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Terms & Conditions

Use of this site is subject to our Terms and Conditions

This web site is owned and operated by the World Heart Federation, a Swiss not-for-profit association domiciled in Geneva, Switzerland (hereinafter “WHF”).  The term “Site” as used in these Terms and Conditions refers to this web site and its contents, including any information, ideas, text, graphics, designs, photographs, organization, layout, functions, coding or other materials.  This Site is provided for general information purposes only.  It should not be used or relied on to obtain any answers to any medical questions or advice with respect to any personal situation or general healthcare indications.  Any use of this Site, including any reference to it, is made subject to these Terms and Conditions, and any person accessing, browsing or using this Site, or any portion of it, does so solely in accordance with these Terms and Conditions.

By accessing, using or referencing this Site, or clicking on any part of it, each visitor or user specifically agrees to be personally bound as follows:

  1. By accessing and browsing this Site, you accept, without limitation or qualification, these Terms and Conditions.  You recognize that any person not accepting these Terms and Conditions in their entirety is not authorized to access, browse, reference, or make use of this Site or any information contained therein.
  2. You hereby warrant and represent to WHF that you will not use the Site or any part thereof without the express prior written consent of the WHF, or in any way that: (i) would be in contravention of any applicable law or regulation, (ii) would infringe any national or international copyrights, trademarks, service marks or other intellectual property rights or moral rights of any third parties; (iii) would violate the privacy, non-publicity or other personal rights of others; or (iv) would be incorrect, inaccurate, out of context, defamatory, obscene, threatening, abusive or hateful in any manner whatsoever.
  3. You agree to use this Site only for lawful purposes and in a manner that is reasonably compatible with any written permission received by you from WHF.
  4. This Site is provided on an “as is” basis and no representation or warranty is given or to be implied by WHF or any third party: (i) as to its accuracy or availability, (ii) that the Site will be accessible by any particular browser, operating system or device, (iii) that there is any right or license to use or rely on the Site or any part thereof for any purpose whatsoever,, or (iv) that this Site does not contain any intellectual property rights belonging to any third parties.
  5. WHF may, at its sole discretion, modify or revise these Terms and Conditions at any time by posting these changes online and without notice.  Your continued use of this Site after any such changes have been posted constitutes your acceptance of these Terms and Conditions as modified.  You agree to be bound by any such revisions and should therefore periodically visit this page to review the then-current Terms and Conditions to which you are bound.
  6. Any failure by WHF to exercise or enforce any disclaimer or assert any of its rights under these Terms and Conditions shall not be deemed to be a waiver of any such rights or operate so as to bar the subsequent exercise or enforcement or any such rights.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these Terms and Conditions will not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision of these Terms and Conditions.

The Site has not been written to meet any individual or specific requirements and is intended to provide general information only. As such, it should not be relied on or considered as a substitute for any advice.

You should not make any healthcare or treatment decisions based on the information contained on the Site. If you are seeking medical advice, whether for yourself, your family or friends, or any third parties or entities, you should consult with a physician or other healthcare professional for advice and answers. You are strongly advised to refer to alternative, independent sources of information to substantiate any basis for any decisions you may choose to make.  It is your sole responsibility to independently confirm and verify any information prior to using or relying on the Site in any way and to seek appropriate advice before taking or refraining from taking any action in reliance on any information contained in this Site.

WHF does not accept any liability to any person or organization resulting from the use or reliance of any information contained on this website.

Any sites linked to this Site may not be assumed to be under the control or custody of the WHF, and it is likely that they are not.  The inclusion of any link or hyperlink to or from this Site does not imply a recommendation or endorsement by WHF of that link or site or any information contained therein.  Any links to other sites are intended solely as a convenience to the visitor and no responsibility for or representations may be assumed, or any obligation to monitor the contents of such linked sites may be inferred.

Whilst reasonable care has been taken to ensure that the Site’s contents are accurate and up-to-date, we make no warranties or representations about the accuracy, sequence, timeliness or completeness of the Site and WHF may discontinue distributing the Site or any part of it without prior notice.  The Site may contain technical inaccuracies or typographical errors, and should therefore once again not be relied on.

Any opinions or views expressed in any articles, reports or other materials that may appear on this Site are solely those of the authors of such materials, and do not represent the opinions or views of WHF, its directors, officers, employees, agents, consultants, contributors, volunteers, affiliated organizations or sponsors.  No inference can be made that WHF endorses or supports any such opinions or views due to WHF having posted such articles, reports or other materials on this Site or in the absence of an express written statement by WHF to that effect.

WHF reserves the right to make any changes, corrections, deletions and/or improvements to any and all parts of the Site at any time without notice.

WHF does not represent or warrant that the functions contained in the material contained in this Site will be uninterrupted or error free, that any errors, omissions, or defects will be corrected, or that this Site or the server that makes it available are free of any viruses or bugs or other damaging elements that may adversely affect the visitor’s computer.  The Site and any parts hereof are provided “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT OF ANY THIRD PARTY RIGHTS. Any visitors or users of the Site of any part thereof shall be liable to WHF for any such use and hereby agrees to indemnify WHF as against any claims that may be brought against WHF as a result of said visitor or user’s use of this Site.

In no event will the WHF or any of its members, officers, directors, employees, licensors, suppliers, agents, consultants, contributors, volunteers, affiliated organizations, sponsors or distributors be liable for any indirect, special, incidental, economic, or consequential damages, whether in contract, tort or otherwise that may arise from the use or inability to use the Site, software or any downloaded content.

You agree to indemnify the WHF, its employees and agents, harmless against all claims, liability, losses, damages and expenses including, without limitation, legal fees and costs arising out of or incurred as a result of any claims made, or litigation brought, against the WHF, its employees and agents, as a result of your use of the Site, the content or any part thereof for whatever purpose, to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Whilst we make all reasonable attempts to exclude viruses from the Site WHF cannot ensure such exclusion and no liability is accepted for damage caused through the downloading of viruses.  You are recommended to take all appropriate safeguards before downloading information from the Site.  You agree to solely assume the cost of service, repairs, or corrections to your hardware, software, or other equipment.

This Site includes copyrighted materials, such as literary and artistic works in the form of animations, photographs, graphics, images, videos, text, music, and sounds, database rights, and may contain registered trademarks, or design rights belonging to WHF or any third parties (“Proprietary Rights”).

To the best of WHF’s knowledge and belief, all trademarks, copyright, database rights and other intellectual property rights used on this Site (as well as the organization and layout of this Site) are either owned either directly by WHF or its members, or have been licensed to them accordingly.

You are not authorised to use, copy of disseminate any materials from this Site without the express prior written permission of WHF and any third party who may have Proprietary Rights in such materials.  Visitors and users to the Site are expressly forbidden to copy, modify, alter, publish, broadcast, distribute, disseminate, perform, sell or transfer any material on this Site, whether in whole or in part.  You may not rely on any fair use or fair dealing provisions under any laws, save as may be provided under Swiss law.

Nothing contained herein shall be construed as implying any ownership or license, or as conferring any licence or freedom to use any intellectual property rights, whether belonging to WHF or any third party.

This Site contains a compilation of data, and is protected by European Community database rights as well as international copyright laws.

Some documents, logos and photos have been published on this Site with the permission of the relevant copyright owners (who may not be WHF members).  All rights are reserved on these documents and any permission to copy or use them must be requested from their respective copyright owners.

You may not use photos or images of people taken from this Site or identifiable entities in any manner that suggests the endorsement or association of any product or service.  Nor shall any materials from this Site be used or referred to by you in connection with any pornographic or immoral materials, or which would adversely affect the standing of any third parties.

Any communication or material that you transmit to, or post on, from any public area of the Site including any data, questions, comments, suggestions or the like are, and will be treated as non-confidential and non-proprietary information.  Anything you transmit or post shall become the property of WHF or its members and may, at our sole discretion, be used for any purpose, including, but not limited to, reproduction, disclosure, transmission, publication, broadcast and posting.  Furthermore, WHF shall be free to use any ideas, concepts, know-how, or techniques contained in any communication you send to the Site for any purpose whatsoever including, but not limited to, developing, manufacturing and marketing products using such information.

These Terms and Conditions are to be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of Geneva, Switzerland.   Any criminally defamatory use of this Site by any visitor or user shall be liable to criminal proceedings under Swiss law.

Any person accessing, browsing or using the Site, or any portion of it, hereby submits to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the Geneva courts.  Any such person also agrees that any dispute, controversy or claim arising out of or in relation to the use of the Site or these Terms and Conditions, including (i) the binding nature, validity, invalidity, or breach of these Terms and Conditions, (ii) any allegations of defamation or detrimental reliance on any information contained in this Site, or (iii) any infringement of any intellectual property rights of WHF or any third parties, shall be submitted to mediation in accordance with the Swiss Rules of Commercial Mediation of the Swiss Chambers of Commerce in force on the date when the request for mediation was submitted in accordance with these Rules.  If such dispute, controversy or claim has not been fully resolved by mediation within sixty (60) days from the commencement of such proceedings, it shall be settled by arbitration in accordance with the Swiss Rules of International Arbitration of the Swiss Chambers of Commerce in force on the date when the Notice of Arbitration was submitted in accordance with those Rules.  The number of arbitrators shall be one, and the arbitration shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions for Expedited Procedure.  The seat of any mediation or arbitration shall be Geneva, Switzerland.  All mediation and arbitral proceedings shall be conducted in English.

ALL RIGHTS NOT EXPRESSLY GRANTED HEREIN ARE RESERVED.
Last updated: October 1, 2007.
© 2007 World Heart Federation. All rights reserved.