In these Terms and Conditions (referred to as the "Agreement") "you" and "your" refers to each customer, "we", "us" and "our" refers to CIPC Intellectual Property  and "Service" refers to the services provided by us as offered through the CIPC intellectual property online services. This Agreement explains our obligations to you, and explains your obligations to us while accessing the CIPC intellectual property online services and using various Services.

Please read this Agreement carefully before accessing or using the Service. By accessing or using the Service, you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this Agreement.Violation of this Agreement will result in action being taken against your account.Service conditions, accessibility and delivery

1. Definitions
   "browser” means a computer program which allows a person to read hyperlinked data messages;
     “CIPC” means the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission;
   “CIPCIPONLINE web site” means all the sites on the World Wide Wed controlled and/or owned by CIPC;
   “ content” means, include but not limited to, software and material;
   “customer” means a visitor who is –
   (a)registered with CIPCIPONLINE via the “Registration“ facility on the CIPC web site; and
   (b) transacts with CIPC via the CIPCIPONLINE website
   “data” means electronic representations of information in any form;
   “discontinue service” means the withdrawal of the offering or functionality of a service in part or in total;
   “ECT” means the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002 (Act No. 25 of 2002)
    “forums” means, including but not limited to, bulletin boards, chat rooms and other public areas found on the CIPCIPONLINE web site;
   “material” means, including but not limited to, text, submissions, images, audio and/or video in whole or in part;
   “service” includes but are not limited to, the searching of information or lodgement of an application for which a fee is payable; 
   “software
   ” means, including but not limited to, any images or files incorporated in or generated by the software or data accompanying such software;   “submissions” means, including but not limited to, notes, images, creative materials, ideas, suggestions, concepts, communication including any data,
   questions, comments and other information submitted in the CIPCIPONLINE web site via transmission by electronic mail or otherwise;
   “visitor” means a person who uses and/or accesses computer software and/or material via the CIPCIPONLINE web site;
   
2. Service conditions, accessibility and delivery  
   (1) A service is available anywhere in the world with the following provisos:
          (a)The CIPCIPONLINE web site is accessible;
          (b)The method of delivery is on-line or to an e-mail address. 
   (2)CIPC strives to make the CIPCIPONLINE web site available and accessible seven (7) days a week and 24 hours per day but there are interdependencies and events outside of CIPC’s control that may impact web site availability.  
   (3)Searches and lodgments requiring no intervention from CIPC officials can be searched or lodged at any time when the CIPCIPONLINE web site is available. 
   (4)Lodgments or requests that requires intervention by CIPC Officials may also be lodged/submitted at any time that the CIPCIPONLINE web site is available, but internal processing will only be performed inside CIPC Office Hours, Monday to Friday 07:30 to 16:00 excluding public holidays, the period between Christmas and New Year and other periods of Office Closure as may be announced from time to time.
   (5)CIPC reserves the right to –
          (a)Introduce new services;
          (b)Discontinue services
          (c)Restrict services rendered over the Internet to selected customers or selected groups of customers; and
          (d)Refrain from making certain services available on the Internet, at its sole discretion without prior notice to a visitor or customer. 
   (6)When requesting services, CIPC reserves the right to refuse the customer access to a specific service if the customer does not have a mandate, properly registered at CIPC, to perform the action.  
   (7)CIPC reserves the right to amend its definition of a properly registered mandate and to apply different criteria in deriving, determining or establishing the mandate depending on the type of service requested.
   
3. Hyperlinks, framing, spiders and crawlers
   No person, business or web site may –
            (a)Link to any page on this site without the prior written permission of CIPC; 
            (b)Frame this site or any of the pages on this site in any way whatsoever; or 
            (c)Use any technology to search and gain any information from this site without the prior written permission of CIPC.
   Trade mark, copyrights and restrictions on use 
   (1)The CIPCIPONLINE web site consist of contents which are derived entirely or in part from content supplied by CIPC and other sources.
   (2)The content referred to in subparagraph (1) is protected under applicable South African Copyright and Trade Mark Laws, International Trade Marks and Copyright Laws and conventions. 
    (3)A visitor or customer, with the inclusion of but not the limitation of, may not reproduce, duplicate, publish, modify, copy, download, upload in any manner, post, broadcast or transmit, reverse engineer or disenable, display, or distribute or in any way exploit any of the contents that being software and/or material.  
   (4)Except in so far that a visitor or customer may download one copy of the content on any single computer for such visitor’s or customer’s personal, non commercial home use only: Provided that all propriety notices and restrictions attached onto the content are kept intact, unless expressly permitted by the site, or unless prior written consent from CIPC has been obtained
   (5)Requests for permission regarding any issue relating to the contents which fall into the ambit of the limitations stated above, can be made by contacting CIPC in writing at :
   LEGAL AND REGULATORY SERVICES
   PO BOX X429
   PRETORIA
   0001  
   (6)A visitor or customer is also strictly prohibited from creating works, and/or software materials derived from or which are based on the contents found on this site.  
   (7)The prohibition referred to in subparagraph (6) applies regardless of whether the content are sold, negotiated or given away and/or further alienated in any manner whatsoever. 
   
4.  Accessing link websites  
   (1)CIPCIPONLINE contains links to other related World Wide Web Internet sites.  
   (2)No inference can be made or representation implied that CIPC is connected with, operates or controls these linked web sites.  
   (3)Whether or not these linked sites are in fact affiliated with CIPC, CIPC is not responsible for the content on the aforesaid sites.  
   (4)The linked sites are for a visitor’s or customer’s convenience only and such visitor’s or customer’s access thereto is at his/her own risk.
   (5)When visiting linked sites a visitor or customer must refer to that linked site’s individual terms of use and can not rely on the terms of this agreement.
   
5. Submissions / bulletin boards  
   (1)Any submissions shall be deemed to be and remain the exclusive property of CIPC. 
   (2)The various forums content, which are found on the CIPCIPONLINE web site, shall be deemed to remain the exclusive property of CIPC.
   (3)CIPC has the right, but not the obligation to monitor and review submissions submitted by visitors or customers, in the forums.
   (4)CIPC shall not be responsible for any of the content of these messages.
   (5)CIPC further reserves the right to delete, move or edit submissions that CIPC, in its exclusive discretion, deems abusive, defamatory, obscene or in violation of any Copyright or Trade mark laws or otherwise objectionable. 
   
6. Rules of conduct for the visitor and customer 
   (1)A visitor or customer with the inclusion of but not the limitation of, agrees that he/she will not transmit submissions to the CIPCIPONLINE web site that - 
           (a)use any of the forums for illegal purposes;
           (b)are for purpose of spamming;
           (restrict or inhibit any other visitor or customer from using and enjoying the forums;
           (d)are unlawful, threatening, abusive, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, profane pornographic and/or allow for indecent information that constitutes a criminal offence and/or gives rise to a civil liability claim or otherwise violates any local, national or international law;
           (e)violate the Copyright, Trade mark or other Intellectual property rights of any other person by the submission of the content to CIPCIPONLINE web site through the  forums or other avenues, which allow for such submissions and further that the visitor or customer by the transmission of content in any manner whatsoever, represents to CIPC that they are the rightful owner of such content transmitted or that the visitor or customer has obtained permission from the rightful owners to submit such content transmitted; 
        (f)Contain viruses or other harmful content;
        (g)are intended for commercial purposes, contain marketing or promotional materials or are intended to solicit donations.
   (2)A visitor or customer agrees that all submissions become the exclusive property of CIPC.
   (3)A visitor or customer agrees that he/she shall be solely liable for any damage resulting from any infringement of Copyrights, Trade marks and other proprietary rights or any other damages resulting from such a submission. 
   4)A visitor or customer further indemnifies and holds CIPC harmless against all claims for any damages whatsoever arising from the use of the CIPCIPONLINE web site. 
    
7. Damages, warranty, indemnity
   (1)A visitor or customer expressly agrees that the use of the CIPCIPONLINE web site is at his/her sole risk. 
   CIPC does not guarantee or warrant;
          (a)that the CIPCIPONLINE web site will be uninterrupted;
          (b)that the CIPCIPONLINE web site will be default free and that the defects will be corrected;
          (c)that the results that may be obtained from the use or application from information gained from the CIPCIPONLINE web site in so far as accuracy and content of any such information is concerned;
         (d)that the servers that make the content available are free from viruses and other harmful content;        (e)any merchandise provided through the CIPCIPONLINE web site. 
   (3)The CIPCIPONLINE web site is provided "AS IS" and on an "IS AVAILABLE" basis, without any representation or endorsement made and without warranty of any kind whether express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of satisfactory quality, non- infringement, title, security and compatibility. 
   (4)A visitor or customer acknowledges and confirms CIPC indemnity to, including but not limited to, indirect, direct, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages arising from the use of or inability to use CIPC sites.  
   (5)A visitor or customer acknowledges that all the provisions as contained in section 8 of the terms and conditions of use shall apply to all the contents of the CIPCIPONLINE web site.  
   (6)The disclaimer of liability applies to damages or injury, including but not limited to, indirect, direct, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages or any damages whatsoever arising from use or loss of use of data or of profits, whether in breach of contract, delictual action, negligence, or under any other cause of action. 
   (7)If any of the terms and conditions of this agreement should be deemed to be unlawful, invalid or otherwise unenforceable by reason of the laws of any state or country in which these terms and conditions are intended to be effective than to the extent only and within the jurisdiction in which that term and condition is illegal, invalid or unenforceable, it shall be severed and deleted from this agreement and the remaining terms and conditions shall survive, remain in full force and effect and continue to be binding and enforceable.
   The information available on the CIPC IP ONLINE, website is not intended to be comprehensive and accordingly it should not be regarded as being a complete source of Intellectual Property Law, in particular Patents and Trade marks, and users are advised to seek independent professional advice before acting on anything contained herein.
   Conditions of use and access
   In order to make use of CIPCIPONLINE website fee carrying services, a person must register as a customer using the “Registration“ facility on the CIPCIPONLINE web site.
   (2)A customer must ensure that all the details provided by him/her for his/her registration are true and correct at all times as CIPC shall not be liable for any expenses, costs or damages incurred as a result of incorrect details. 
   (3)A customer is responsible for securing his/her agent login password and such agent login password may not be disclosed to unauthorized persons, as such customer will be held responsible for all transactions performed with his/her login and password. 
   (4)A customer must immediately notify CIPC in writing of any unauthorized use of his/her password or of any other breach of security 
   (5)When a person registers as a customer he/she consents to receiving communications from CIPC electronically.
   
8. Agreement to and termination of agreement 
   (1)The use of or access to these sites constitutes a visitor’s or customer’s acceptance of terms and conditions hereof, which are binding on such visitor or customer and take effect on a date which such visitor or customer first makes use of, or access to the CIPCIPONLINE web site.
   (2)If a visitor or customer does not accept all the terms and conditions in full, such visitor or customer must exit the site immediately. 
   (3)CIPC has the exclusive discretion to terminate the agreement at any time. 
   (4)After a visitor or customer has exited the site as aforesaid such visitor or customer must destroy all content, whether materials or software, obtained from the site and all copies thereof.  
   (5)In the event of a visitor or customer failing to exit the site as aforesaid CIPC has the right to claim any indirect, direct, incidental, special or punitive damages caused to CIPC from such visitor’s or customer’s unauthorized access and/or use of the CIPCIPONLINE web site.
   (6)A visitor or customer indemnifies CIPC against any claims for damages of whatsoever nature caused to another party by such visitor or customer unauthorized use and/or access of the sites.
   
9. Conditions of use of access
   
   (1) In order to make use of CIPCIPONLINE website fee carrying services, a person must register as a customer using the “Registration“    facility on the CIPCIPONLINE web site.
   (2) A customer must ensure that all the details provided by him/her for his/her registration are true and correct at all times as CIPC shall not be liable for any expenses, costs or damages incurred as a result of incorrect details.
   (3)A customer is responsible for securing his/her agent login password and such agent login password may not be disclosed to unauthorized persons, as such customer will be held responsible for all transactions performed with his/her login and password.
   (4)A customer must immediately notify CIPC in writing of any unauthorized use of his/her password or of any other breach of security
   (5) When a person registers as a customer he/she consents to receiving communications from CIPC electronically
   
10. Agreement to and termination of agreement
    
    

    (1) The use of or access to these sites constitutes a visitor’s or customer’s acceptance of terms and conditions hereof, which are binding on such visitor or customer and take effect on a date which such visitor or customer first makes use of, or access to the CIPCIPONLINE web site.
    (2)If a visitor or customer does not accept all the terms and conditions in full, such visitor or customer must exit the site immediately.
    (3) CIPC has the exclusive discretion to terminate the agreement at any time.
    (4) After a visitor or customer has exited the site as aforesaid such visitor or customer must destroy all content, whether materials or software, obtained from the site and all copies thereof.
    (5) In the event of a visitor or customer failing to exit the site as aforesaid CIPC has the right to claim any indirect, direct, incidental, special or punitive damages caused to CIPC from such visitor’s or customer’s unauthorized access and/or use of the CIPCIPONLINE web site.
    (6) A visitor or customer indemnifies CIPC against any claims for damages of whatsoever nature caused to another party by such visitor or customer unauthorized use and/or access of the sites  

11. General
    
    (1)  This agreement, the terms, conditions and operating rules for the CIPCIPONLINE web site, constitute the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof.
    (2)  The agreement and the terms and conditions shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa. (3)  Any dispute arising herefrom shall be exclusively within the rights of CIPC, subject to the jurisdiction of the courts and/or Tribunals of the Republic of South Africa.
    (4)  The paragraph headings used herein are for convenience only and shall be of no legal consequence.
    (5) CIPC may at any time revise these terms and conditions of use by updating the postings.
    (6)  A visitor or customer is bound by such revisions and should therefore periodically visit this agreement to review the then current terms and conditions to which he/she is bound.
    (7)  CIPC shall have the exclusive right to at any time change or discontinue any aspect or feature of the CIPCIPONLINE web site.