General terms and conditions (GTCs)

A.C.T. GmbH (2022 version)

General Provisions

These General Terms and Conditions (GTC) apply to all business transactions between A.C.T. GmbH (hereinafter referred to as the Supplier) and its Principals. The Supplier offers its services exclusively to legal entities or natural persons who are not consumers within the meaning of Section 13 BGB (German Civil Code). By placing an order, the Principal acknowledges and accepts the GTC, which shall be valid for the entire duration of the business relationship. This shall only apply for Principals who are not entrepreneurs within the meaning of Section 14 BGB, legal entities under public law or special funds under public law (e.g., private associations), if the Principal has been made aware of these GTC and has been given the opportunity to review them. The GTC shall apply equally to future business transactions. Any deviating terms and conditions of purchase and other terms and conditions of the Principal are hereby expressly rejected.

1. Placing of an Order

Unless otherwise agreed, the Principal shall place or transmit translation orders in text form, electronic form, or both. To that end, the Principal shall notify the Supplier of the source and target format.

The Principal shall inform the Supplier of the target language of the text as well as terminology requests if applicable and the requested delivery date.

The Principal shall inform the Supplier about any special formats in which the translation is to be provided (e.g., delivery on data media, number of copies, form of the translation, exposure films, etc.). The purpose of use of the translation (certification, publication etc.) shall also be specified. If the translation is meant to be printed, the Principal shall provide the Supplier with a copy for proofreading and correction. The Principal shall provide the Supplier, unsolicited and in good time, with all background information and documents required to complete the translation (specialist terms that are known to the Principal in glossary form, illustrations, drawings, explanations of abbreviations, specification of the target country, etc.).

If the Principal fails to fulfill these obligations, the Supplier shall provide the translation for normal use and in accordance with generally accepted practices for such translations.

2. Scope of Services/Execution of the Order

Unless separate agreements have been made regarding the requirements of the translation’s quality, or any specific requirements are apparent due to the nature of the order, the Supplier shall carefully translate the text to the best of its knowledge and belief, completely, and with the correct meaning and grammar.

After the Principal submits a text, the Supplier shall reproduce that text properly and professionally in another language, and shall ensure that the translation’s content is not abbreviated, supplemented, or otherwise changed.

The Supplier may use entities who are not party to this agreement (‘third parties’) to execute any order. Unless the Supplier grants prior consent, the Principal shall not communicate with any such third party.

If required, the Supplier shall create a customer-specific terminology database for the Principal. This database shall be the property of the Supplier.

3. Delivery Date

The delivery date the Principal requests when placing the order shall be deemed agreed if the Supplier confirms it in a written order confirmation. The order confirmation is normally sent electronically in an email.

The Supplier shall contact the Principal without undue delay if the text to be translated is illegible or incomplete, information needed for the translation is lacking, or the requested delivery date cannot be adhered to.

The Principal is obliged to accept possible partial deliveries under the agreed terms.

4. Offers and Invoicing

Unless otherwise agreed, all offers and prices offered by the Supplier shall be non-binding and subject to change unless they have been confirmed by the Supplier in text form.

Unless otherwise agreed, the Supplier shall invoice the Principal for the fee immediately after the translation is completed. The invoice shall be made out in euros, plus the statutory value-added tax, which currently amounts to 19%.

5. Dispatch of Invoices

Invoices shall be forwarded electronically with the completed translation services order. The Principal agrees to receive the invoice as a file attached to an email.

6. Terms and Conditions of Payment

The Principal shall pay the Supplier’s fee by transfer within 14 days of receipt of the invoice without any set-off or retention.

7. Default in Payment

If the payment is late, the Supplier may, after granting a reasonable grace period that expires to no avail, withdraw from the contract or demand damages due to nonperformance. The Supplier may also withhold all outstanding deliveries or demand prepayments for them, after making an announcement to that effect. After entering arrears, the Principal shall on request return to the Supplier any delivered services or goods whose title is still retained. If Principal defaults, the Supplier may also charge the loan interest that banks typically charge, beginning with the first day of default.

8. Retention of Title

The work results shall remain the property of the Supplier until all relevant payment claims have been satisfied in full. The Principal shall be entitled to a right of use only after payment has been received in full.

If the Principal sells the product to third parties, the Supplier reserves the right to notify the respective third party of the Supplier’s outstanding claim for payment and the resulting illegality of the use of the relevant product and to potentially demand payment of all outstanding amounts and resulting expenses.

9. Shipping and Transmission

The shipment or electronic transmission are made at the risk of the Principal.

10. Warranty/Complaint/Copyright Infringement

If the Principal complains of a defect in the translation, the Principal shall describe that defect to the Supplier precisely and give the Supplier the chance to remedy the defect or provide supplementary performance. No additional costs shall be incurred by the Principal in this respect.

If the text is meant to be published, the Principal shall inform the Supplier thereof. If the Principal fails to indicate that the translation is meant to be published or printed, or if the Principal fails to send the Supplier a copy for proofreading and correction before the publication or printing, or if the Principal publishes or prints the translation without the Supplier’s approval, the Principal shall bear any defect. The Supplier shall not be held responsible for this.

If any claims are asserted against the Supplier because a translation breaches copyright, or if any third party claims are asserted, the Principal shall fully indemnify the Supplier against any liability. The same shall apply to copyright infringement.

11. Disruptions, force majeure, network and server defects, viruses

If the Supplier’s business operations are hindered or disrupted beyond its control, the Supplier will not be liable for any damage arising thereby; such disruptions include without limitation force majeure (such as natural events and traffic disruptions), network and server errors, and any other line or transmission problems. In those exceptional cases, Supplier may withdraw from the contract in part or in full. Neither will Supplier be liable for damage caused by viruses.

The Supplier’s EDP systems are scanned for viruses periodically. When files are delivered, the Principal shall have a final virus scan performed on the transmitted data and text files. the Supplier will not acknowledge any claims for damages in this regard.

12. Liability

The Supplier shall not be liable for the respective translation being admissible and suitable for the Principal’s intended purpose. In this respect, the legal risk of usability or publication shall be borne exclusively by the Principal.

The Supplier shall not be liable for delays or defects in execution caused by incorrect, incomplete, misleading and illegible information provided by the Principal.

In all other respects, the Supplier shall only be liable for damage caused by intentional or grossly negligent breaches of duty by the Supplier, its legal representatives or vicarious agents. This shall apply accordingly in the event of a breach of pre-contractual or ancillary contractual obligations, as well as in the event of damage caused by a defect or consequential damage caused by a defect. This exclusion of liability shall not affect the Supplier’s liability under the Product Liability Act (ProdHaftG) and in the event of damage due to injury to life, limb or health.

The Supplier shall not be liable for the Principal’s loss of profit.

In the event of slight negligence, liability shall be limited to three times the invoice value of the delivery or service causing the damage and to a maximum of €50,000.00. The liability for damages mentioned herein shall always be limited to typical, direct damages foreseeable at the time of conclusion of the contract.

The Principal shall have comprehensive obligations to cooperate. The Principal undertakes to check that each service supplied by the Supplier is free from defects and usable in the specific situation before utilizing the performance. The Supplier shall not be liable for consequential damages, such as defective printing, if the Principal fails to fulfill its obligation to cooperate comprehensively and in a timely manner.

13. Confidentiality

All texts are treated confidentially. Both during and after the contract period, the Supplier shall not disclose any circumstances that it learns about in connection with its activity for the Principal.

Due to the order, the Supplier or its employees or both will have access to business data, personal data or both concerning the Principal and additional groups of people (such as the Principal’s customer data or employee data). Permission to process or use those data refers exclusively to the performance of the activities commissioned by the Principal.

Pflichten zur Wahrung des Datenschutzes
Wenn der Auftragnehmer und seine Mitarbeiter personenbezogene Daten verarbeiten und/oder nutzen, ist der Auftragnehmer verpflichtet, die Vorschriften des Datenschutzgesetzes (DSGVO), wie im anliegenden AV-Vertrag aufgeführt, zu beachten.

Pflichten zur Geheimhaltung
Der Auftragnehmer und seine Mitarbeiter sind verpflichtet,

alle während der Vertragsdauer vom Auftraggeber erhaltenen oder bekannt gewordenen Informationen (technischer oder geschäftlicher Art) einschließlich der im Zuge der Aufgabenerfüllung entstehenden Daten und Informationen, nur für die vereinbarten Zwecke zu verwenden und gegenüber Dritten geheim zu halten. Die Geheimhaltungspflicht gilt auch über die Dauer des Vertrages hinaus, solange und soweit diese Informationen, Daten und Datenträger nicht auf andere Weise allgemein bekannt geworden sind oder der Auftraggeber schriftlich auf ihre vertrauliche Behandlung verzichtet hat,
aus den übermittelten oder bei der Aufgabenerfüllung entstehenden Daten und Informationen auch für eigene Zwecke keine Kopien, Auszüge, Verdichtungen oder sonstige Auswertungen, ohne vorherige schriftliche Zustimmung durch den Auftraggeber zu erstellen,
dem Auftraggeber oder dem Datenschutzbeauftragten des Auftraggebers unverzüglich jeden Verdacht oder jede Kenntnis über Beeinträchtigung von Vertraulichkeit im Rahmen der Mitbenutzung des Auftragnehmers anzuzeigen.

14. Applicable law, Place of Performance and Place of Jurisdiction

The contract relationship and additional business relationships between the Supplier and the Principal shall be governed exclusively by the law of the Federal Republic of Germany under the exclusion of international sales law. To the permissible extent, the exclusive place of jurisdiction and place of performance for all disputes for both contracting parties shall be the place of business of the Supplier, currently Mönchengladbach, Federal Republic of Germany.

15. Closing provisions

No oral side agreements have been made.

Any amendments to this agreement must be in written form.

Finding a provision of this agreement to be ineffective, now or in the future, will not invalidate its remaining provisions. The parties shall replace any ineffective provision with an effective one that comes closest to achieving the economic purpose of the replaced provision.

Updated: March 2022

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