MerXu Code of Good Practice for the protection of Intellectual Property Rights

§1 General Provisions

1. The MerXu Code of Good Practice for the protection of Intellectual Property Rights is a set of principles to be followed by MerXu Users, whereas MerXu Terms and Conditions remain the base document for Users regarding the provision of services by electronic means.
2. The Code does not constitute a set of norms which replace mandatory provisions of law, but rather plays an educational role establishing a high standard of protection of Intellectual Property Rights by Users and MerXu, including the mechanisms for responding to reports of breaches of Intellectual Property Rights by MerXu Users.
3. MerXu Users shall take actions under the provisions of the Code with due diligence, in accordance with good practices and in accordance with the rules of fair competition.
4. MerXu is committed to conducting business in a manner that respects and protects both its own Intellectual Property Rights and those of its Users.

§2 Definitions

1. The terms used in the MerXu Code of Good Practice for the protection of Intellectual Property Rights have the following meaning:

   a) Intellectual Property Rights - copyrights, industrial property rights and rights to databases, in particular: rights to designs, trademarks, logotypes, Internet domains, computer software (including the source code of applications), rights to databases (as works within the meaning of the Copyright and Related Rights Act and protected works sui generis pursuant to the Act on Databases), rights to confidential information, rights to trade secrets, rights to know-how and any other intellectual property rights, registered or unregistered in each case.

   b) Breacher - a User who:

   i. breaches Intellectual Property Rights of another User or

   ii. breaches Intellectual Property Rights of an entity which is not a User, or

   iii. is suspected of breaching Intellectual Property Rights;

   c) Civil or criminal proceedings - proceedings concerning a breach of Intellectual Property Rights which may be initiated by MerXu (in particular, as a result of reporting a crime of appropriation of authorship, fencing or marking goods with a counterfeit trademark, as a result of which permanent sources of income have been created, and as a result of civil pre-judicial and judicial actions related to improper performance (noncompliant with the Terms and Conditions) of the contract for the provision of services by electronic means);

   d) Counterfeit goods - goods that illegally use Intellectual Property Rights of another entity (including unjustifiably obtaining financial benefits), in particular goods that are identical to those originating from the entity that owns Intellectual Property Rights, or that cannot be distinguished under ordinary conditions of trade from the goods of the entity that owns Intellectual Property Rights.

   e) Report - information about a breach of Intellectual Property Rights sent to the address: pomoc@merxu.com

The Code also uses the terms defined in the Terms and Conditions and if they have been applied in the Code, they should be understood in the manner defined in the Terms and Conditions.

§3 Basic operating principles required of MerXu Users

1. Under the Terms and Conditions, MerXu Users shall not:

   a) provide content that is unlawful and

   b) sell Products which violate the regulations in force in the Polish legal system and the legal systems of the Users who make Transactions.

2. The User shall not sell products which breach Intellectual Property Rights of other entities, including Users.

3. Breaches of Intellectual Property Rights are not accepted by MerXu Portal and actions will be taken against Breachers which are provided for by the Code.

4. Users are required to take action to defend their Intellectual Property Rights and inform MerXu of any actions that breach their Intellectual Property Rights. Breaches of Intellectual Property Rights should be reported electronically to the address: pomoc@merxu.com. A report should contain basic information about the breach of Intellectual Property Rights, including the offer number and a description of breached exclusive rights.

5. The condition for using MerXu Platform is the User's consent to the use the photos of Products and descriptions prepared by the User (see point 3 of the Terms and Conditions). Supplementation, sharing and processing in other forms of shared information require the User's consent. Possible actions of the Users related to the use of the shared materials do not constitute a breach of Intellectual Property Rights.

§4 Ways of responding to reported breaches of Intellectual Property Rights, taking actions initiated by MerXu

1. Offers which breach the above rules will be removed from the Site and appropriate decisions and actions will be taken against the seller - from a warning to the complete blocking of the account.

2. Having received a report of a breach of Intellectual Property Rights or obtained information about a breach of Intellectual Property Rights in a different way, MerXu shall act according to the following procedure with respect to the User submitting the Report:

   a) MerXu informs the User about receiving the Report,

   b) MerXu requests the User to provide all necessary information to determine whether there has been a breach of Intellectual Property Rights (including indicating the offer number, sending the number of the obtained exclusive right, e.g. trademark protection right),

   c) MerXu verifies the report paying attention to whether:

   i. the report was made by an authorized person,

   ii. the report contains a complete set of information which allows for assessing whether there has been a breach of Intellectual Property Rights,

   iii. counterfeit goods have been placed on the market or any other type of breach of Intellectual Property Rights has occurred,

   d) MerXu informs the User of the actions taken against Breachers or informs the User of any concerns regarding the Report.

3. MerXu shall work according to the following procedure in relation to the Breacher:

   a) MerXu establishes contact with the Breacher and calls for an explanation,

   b) MerXu takes other explanatory and confirmatory actions,

   c) MerXu takes actions related to specific offers (e.g. disables them) and the account (according to the procedure set out in the Terms and Conditions),

   d) MerXu may decide to initiate civil or criminal proceedings in relations to the breach of Intellectual Property Rights,

   e) MerXu declares to end of cooperation with Users who do not comply with the principles set out in the Code, at their expense.

4. MerXu declares cooperation with manufacturers, owners of Intellectual Property Rights, distributors in order to improve methods of detection and prevention of sale of counterfeit Goods or otherwise breaching Intellectual Property Rights.

5. MerXu declares a will to assist law enforcement authorities in the event of initiation of criminal proceedings, in particular by providing them with all information necessary to assess whether there has been a breach of Intellectual Property Rights.

§5 Final provisions

1. The Code of Good Practice constitutes an appendix to the Terms and Conditions and must be accepted by the Users.

2. All Users of the Site shall comply with the provisions of the Code and shall be liable for breaches of Intellectual Property Rights.

3. All available evidence that is necessary to determine whether a breach of Intellectual Property Rights has occurred shall be made available and presented to MerXu in order to take the most effective actions.

4. In matters not covered by the Code of Good Practice, the provisions of generally applicable law shall apply. The provisions of the Code governing a particular issue in a manner other than the applicable legal regulations do not exempt the Users from their application.