Melissa & Doug Proposed Product Submission Agreement

BACKGROUND

Before making your submission, please carefully review our Terms & Conditions of Voluntary Submission. We recommend that you hire an attorney to help you understand our terms.

After you have read these Terms & Conditions and acknowledged that you agree to these Terms & Conditions, you will be able to fill out a form telling us a little about yourself and your product. Please use a new form for each product idea. All fields must be filled in or we will not be able to review your Submission.

TERMS & CONDITIONS OF VOLUNTARY SUBMISSION

Melissa & Doug will allow you to submit and share your idea only if you agree to be bound by these Terms & Conditions. Therefore, by making a submission, you agree to be bound by these Terms & Conditions.

These Terms & Conditions apply to everything you disclose or provide to Melissa & Doug, through this Proposed Product Submission or by any other means (hereinafter the “Submission”).

If you disclose or submit anything to Melissa & Doug without also providing a complete and verified Proposed Product Submission, Melissa & Doug will have no obligation to you whatsoever.

MELISSA & DOUG IS NOT OBLIGATED TO YOU IN ANY WAY BASED ON YOUR SUBMISSION EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY PROVIDED IN THESE TERMS & CONDITIONS, AND UNDER THE U.S. PATENT AND COPYRIGHT LAWS, AS APPLICABLE. YOU KNOWINGLY AND INTENTIONALLY WAIVE, RELEASE, DISCLAIM, AND RELINQUISH ALL OTHER CLAIMS AND ACTIONS THAT ARE NOT STRICTLY BASED ON U.S. PATENT OR COPYRIGHT LAWS.

REVIEW PROCESS

1. Melissa & Doug is in the business of conceptualizing, designing, and developing new toys, games, educational products, arts and crafts, and a wide range of other children’s products, and we reinvent the classics. We evaluate hundreds of new ideas each year from our employees and from others. Therefore, we may have already seen your idea, or something similar. Also, your idea may already be in the public domain.

2. Melissa & Doug will review all completed Submissions and judge them according to how well they meet our strict criteria. We will evaluate whether the proposed product:

a. fits our brand identity and customer base; b. differs significantly from products we already offer or are in process; and c. is unique, original, and “new” to the market.

Our decisions are final, and we are not obligated to explain them. We are not obligated to tell you about our own ideas or developments which are the same or similar to yours.

3. Our review process involves several steps. Most ideas will be rejected during our initial review, and only a few will move on to the next step. After we conduct our initial review, we will email you if we have decided to take your idea to the next step. We do not assume any liability or obligation to keep you informed about our review process.

4. Melissa & Doug is not obligated to pay you for your Submission or keep your Submission confidential, except as specifically provided in these Terms & Conditions.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

5. Unless we otherwise agree in writing, and except as stated in these Terms & Conditions, you retain all rights in any ideas contained in your Submission which can be protected under the patent, trademark, and copyright laws of the United States. These are the only rights you retain. By making your Submission, no contractual or fiduciary relationship is created between you and Melissa & Doug.

6. You should take whatever action you believe is necessary to protect your idea before submitting it to us. If your idea is covered by any patent, trademark, copyright, or other intellectual property right, you must identify those rights specifically and disclose them to us. By accepting your Submission or communicating with you, Melissa & Doug does not make any admission about the protectability or merit of your idea. Nothing shall limit our right to challenge the validity of any intellectual property rights that you may claim.

RETURN OF SUBMISSION

7. We are not responsible for any information or material that you submit to us, or that is lost or damaged in transmission, in transit, or during the course of our review. We are not responsible for any delays or malfunctions of any kind, including failures in Internet transmission, computer hardware or software, or human error, or any resulting losses or damages.

REPRESENTATIONS

8. When you make your Submission, you warrant to Melissa & Doug that:

- you are at least 18 years old; - your Submission is voluntary, and everything contained in your Submission is true and correct; - by making your Submission you are not violating any agreement or understanding with another party (including your current or former employer), and you are not violating the rights of any other party; - you are the owner of the idea contained in the Submission, or each owner has given you written authorization to make the Submission and abide by these Terms & Conditions; - the idea contained in the Submission is original to you (and to each other person identified in the Submission) and does not infringe the rights of anyone else; - you have disclosed all intellectual property rights which you claim in your idea, along with all intellectual property filings which you have made in the United States and elsewhere (e.g., patents, designs, trademarks, and copyrights). - Melissa & Doug has permission from you, and each person who has contributed to the idea or has ownership rights, to copy and use your Submission in any format or media, and disclose it to its employees, legal advisors and consultants for the purpose of evaluation, and you each are giving up all intellectual property claims in connection with the evaluation; and - you fully understand and agree to the Terms & Conditions of Voluntary Submission contained in this document, and you may hire an attorney to help you.

CONFIDENTIALITY

9. Melissa & Doug is not obligated to keep your Submission confidential. However, we will use reasonable care and implement measures to protect the confidentiality of your Submission in the same manner and to the same degree that we protect our own confidential information.

10. Melissa & Doug may disclose your Submission to our employees and our legal advisors and consultants for evaluation and testing, as well as to any individuals or entities it deems necessary for business purposes. Melissa & Doug also may disclose your Submission as needed to defend and/or enforce these Terms & Conditions.

RELEASE

11. By making your Submission, you thereby release, indemnify and hold harmless Melissa & Doug, its affiliates, and its related companies and their respective officers, directors, employees, advisors, consultants, and customers, from all liabilities, losses, damages, costs or expenses, including without limitation attorney’s fees, arising from any claim or action based upon or in any way related to your Submission, or any breach or alleged breach of the warranties that you have made. You agree that any cause of action you may have arising out of these Terms & Conditions, your Submission, or our use of the Submission, must commence within one (1) year after the cause of action arises; otherwise, the cause of action shall be permanently barred.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

12. These terms and conditions cannot be superseded without a written agreement between us.

13. By making your Submission you agree to be bound by these Terms & Conditions. Melissa & Doug may modify these Terms & Conditions or terminate this idea submission program at any time and for any reason. Your participation is governed by the laws of the State of Connecticut without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of law, and you agree to be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Connecticut. If any provision of these Terms & Conditions is found to be unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, that provision shall be severable and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions. No waiver of any provision shall be deemed a waiver of any other provision. These Terms & Conditions constitute the entire agreement between us related to your Submission and supersedes any and all prior oral or written understandings and agreements on that subject matter.

 

Last modified: February 19, 2021