – Final Provisions

 

15.1 Waiver

 

If Royal Canin does not take advantage of or enforce any of the provisions of the General Terms, it may not be interpreted by the User as a waiver of it.

 

15.2 Entire Agreement and severability

 

This Agreement is the entire agreement between the User and Royal Canin relating to the Platform and supersedes all prior or contemporaneous oral or written communications, proposals and representations with respect to the Platform or any other subject matter covered by these General Terms. If any provision of these General Terms and or/Specific Terms is held to be void, invalid, unenforceable or illegal, the other provisions shall continue in full force and effect.

 

15.3 Independence of the Parties

 

Royal Canin and the User are independent entities, acting in their own name and under their sole responsibility. It is specified that the User carries out his or her activity on the Platform in complete autonomy and at his or her own risk.

 

The Platform should in no way be a substitute to the Professional’s individual and independent professional expertise, review, judgment and/or diagnosis.

 

With regard to Vets, Royal Canin undertakes to allow the Users to respect rules governing the Vet’s obligation regarding the practice of veterinary medicine and professional ethics, notably maintaining their independent and objective professional judgment.

 

 

15.4 Law and jurisdiction

 

The General Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the country of where the Professional is licensed to practice his/her profession and when no license is required, where the Professional is located to practice his/her profession. In relation to Vet Students, the General Terms are governed by the laws of [Hong Kong].

 

Any dispute between Royal Canin and the User arising out of the interpretation, execution or termination of the General Terms which cannot be resolved amicably shall be settled by the competent courts of Hong Kong, notwithstanding any incidental claim or guarantee, or in the event of multiple defendants.