Terms & Conditions

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1. About ACID

1.1      ACID is the trading name of Anti Copying In Design Limited , a company incorporated in England and Wales with company number 3402512.  Our registered office is at 6 Lion Avenue, Twickenham TW1 4JG. Our  head office and address for all correspondence is Fetcham Park, Lower Road, Leatherhead, KT22 9HD. 

1.2      ACID is a membership organisation committed to raising awareness and encouraging ethics, compliance and respect for intellectual property (IP) within corporate social responsibility.  By joining ACID, you are joining an organisation which is committed to its objectives to the benefit of its members.

1.3      ACID Marketplace Limited is the trading arm of ACID through which membership fees are paid.

1.4      Prior to joining ACID all applicants must ensure that they read and understand the following Terms and Conditions. Please ensure that you also download, read and understand the Code of Conduct and ACID Membership Joining Criteria which are available at the bottom of this page.

2. What ACID Will Do

2.1    Use of ACID Logo

2.1.1   As a member of ACID, we grant you a non-exclusive licence to use the ACID name and logo, strictly in accordance with these Terms and Conditions, in the course of your business to communicate to the public that you are a member of the organisation

2.1.2  The ACID name and logo are registered trade marks owned by ACID. The Member of ACID logo may be utilised on your headed notepaper, web site and other marketing and publicity material.

2.1.3  As part of the licence granted to you, we license you to represent that you are an ACID member and encourage you to promote this fact as we believe that this is a powerful symbol of deterrence in copying and IP theft.

2.1.4  We will provide you with the necessary image files so you may incorporate the use of the ACID name and Member of ACID logo into your business strategy.

2.1.5  The member of ACID logo cannot be used in an inappropriate or offensive manner, nor can it be used in conjunction with external, independent IP courses or in any other way not expressly granted in these Terms and Conditions without prior permission.  Any such use would be in breach of these Terms and Conditions and the exclusive agreement ACID has with its Legal Affiliates

2.1.6  ACID’s decision on any inappropriate or misuse of the logo will be final and may lead to termination of membership.

2.2    ACID IP Databank

2.2.1   Access to the ACID IP Databank is part of your membership. This facility is to encourage you, as a member, to lodge details of your designs with ACID so this may serve as a robust acknowledgement, verification and third party evidence of your creation of your designs if you ever need such assistance.

2.3    Access to Legal Affiliates

2.3.1   ACID also provides access to its Legal Affiliate teams (through an online contact form) who can provide free initial legal advice.  Such advice is personal to you and not to be disseminated to the public.

2.3.2   Should you wish for an ACID Legal Affiliate to act on your behalf, such work will be undertaken at a discounted hourly rate for ACID members.

2.3.3   ACID Members agree to read and understand the Additional Legal Affiliate Information document from ACID which clarifies the benefits of initial free legal advice and reduced legal fees should they instruct an ACID Legal Affiliate, as well as the protocol for the conduct of disputes.

2.3.4   ACID Members consent to any lawyer they instruct – whether an ACID Legal Affiliate or an external legal representative – discussing the dispute on a “without prejudice” basis with an ACID Legal Affiliate who is representing the opposing party. “Without prejudice” means the discussion is confidential and cannot be used later in court proceedings. This allows both sides to explore the possibility of resolving the issue informally and amicably at an early stage, without affecting their legal position.

2.4   What We Expect From You

As a member of ACID we expect from you and you agree to the following:

2.4.1  to have the utmost respect for Intellectual Property and adhere to a strict anti-copying policy within your organisation

2.4.2  to promote ACID and its aims and to support ACID in its fight against IP theft

2.4.3  to pay your membership fees by the specified date

2.4.4  to adhere to the ACID Member Joining Criteria

2.4.5   to promote and maintain ethical standards of conduct and at all times deal fairly and honestly with the public and with the business community

2.4.6   at all times act in a professional manner and not engage in practices which would bring the design industry or ACID into disrepute

2.4.7   ensure that your designs and products conform with all relevant laws and regulations and that your employees and agents are fully aware of all such laws and regulations

2.4.8   not deliberately or knowingly copy the designs, products, name or trading style of another company or business

2.4.9   not to engage in any practice or activity which unfairly competes with the business or is detrimental to the goodwill or reputation of another company or business

2.4.10 In the event that a dispute arises between you and one or more ACID members concerning the origin, ownership or integrity of one or more designs or products, you agree to submit to the ACID Mediation Scheme (or another similar scheme approved by the ACID Committee) and to attend at least an initial session of no less than three hours in an attempt to resolve the dispute. This will not prevent ACID members seeking urgent interim relief in appropriate circumstances. In such cases, ACID should be notified that such steps are to be taken.

2.4.11 The use of the ACID logo in what is considered a derogatory or inappropriate manner or if it is used in conjunction with external, independent IP courses, training, CPD, mentoring sessions without permission is not allowed. 

2.5    Membership Fees

2.5.1   The membership fees are set out and published on our website but may vary from time to time.

2.5.2   Membership fees are payable in full annually or can be paid by monthly direct debit instalments.  All members choosing the direct debit option will pay an annual administration fee of £10.00 plus VAT in addition to their subscription fee.  

2.5.4   Your liability for the membership fees whether paid annually in full or by monthly direct debit instalments is for the full year’s subscription to be paid.  Should you  decide that you no longer wish to be a member, but part of your membership fee remains unpaid, you will still be under the obligation to pay the remainder of any fee outstanding up to the end of your subscription year.

2.5.5   We do not store credit card details nor do we share member details with any third parties.

2.6    Membership Renewal

2.6.1   Your membership will renew automatically unless we receive your written notice to cancel your membership no less than 1 month prior to your renewal date.

2.6.2   Prior to the automatic renewal of your membership, you will receive two reminder emails.

2.6.3   Should you request cancellation within one month from the date of renewal, the one month notice will apply as follows:

For direct debit payments, one month’s payment will be taken.

For annual payments, we will deduct the equivalent of one month’s payment and refund the balance to you.

2.7    Cancelling Your Membership

2.7.1   ACID may end your membership at any time if you, in the reasonable opinion of ACID, are in breach of any of these Terms and Conditions, in particularly the obligations set out under “what we expect from you” as these are key to our objectives and our aims.

2.7.2   If you are considering cancelling your membership, please contact us at [email protected] in the first instance for an informal chat.

2.7.3   You may cancel your membership at the end of your subscription year by giving one month’s prior written notice in writing by email to [email protected].

2.7.4   As a not for profit membership organisation, ACID rely on membership fees. We are therefore unable to refund membership subscriptions during the subscription period.

2.7.5   Should you wish to cancel your membership during the subscription period, any membership fees which remain unpaid must be paid within 30 days of cancellation of your ACID membership. Whilst we allow members to pay by instalments, this does not relieve you of the liability to pay the remainder of your subscription fee if you leave part way through a subscription year. 

2.8    What Happens When You Leave

2.8.1   When cancellation of your ACID membership takes effect, the non-exclusive licence you had for the use of the ACID name and logo is automatically revoked.

2.8.2   You agree to immediately remove the ACID name and logo from your publicity material, products, website and other media on which you have used the ACID name and logo. Once you are no longer a member you cannot benefit from your prior association with ACID.

2.8.3   Should you wish to return to ACID membership in the future, the process will vary depending on how long it has been since your previous membership ended. The table below outlines the actions and any applicable fees:

2.8.4   If, after 24 months, you do not wish to rejoin ACID and have advised us of this by response to our email, we will permanently remove your Databank files. Should you wish us to retain the files for a further period of 12 months, you will need to pay an annual administration fee  of £25. Alternatively, you can request the files are downloaded and sent to you prior to deletion for an administrative fee of £10. 

2.8.5   In the event that ACID cancels your membership for breach of these Terms and Conditions, the options set out in 2.8.3, 2.8.4 and 2.8.5 above will not be available to you.