• The document revision date - format "Mmm. d, yyyy" Januari. 07, 2025.

1. Scope

1.1. Any use of this website provided by VDK and/or its affiliates ("VDK "), " VDK Web Site", is subject to these Terms of Use. These Terms of Use may be amended, modified or replaced by other terms and conditions, e.g. for the purchase of products and services. With log-in, or where a log-in is not required, in accessing or using the VDK Web Site these Terms of Use are accepted in their then current version.

1.2. In the case of Web offers aimed at companies or public enterprises, such companies or enterprises are represented by the user and must assume that the user has appropriate knowledge and acts accordingly.

1.3. If the User uses this VDK Web Site as a business customer, i.e. that it is not acting for purposes which are outside its trade, business or profession, or as an administration customer, the European Civil Code does not apply.

2. Services

2.1. This VDK Web Site contains specific information and software, as well as - as the case may be - related documentation, for viewing or downloading.

2.2. VDK may stop the operation of the VDK Web Site in full or in part at any time. Due to the nature of the internet and computer systems, VDK cannot accept any liability for the continuous availability of the VDK Web Site.

3. Registration, Password

3.1. Some pages of the VDK Web Site may be password protected. In the interest of the safety and security of the business transactions, only registered Users may access said pages. VDK reserves the right to deny registration to any User. VDK particularly reserves the right to determine certain sites, which were previously freely accessible, subject to registration. VDK is entitled, at any time and without obligation to give reasons, to deny the User the right to access the password-protected area by blocking its User Data (as defined below), in particular, if the User

• uses false data for the purpose of registration;
• violates these Terms of Use or neglects its duty of care concerning User Data;
• violates any applicable laws in the access to or use of the VDK Web Site; or
• did not use the VDK Web Site for a longer period.

3.2. For registration the User shall give accurate information and, where such information changes over time, update such information (to the extent possible: online) without undue delay. The User shall ensure that its e-mail address, as supplied to VDK , is current at all times and an address at which the User can be contacted.

3.3. Upon registration the User will be provided with an access code, comprising a User ID and a password ("User Data"). On first access, the User shall promptly change the password received from VDK  into a password known only to the User. The User Data allows the User to view or change its data or, as applicable, to withdraw its consent to data processing.

3.4. The User shall ensure that User Data is not accessible by third parties and is liable for all transactions and other activities carried out under its User Data. At the end of each online session, the User shall log off from the password-protected websites. If and to the extent the User becomes aware that third parties are misusing its User Data the User shall notify VDK thereof without undue delay in writing, or, as the case may be, by e-mail.

3.5. After receipt of the notice under paragraph 3.4, VDK will deny access to the password-protected area under such User Data. Access by the User will only be possible again upon the User's application to VDK or upon new registration.

3.6. The User may at any time request termination of its registration in writing, provided that the deletion will not violate the proper performance of contractual relationships. In such an event, VDK will remove all user data and other stored personally identifiable data of the User as soon as these data are no longer needed.

4. Right of use to Information, Software and Documentation

4.1. The use of any information, software and documentation made available on or via this VDK Web Site is subject to these Terms of Use or, in case of updating information, software, services, or documentation, subject to the applicable license terms previously agreed to with VDK . Separately agreed license terms, for example, software downloads, shall prevail over these Terms of Use.

4.2. VDK grants User a non-exclusive and non-transferable license, which may not be sublicensed, to use the information, software and documentation made available to the User on or via the VDK Web Site to the extent agreed, or in the event of no such agreement to the extent of the purpose intended by VDK in making same available.

4.3. Software shall be made available at no expense in object code. There shall be no right for the source code to be made available. This shall not apply to source code related to open source software, which license conditions take priority over these Terms of Use in the case of transfer of open source software and which conditions require the making available of the source code. In such a case, VDK shall make the source code available in return for the payment of costs.

4.4. Information, software and documentation may not be distributed by the User to any third party at any time nor may it be rented or in any other way made available. Unless such is allowed by mandatory law, the User shall not modify the software or documentation nor shall it disassemble, reverse engineer or decompile the software or separate any part thereof. The User may make one backup copy of the software where necessary to secure further use in accordance with these Terms of Use.

4.5. The information, software and documentation are protected by copyright laws as well as international copyright treaties as well as other laws and conventions related to intellectual property. The User shall observe such laws and in particular shall not modify, conceal or remove any alphanumeric code, marks or copyright notices neither from the information nor from the software or documentation, or any copies thereof.

4.6. The European Copyright Law shall not be affected hereby. For the purposes of this Act, ʻcomputer programsʼ means programs of any form, including drafts and their preparatory design material. The protection granted applies to the expression, in any form, of a computer program. Ideas and principles which underlie any element of a computer program, including the ideas and principles which underlie its interfaces, are not protected. Computer programs are protected if they represent individual works in the sense that they are the result of the author’s own intellectual creation. No other criteria, especially qualitative or aesthetic criteria, are to be applied when determining its eligibility for protection. The provisions applicable to literary works apply to computer programs unless otherwise provided in this Division.

5. Intellectual Property

5.1. Notwithstanding the particular provisions in Article 4 of these Terms of Use, information, brand names and other contents of the VDK Web Site may not be changed, copied, reproduced, sold, rented, used, supplemented or otherwise used in any other way without the prior written permission of VDK .

5.2. Except for the rights of use and other rights expressly granted herein, no other rights are granted to the User nor shall any obligation be implied requiring the grant of further rights. Any and all patent rights and licenses are expressly excluded.

5.3. VDK may, without charge, use any ideas or proposals stored by a User on the VDK Web Sites for the development, improvement and sale of its products and services.

5.4. The media and stock photos depicted on this website are not owned by VDK and are sourced from royalty-free image providers, including but not limited to Pixabay, Pexels, and iStockphoto. These images are intended for both commercial and non-commercial use, and may or may not have copyright protection.

Furthermore, some of the media and images may be subject to a general public license, which grants permission for their use by the copyright owner.
No party, including but not limited to the creator, editor, creative designer, domain holder, web admin, company or company name holder, company employee, outsourced or interim staff, management, former employees, national and international connected governmental institutions, or executive board members of VDK (if still in existence), shall be held responsible for any claims or financial compensation related to the properties depicted in the media and images.
This limitation of liability extends to all aspects of the properties depicted in the media and images, and no costs or damages related to these properties may be shifted onto any of the aforementioned parties.

This provision is legally binding and enforceable to the fullest extent permitted by law.

6. Duties of the User

6.1. In accessing or using the VDK Web Site the User shall not

• breach public morality in its manner of use;
• violate any intellectual property right or any other proprietary right;
• upload any contents containing a virus, so-called Trojan Horse, or any other program that could damage data;
• transmit, store or upload hyperlinks or contents to which the User is not entitled, in particular in cases where such hyperlinks or contents are in breach of confidentiality obligations or unlawful; or
• distribute advertising or unsolicited e-mails (so-called "spam") or inaccurate warnings of viruses, defects or similar material and the User shall not solicit or request the participation in any lottery, snowball system, chain letter, pyramid game or similar activity.

6.2. VDK may deny access to the VDK Web Site at any time, in particular, if the User breaches any obligation arising from these Terms of Use.

7. Hyperlinks

The VDK Web Site may contain hyperlinks to the web pages of third parties. VDK shall have no liability for the contents of such web pages and does not make representations about or endorse such web pages or their contents as its own, as VDK does not control the information on such web pages and is not responsible for the contents and information are given thereon. The use of such web pages shall be at the sole risk of the User.

8. Liability of defects for title or quality

8.1. Insofar as any information, software or documentation is made available at no cost, any liability for defects as to the quality or title of the information, software and documentation especially in relation to the correctness or absence of defects or the absence of claims or third party rights or in relation to completeness and/or fitness for purpose are excluded except for cases involving wilful misconduct or fraud.

8.2. The information on the VDK Web Site may contain specifications or general descriptions related to the technical possibilities of individual products which may not be available in certain cases (e.g. due to product changes). The required performance of the product shall therefore be mutually agreed upon in each case at the time of purchase.

9. Other Liability, Viruses

9.1. The liability of VDK for defects in relation to quality and title shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of Article 8 of these Terms of Use. Any further liability of VDK is excluded unless required by law, e.g. under the Act on Product Liability or in cases of wilful misconduct, gross negligence, personal injury or death, failure to meet guaranteed characteristics, fraudulent concealment of a defect or in case of breach of fundamental contractual obligations. The damages in case of breach of fundamental contractual obligations is limited to the contract-typical, foreseeable damage if there is no wilful misconduct or gross negligence.

9.2. Although VDK makes every endeavour to keep the VDK Web Site free from viruses, VDK cannot make any guarantee that it is virus-free. The User shall, for its own protection, take the necessary steps to ensure appropriate security measures and shall utilize a virus scanner before downloading any information, software or documentation.

9.3. Articles 9.1 and 9.2 do not intend nor imply any changes to the burden of proof to the User's disadvantage.

10. Compliance with Export Control Regulations

10.1. If the User transfers information, software and documentation provided by VDK to a third party, the User shall comply with all applicable national and international (re-) export control regulations. In any event of such transfer, the User shall comply with the (re-) export control regulations of the Federal Republic of Germany, member states of the European Union, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, Russian Federation, Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Israel, Turkey, Lebanon, Iran, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Cyprus, Equatorial Guinea, Seychelles, Mauritius, Gabon, Botswana, Algeria, South Africa, Egypt, Tunisia, Namibia, Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Suriname, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Paraguay, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Belize, Macao SAR, China, Singapore, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Korea, India, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, Canada and of the United States of America.

10.2. Prior to any such transfer to a third party the User shall in particular check and guarantee by appropriate measures that

• There will be no infringement of an embargo imposed by the European Union, by the United States of America, by the Russian Federation and/or by the United Nations by such transfer or by provision of other economic resources in connection with information, software and documentation provided by VDK , also considering the limitations of domestic business and prohibitions of by-passing those embargos;
• Such information, software and documentation provided by VDK are not intended for use in connection with armaments, nuclear technology or weapons, if and to the extent such use is subject to prohibition or authorization unless required authorization is provided;
• The regulations of all applicable Sanctioned Party Lists of the European Union, United States of America and the Russian Federation concerning the trading with entities, persons and organizations listed therein are considered.

10.3. If required to enable authorities or VDK to conduct export control checks, the User, upon request by VDK, shall promptly provide VDK with all information pertaining to the particular end-user, the particular destination and the particular intended use of information, software and documentation provided by VDK, as well as any export control restrictions existing.

10.4. The User shall indemnify and hold harmless VDK from and against any claim, proceeding, action, fine, loss, cost and damages arising out of or relating to any noncompliance with export control regulations by the User, and the User shall compensate VDK for all losses and expenses resulting thereof unless such noncompliance was not caused by the fault of the User. This provision does not imply a change in the burden of proof.

10.5. VDK’s obligation to fulfil an agreement is subject to the proviso that the fulfilment is not prevented by any impediments arising out of national and international foreign trade and customs requirements or any embargos or other sanctions.

10.6. Articles 10 – 10.5 are out of force when a supplementary agreement or letter of intent is set, these to comply with all applicable national and international (re-) export control regulations for example in the BRI, BRICS and GCC countries and states.

11. Data Privacy Protection, Place of Jurisdiction, Applicable Law

For collection, use and processing of personally identifiable data of the User of the VDK Web Site, VDK shall comply with applicable laws on data privacy protection and the VDK Web Site Data Protection Privacy Notice, which is available per hyperlink on the VDK Web Site and/or on www.van-der-kemp.com.

12. Supplementary Agreements

12.1. Any supplementary agreement requires a written form.

12.2. The place of jurisdiction shall be Strasbourg if the User is a merchant in terms of the European Commercial Code.

12.3. The individual pages of the VDK Web Site are operated and administered by VDK and/or its affiliates. The pages comply with the law applicable in the country where the responsible company has its business residence. VDK makes no representation that information, software and/or documentation on the VDK Web Site are appropriate or available for viewing or downloading at locations outside such country. If Users access VDK Web Site from outside such country, they are exclusively responsible for compliance with all applicable local laws. Access to VDK Web Site's information, software and/or documentation from countries where such content is unlawful is prohibited. In this case and where User seeks to do business with VDK , the User should contact the VDK representative for the particular country for a country-specific business.

12.4. These Terms of Use shall be governed by - and all disputes relating to or in connection with these Terms of Use or their subject matter shall be resolved in accordance with - the laws of the European Union, to the exclusion of its conflict of laws rules. The application of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sales of Goods (CISG) of 11 April 1980 is excluded.