Subject to special regulations, the following general terms and conditions determine your legal relationship with DocCheck® Medical Services GmbH (named "DocCheck®" below). DocCheck® recommends that you print out these general terms and conditions and keep them carefully.
Introduction
DocCheck® Medical Services GmbH, Vogelsanger Straße 66, D-50823 Cologne, listed in the companies register of Cologne County Court under HR B 31 152 (named "DocCheck" below) has built in password protection on websites which contain information for medical specialist staff, offers passwords to authorised persons and checks their identity when they want to view websites protected by password entry. In this way DocCheck® connects the provider and user of specialist medical information.
§ 1 Object of the contract
Object of the following general terms and conditions is the supply and use of the DocCheck password and the use of the DocCheck services named in §§ 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.
§ 2 User, authorisation
(1) DocCheck services may only be used without restriction by professionals and legal personnel belonging to or training for one of the medical healing professions and employees of the pharmaceutical industry and of services associated with them ("user").
(2) A prerequisite for participation in DocCheck services is the authorisation of the user by DocCheck®. The user needs to register with DocCheck® (www.doccheck.com/password) and enter the data required by DocCheck® honestly, in full. The user will then be asked by email to produce appropriate proof that requirements for authorisation are fulfilled. This check is usually carried out by fax.
(3) As a rule, the user will be informed of their authorisation and activation of their chosen password by email. Authorisation and activation is free of charge. The user cannot demand authorisation. DocCheck® also reserves the right to refuse authorisation at any time and to withdraw it for an unspecified period without giving reasons, in particular if
a. false entries are given on registration
b. the password is transferred without authorisation or
c. the DocCheck services are misused.
(4) Every user has the right to withdraw their registration in writing, at any time. In this case all data about the user stored by DocCheck® will be deleted, at the latest one month after complete fulfilment of any existing legal conditions, e.g. in the context of online studies in connection with the DocCheck customer account. In principle the DocCheck password remains activated for as long as necessary for the purposes of completing the contract.
(5) Authorisation ends automatically if the circumstances named above in section (1) change. The user must inform DocCheck® immediately if one of these conditions is about to change or has already changed. Section 4, points 2 and 3 apply here.
§ 3 Use of the password, access
(1) The user commits to using the DocCheck password exclusively for personal use and to protect it from unauthorised access by third parties. They bear full responsibility for the consequences of unauthorised use. The customer is also responsible for any costs or claims from third parties on DocCheck® arising from the infringement of this duty.
(2) The extent of access protected by the password depends on the site policy of the supplier of information using DocCheck® as a password system. It can vary according to the profession of the user. The user commits to dealing with any objections to a supplier's site policy with the supplier themselves.
§ 4 DocCheck® User services
(1) DocCheck® offers the user a range of services, including small ads, forums, online dictionaries (DocCheck® Flexikon, DocCheck® EBM Scout), web logs (DocCheck® Blog), coding certificates (DocCheck® Keys), literature research (DocCheck® LitBot), web to print (DocCheck® MediForms) and homepage services (DocCheck® Home pages).
(2) The use of user services is limited to private individuals. Commercial use without the express permission of DocCheck® is not allowed.
(3) DocCheck® reserves the right to shorten, summarise or re-order the content entered on user services at any time without the agreement of the user concerned.
(4) DocCheck® also reserves the right to bar and delete content, in particular that of a commercial nature, that which contradicts legal regulations, regulations pertaining to the press or to codes of professional conduct and content which is immoral or which could damage DocCheck®.
(5) DocCheck® reserves the right to limit or close down its user services at any time, without giving reason, e.g. for technical or economic reasons.
(6) The data given to DocCheck® in the context of their user services will be stored by DocCheck® only until the completion of the procedure concerned and then deleted. DocCheck® will not make security copies of this data so that the user must arrange adequate protection themselves against any loss of data.
§ 5 DocCheck® Faces
(1) With DocCheck Faces, DocCheck offers a platform to the user enabling a general establishing of contacts between DocCheck users.
(2) With his registration at "DocCheck Faces", the user agrees that his master data (title, First- and last name, postal code, city and occupation) as well as the picture entered, if applicable, can be viewed by any third party on the DC Faces website. This includes that he/she might be found by registered DocCheck users, colleagues and patients e. g. via the DocCheck search for physicians ("DocTip"). In addition, every DocCheck user can indicate which of his/her data is made public to which extent or only visible to certain groups of persons.
(3) DocCheck does not participate contextual in the communication of its users. In case users conclude contracts among each other via the DocCheck websites, DocCheck is not involved and therefore not a contracting partner. The users alone sign responsible for clearing and settlement of the contracts concluded among them.
(4) DocCheck cannot be held liable for the case a contract is not being cleared and settled between users and concluded via the DocCheck websites. In addition DocCheck cannot be held liable for any breach of duty of users regarding any contracts concluded between users. DocCheck also cannot be held liable for information or recommendations (in particular recommendations of therapies) forwarded to third parties among the users.
(5) Each user is fully responsible for the contents of the profile issued in DocCheck Faces. DocCheck is merely the passive messenger for this information. The user is obligated to ensure the truth of the information and not harm any laws or rights of any third party.
(6) The user confirms to only publish pictures of himself in DocCheck Faces which show him clearly and distinctly and in accordance with his present appearance. The user ensure that the publication of his/her picture transferred can be shown publicly. The transfer of pictures or images of other or non existent persons or other character (avatars, animals, fantasy characters etc.) is not permitted. The pictures transferred may not show or contain any company logos.
(7) DocCheck faces prohibits the following activities respectively actions:
- Mailing of chain letters,
- Sending of identical private messages to several users at the same time,
- Performance, application and promotion of any structured distribution activities (such as multi-level marketing or multi-level network marketing) or
- offensive or sexually characterized communication (explicit or implicit),
- application of mechanisms, software or scripts relating to the use of the DocCheck websites. The user may use interfaces or software though offered by DocCheck within the DocCheck websites and the offered services.
- Blocking, overwriting, modifying, copying as far as it is not necessary for the proper use of services of the DocCheck websites. For example the copying by ways of "Robot- respectively Crawler" search engine technologies is not necessary for proper use of services on the DocCheck websites and therefore explicitly prohibited.
- Circulation and public reproduction of contents of the DocCheck websites or of other users.
- Any action fit to impair functionality of the DocCheck infrastructure, in particular to exceedingly overload it.
§ 6 DocCheck customer account
(1) On authorisation all DocCheck® users will automatically be assigned a DocCheck customer account to facilitate the billing of payments which the user can earn in the context of various DocCheck services. § 2, Section 3, points 3 and 4 apply here.
(2) The DocCheck customer account is not a bank account but serves exclusively to record and document the user's personal invoice on DocCheck® for services for DocCheck® as named in § 6. Bank transfers and other transactions for payment can not be made through the customer account.
(3) The fees earned will be listed on the user's customer account and added up without interest. Within 14 days of the end of the yearly quarter payment will be made into the bank account named by the user. If the total is less than 10 Euro by the end of the quarter or if no bank account is given, payment will not be made and the sum will be carried over into the next quarter.
(4) The user can view the sum of their fees at any time on the DocCheck web site. Access is via the DocCheck password. § 3, Section 1 also applies for the number of the DocCheck customer account.
(5) The user is responsible themselves for declaring their expenses for tax.
(6) The user can close their DocCheck customer account at any time, without notice, by cancelling on the DocCheck web site. This does not affect continued use of the DocCheck password. If expenses are still due at the time of closure of the account, they will be paid into the user's bank account as long as they exceed 3 Euro. Sums up to 3 Euro will be retained as administrative costs. § 2, Section 4, points 2 and 3 apply here.
(7) The use of the DocCheck® Premium System (MediMiles) will be regulated by its own conditions of business and the user must agree to these on registration with MediMiles.
(8) If fees cannot be paid within 36 months of documentation on the customer account (due to a missing bank account number or failure to reach the total of 10 Euro), the fees will be forfeited at the end of the next quarter. An email message will announce the date and sum to be forfeited in good time before forfeit of the payments.
§ 7 DocCheck e-marketing services
(1) Within its range of services DocCheck® offers the user voluntary participation in e-marketing services. These include online studies and online market research (DocCheck®/Research) and online direct marketing (DocCheck®/Mail).
(2) For successful participation in e-marketing services the user will receive a different amount in expenses if they have a DocCheck customer account (§ 5). §4, Section 5 applies here.
(3) On registration with DocCheck the user decides whether they would like to take part in DocCheck e-marketing services. The user can unsubscribe from e-marketing emails at any time by changing their entry on the DocCheck web site www.doccheck.com.
(4) In e-marketing services DocCheck® will pass on the user data raised to third parties only with the express permission of the user.
(5) Further details about the usage of e-marketing services can be regulated by its own conditions of business.
§ 8 DocCheck emails
(1) In order to provide the DocCheck password service to the user free of charge, all information concerning the user's data, password and customer account will be conveyed by email. The user declares their agreement to this with their application for the DocCheck password.
(2) It should be pointed out that in the context of its services DocCheck will send info mail by email on news concerning DocCheck or its partners to registered DocCheck users. As a rule these emails will concern extraordinary events such as trade fairs, the introduction of new services, special offers in the DocCheck shop, etc. These emails may also contain advertising or product advertisements. The user may unsubscribe from these emails at any time by changing their settings on the DocCheck web site www.doccheck.com.
§ 9 DocCheck e-commerce services
The use of e-commerce services in DocCheck®, e.g. DocCheck®/Auction and DocCheck®/Shop will be regulated by their own conditions of business.
§ 10 DocCheck MediMiles
1) DocCheck offers a premium system on the internet ("MediMiles®"). Prerequisites for taking part in the MediMiles programme are registration as a participant in DocCheck and setting up a MediMiles account.
(2) Anyone who has registered with DocCheck can take part in the MediMiles programme. Registration is permitted to any person, regardless of home or business location, who is at least able to trade to a restricted degree and any organisation of people and legal professionals; premiums however can only be posted to addresses in Germany or Austria (cf. § 9 (4)). For participants registered with DocCheck a personal MediMiles account will be set up after registration which records, amongst other details, the current state of their MediMiles account, MediMiles collected and the partners from whom MediMiles have been earned.
Participation in the MediMiles programme is free of charge and does not impose any kind of legal obligations on the participant in the context of these conditions of participation.
No participant may hold more than one MediMiles account. If a participant sets up several accounts, whether for themselves or for unauthorised third parties, as a fake account for non-existent participants or any other kind of account holder, DocCheck has the right to close any illegitimate account. MediMiles collected on illegitimate accounts are invalid. DocCheck reserves the right to take further steps against this type of participant.
DocCheck may reject the registration of a participant for the MediMiles programme without giving reason.
(3) On participation in the MediMiles programme the participant has the opportunity to collect MediMiles with MediMiles partners. The total MediMiles collected will be credited to the participant's MediMiles account. This is carried out via data transfer by the partner to DocCheck. The transactions or interactions by which MediMiles can be earned and the number of MediMiles to be credited are determined by the conditions set by DocCheck and its MediMiles partners. In the case of non-fee earning transactions online (e.g. orders from the DocCheck/Shop, by which MediMiles are not redeemed) the participant may keep the credited MediMiles as a token of thanks even if they make use of their right to change their decision to buy the item from the MediMiles partner; please see § 9 (8) here.
MediMiles can be cancelled until they are finally redeemed, in cases of misuse, even later.
MediMiles can only be used in the context of the MediMiles programme. Conversion of MediMiles into monetary value and payment or billing as such is not permitted online; This also applies in the case of cancellation of membership. § 9 (6) remains unaffected.
MediMiles may fundamentally not be transferred to third parties.
MediMiles are valid for the duration of membership of DocCheck for a period of three (3) years after crediting. If MediMiles are not redeemed during this period, they become invalid. § 9 (8) applies in the case of giving notice. Redemption of MediMiles is carried out on the principle of "first in, first out", i.e. the first MediMiles earned are the first to be redeemed (= first credited).
On some sites only certain groups of professionals may collect MediMiles. Decisions on the mode of allocating them are made by the participating partner sites.
(4) MediMiles collected can be redeemed in the virtual MediMiles premium shop in goods and services ("premiums"). These include vouchers for purchases and offers from the DocCheck shop.
Premiums can also be redeemed according to the conditions given in the virtual premium shop, with consideration given to the limits on time and volume detailed there. They may be subject to limitations and only supplied according to availability; the total of MediMiles redeemed for a premium may also change. The premiums can only be sent within Germany and to Austria; if the participant does not live in these countries, they must give an address for delivery in Germany or Austria on the order of their premium.
The participant may only redeem MediMiles when enough have been collected for a premium.
A premium once redeemed cannot be exchanged for another premium, nor changed back into MediMiles. Exceptions here are cases regulated by § 9 (6). Premiums acquired by a participant who has collected MediMiles by misuse may be withdrawn.
Monetary payment cannot be made for MediMiles collected.
Premiums redeemed represent so-called "financial advantages" and must be declared by the participant for taxation.
(5) The participant can access their MediMiles account by identifying their username and password on DocCheck. The participant commits to keeping safe their DocCheck password and protecting it from access by unauthorised third parties. DocCheck takes no responsibility for unauthorised instructions carried out with the participant's password (cf. § 3).
In the relationship of the participant to DocCheck the last known email address of the participant is binding. The participant commits to informing DocCheck immediately of any new email address and any changes in their personal participant details. If the participant neglects this duty, they must bear any resultant disadvantages themselves.
The MediMiles account can only be accessed online, account statements etc. will not be sent out on paper.
(6) In the regulations given below, DocCheck guarantees that premiums are fault-free and have the promised characteristics.
Claims on the warranty cannot be made if faults occur due to the participant's neglect of guidelines concerning the treatment or maintenance of the premium or if they have repaired the premium themselves.
If the defect in the premium lies in DocCheck's responsibility, DocCheck has the right to choose to remove the defect or provide a replacement. If the participant does not make the premium in question available to DocCheck as requested, all claims on the guarantee become invalid.
If DocCheck is not willing or able to remove the defect nor provide a replacement, or if DocCheck is responsible for delaying legal redress beyond an appropriate period of time, or the repair or replacement is faulty in any way, the participant has the right to choose to exchange the premium for credit of the corresponding number of MediMiles on their MediMiles account or compensation (corresponding credit on their MediMiles account).
No other liability is undertaken by DocCheck on behalf of the participant for defects in the premium, subject to the regulation in § 9 (7).
(7) Claims for compensation for damages cannot be made against DocCheck, regardless of the legal basis, unless DocCheck has acted wilfully or with serious neglect or unless the claims for compensation arise from the failure of a promised characteristic. In the same way, DocCheck is liable if one of their legal agents or managers is mildly negligent in a duty of essential importance to the fulfilment of the purpose of the contract.
If DocCheck is liable for these reasons, the claim for damages will be limited to foreseeable damages. This limit on damages does not apply if the damage has arisen from the serious or wilful neglect of a legal representative or manager of DocCheck.
The limits of DocCheck's liability also apply to the personal liability of DocCheck's employees, assistants and agents.
In no case is DocCheck liable for damages caused by MediMiles partners. In particular, DocCheck is not committed to refund MediMiles not credited to the participant due to the MediMiles partners' omissions.
(8) DocCheck has the right to cancel participation in the MediMiles programme as an extraordinary act if the participant offends against the general conditions of participation or of the DocCheck membership or misuses the MediMiles programme or opportunities to collect MediMiles. Amongst other cases, this would include the participant regularly cancelling the MediMiles partners' services, only "appearing" to make transactions or interactions initiated by MediMiles, in particular orders, or refusing to settle demands from MediMiles partners in an unauthorised manner. The same applies to publications by participants (e.g. comments, casuistry etc.) in the context of forums of participating MediMiles partners in which the participant repeatedly stands out for contributions which do not meet the qualitative, scientific and/or formal requirements of the forum. This will result in an orderly notice to quit from DocCheck with four weeks notice. The participant may cancel participation in the MediMiles programme at any time, without notice. Cancellation must be made in writing or email (to info@medimiles.de, Re: "Cancellation") giving the participant's username and password.
When DocCheck or the participant cancels, MediMiles can no longer be credited or redeemed; MediMiles collected on the MediMiles account become invalid.
(9) In the case of a change in the general conditions of participation, the new conditions do not apply to the MediMiles service until (i) DocCheck has informed the participant of the change by email and (ii) The participant (a) has not cancelled their participation in the MediMiles programme with a notice period of one (1) month after learning of the change, according to § 9 (8), or (b) continues to carry out transactions with MediMiles.
(10) German law applies, with the exception of the UN law on sales.
If the participant works in commerce, the court of jurisdiction is Cologne. Cologne is also agreed as court of jurisdiction in the case of the participant having no general court of jurisdiction in Germany. This also applies if the participant moves abroad after registration or if their home address is not known at the time of commencement of legal action.
(11) DocCheck will process personal data with consideration for the current data protection laws. DocCheck is authorised to give information on MediMiles accounts at any time to businesses associated with the DocCheck group and suppliers and organisations which support the MediMiles programme as long as this serves the purpose of securing the services and administration and guaranteeing all the advantages which participation offers.
DocCheck has the right to appoint sub-contractors to fulfil services in the context of the MediMiles programme. Participants' data will be communicated to these third parties exclusively for the purpose of fulfilling these services.
§ 11 Use of data, data protection
(1) DocCheck® places a high priority on data protection. DocCheck® commits its personnel to respecting regulations of the Federal data protection act and the act on multimedia.
(2) Subject to modified regulations in individual cases, personal data of the user (below, in short, "data") is only raised, processed and stored as far as is required for the DocCheck services taken up by the user. Fundamentally, DocCheck® will only pass on data in the context of legal obligations and only to authorised offices. Furthermore, in the example of participation in online studies, DocCheck® will only pass on data with the express permission of the user concerned.
(3) DocCheck® produces statistics without names giving information on the frequency of usage of individual internet services. Commercial use of the data in the sense of "sales of addresses" does not take place on DocCheck®.
(4) The user can view data stored in DocCheck® at any time after entering their username and password on the DocCheck web site.
§ 12 Limitations on liability
(1) According to legal regulations DocCheck® is liable without limitation for damages which are caused by the wilful or serious neglect of DocCheck®'s legal agents or leading personnel or by serious debts of the organisation or by the defects in promised characteristics. Furthermore, DocCheck® is liable, regardless of legal reasons, for damages caused by culpable infringements by legal agents or leading personnel of DocCheck® of an essential contractual duty which endangers the fulfilment of the purpose of the contract.
(2) DocCheck® is not liable for damages, including indirect and subsequent damages such as lost profits arising to the user as a result of:
a. mistaken entries of user-managed details such as advertisements, representations of practices or of products,
b. the disorderly function of DocCheck services regardless of the cause of the defect,
c. mistakes in data transfer and managing print and loss of data, or
d. other occurrences in connection with the use of DocCheck®, unless the damages are caused by the wilful or seriously negligent actions of legal agents or leading personnel of DocCheck®.
(3) DocCheck®'s liability is limited in the case of Section 1, point 2 to the typical damages caused by the service concerned. On completion of the contract DocCheck® must be prepared for any damages caused on the basis of its knowledge of the circumstances at this point. DocCheck® is not liable for inadequate economic success, lost profit, savings not materialised, indirect damages, subsequent damages and claims from third parties.
(4) Subject to special regulations, DocCheck® is liable for the loss of data and the recovery of it only if the loss was not avoidable by appropriate data protection measures taken by the customer and to the extent that the data can be reconstructed with justifiable labour from data material held in machine-readable form.
(5) DocCheck® accepts no liability in the case of the user offending against the relevant legal conditions on using DocCheck services, e.g. against the law against unfair competition (UWG), the law on information and communication services (IuKDG), the law on trademarks (MarkenG) or other relevant regulations.
(6) On the internet means of communication are not secured against access by unauthorised third parties. Adequately technically able participants therefore have the opportunity on the internet to access, read and process the data of other individuals. The customer bears the risks connected with this. DocCheck® accepts no liability for the consequences of any access by third parties.
(7) DocCheck® accepts no liability for events and circumstances beyond its control; this applies in particular to the services of Deutsche Telekom and other providers, to the efficient functioning of networks other than DocCheck's own and to the condition of the glass fibre network.
(8) For the content of individual web sites produced by the user or recognisably by a third party, in particular for the content of web sites to which DocCheck® merely gives a link, the user or third party concerned has full responsibility. DocCheck® does not examine contents for completeness and correctness, nor for their conformity to codes of professional conduct.
(9) The limitations on liability described above apply in the same spirit on behalf of DocCheck®'s personnel and appointees. The liability of personnel and appointees is limited to the typical damages caused by the service concerned even in the cases of wilful or negligent action. On completion of the contract DocCheck® must be prepared for any damages caused on the basis of its knowledge of the circumstances at this point. DocCheck® is not liable for damages caused by the negligent infringement of an inessential contractual duty by one of its staff or appointees.
§ 13 Legal protection of commercial property rights
(1) All DocCheck trademarks and logos and text, pictures and illustrations on the DocCheck web site ("DocCheck properties") are protected in their entirety and may not be modified.
(2) Usage of DocCheck properties in other ways than allowed by the general terms and conditions is not permitted. In particular, DocCheck properties may not be passed on to third parties nor made accessible to them, nor used for commercial purposes.
§ 14 Choice of law
The carrying out of services described in § 2 and these general terms and conditions are subject to German law. The UN agreement on contracts concerning the international sales of goods of 11th April, 1980 cannot be applied.
§ 15 Miscellaneous
(1) DocCheck® reserves the right to alter these general terms and conditions at any time. DocCheck® will inform all users immediately of any change. Unless the user objects to the change in the general terms and conditions within one month of learning of the change, the modified general terms and conditions counts as accepted by the user concerned. DocCheck® will give particular advice to the user on the consequences for their actions in connection with the change.
(2) The place of fulfilment and, for commercial agents, the court of jurisdiction is Cologne.
(3) Should individual conditions of this contract be inoperable in part or in whole or later lose validity, the validity of the rest of the contract remains unaffected. In this case, the parties commit to agree an operable condition in place of the inoperable which, as far as legally possible, comes closest to the economic purpose targeted by the inoperable condition with consideration given to the parties' interests as expressed in this contract. The same applies unless the contract proves to contain gaps unforeseen by the parties.
[Last modified: Cologne, 15.08.2006]
