National Football League, Under Armour and General Electric
Open Innovation Challenge II
OFFICIAL RULES
1.
OFFICIAL RULES: By submitting an entry to NFL, UA and GE’s Open Innovation Challenge II, you
are agreeing to be bound by the following legal terms (“Official Rules”).
2.
SPONSORS; ADMINISTRATOR: Open Innovation Challenge II (“Challenge II”) is sponsored by the
National Football League (the “NFL”), 345 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10154; Under Armour Inc.
(“UA”), 1020 Hull Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230; and General Electric Company (“GE”, 3135
Easton Parkway, Fairfield, CT 06828. “Sponsors,” as used herein, shall be deemed to refer to the
NFL, UA and GE. Challenge II is the second of a series of two Open Innovation Challenges
(collectively, the “Event”) aimed at better preventing, understanding and diagnosing mild traumatic
brain injury. The Event is administered by NineSigma, Inc. (“NineSigma”), 23611 Chagrin Boulevard,
Cleveland, Ohio, 44122.
3.
ELIGIBILITY: Challenge II is open to all individuals over the age of 18 who have not been convicted
of a felony or crime of moral turpitude and to all validly formed legal entities that (i) have not declared
or been declared in bankruptcy or (ii) are not owned or managed by individuals who have been
convicted of a felony or a crime of moral turpitude. Employees and contractors of the Sponsors,
NineSigma and/or any of their respective affiliates or subsidiaries are not eligible to enter. Multiple
entries are permitted. Each entry will be reviewed independently. Multiple individuals or entities may
collaborate to submit a single entry, but a single individual must be designated as an official
representative for each entry. Participation is subject to all U.S. federal, state and local laws and
regulations. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. You are responsible for checking applicable
laws and regulations in your jurisdiction before participating in Challenge II to make sure that your
participation is legal. If you are entering on behalf of a company or institution, you are responsible for
confirming with your company or institution that your Entry does not violate any policies set by that
company or institution.
4.
HOW TO ENTER: To enter, register on HeadHealthChallenge.com (the “Event Website”). Submit a
completed proposal (your “Entry”) using the submission template and following the instructions
provided on the Event Website.
Challenge II will be released and updated at the Sponsors’ discretion. Challenge II will be announced
on the Event Website with a description of the particular subject matter, the specific judging criteria
(the “Judging Criteria”) (in addition to the criteria listed in these Official Rules), the entry dates (the
“Entry Period”) during which entries will be accepted, and the number and nature of the anticipated
awards for Challenge II. www.HeadHealthChallenge.com
All entries must be non-confidential. All Entries must be in English. Entry attachments may be
submitted in .pdf, .xls, .xlsx, .doc, docx, .ppt, or .pptx formats. Links to online videos (e.g., YouTube)
or other large files can be included in your submission document. Entries may include the proposal
document and up to two supplemental files; the size of the complete submission may not exceed
10MB. You are encouraged to review the following information to increase the likelihood that your
Entry will be favorably reviewed by the Committee and the Judges (as defined below). For specific
criteria related to Challenge II, see http://www.ninesights.com/community/nfl-ge-grandchallenge/process#/criteria. In general, each Entry:
(a) Must describe in reasonable detail a technology, material, algorithm, research method or idea,
testing or training protocol, or other solution that, in your good faith opinion, is innovative and
original in the context of Challenge II. If you have already filed a patent application or been issued
a patent for any part of your Entry, or if you have licensed or will need to license any third-party
intellectual property, please include that information;
(b) Must describe the value proposition of the technology/material/method/idea/testing or training
protocol/solution discussed in the Entry; and
(c) Must provide information about the individual innovators, business team, your company or
institution, as applicable, that created or developed the technology/material/method/idea/testing or
training protocol/solution discussed in the Entry.
5.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS: Other than as set forth herein, none of the Sponsors or
NineSigma makes any claim to ownership of your Entry or any of your intellectual property or third
party intellectual property that it may contain therein. By participating in Challenge II, you are not
granting any rights in any patents or pending patent applications related to the technology described in
your Entry; provided that by submitting an Entry, you are granting the Sponsors and NineSigma
certain limited rights as set forth herein.
By submitting an Entry, you grant to the Sponsors and NineSigma the right to review your Entry, to
describe your Entry in connection with any materials created in connection with Challenge II and to
have the Committee and Judges (as defined below) and their designees review your Entry.
By submitting an Entry, you grant a non-exclusive right and license to the Sponsors, NineSigma, and
their respective affiliates, subsidiaries, parents, and licensees, to use your name, likeness, biographical
information, image, any other personal data submitted with your Entry and the contents in your Entry
(including any created works, such as YouTube videos), in connection with (i) the Event and (ii) the
Sponsors’ initiatives to develop new solutions to diagnose and/or prevent traumatic brain injury, in any
media or format now known or hereafter invented, in any and all locations worldwide, without any
payment to or further approval from you. You also agree that this license is perpetual and irrevocable.
For uses beyond the license that you grant above, you agree that any use of your personal data by the
Sponsors will be governed by the Privacy Policy posted on the Event Website.
[www.ninesights.com/docs/DOC-1164]
You agree that nothing in these Rules grants you a right or license to use any names, trademarks or
service marks of the Sponsors, or any other intellectual property or proprietary rights of the Sponsors.
You grant to the Sponsors and NineSigma the right to include your company or institution name and
logo (if your Entry is from a company or institution) as an entrant on the Event Website and in
materials from the Sponsors announcing winners or prospective winners of Challenge II. Other than
these uses or as otherwise set forth herein, you are not granting the Sponsors any rights to your
trademarks.
The Sponsors and NineSigma shall have the right to remove any content from the Event Website in
their sole discretion at any time and for any reason, including, but not limited to, any online comment
or posting related to the Event.
Nothing in this Event competition requires you to negotiate or do business with the Sponsors or
NineSigma. You are free to discuss your Entry and the ideas or technologies contained therein with
other parties and you are free to contract with any third parties; provided that you do not sign any
agreement, grant any license or undertake any obligations that conflict with any agreement that you
have entered into, agreed to enter into or do enter into with the Sponsors or NineSigma regarding your
Entry. For the purpose of clarity, you acknowledge that the intent of Challenge II is to encourage
people to suggest their ideas and innovations, but your participation in Challenge II does not create an
obligation on either your part, or the Sponsors’ part to enter into any further business relationship with
you or to sign any commercial agreement with you.
6.
CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION: By making a submission to Challenge II, you agree that no part
of your submission includes any confidential or proprietary information, ideas or products. Since none
of the Sponsors or NineSigma wishes to receive or hold any submitted materials “in confidence” it is
agreed that, with respect to your Entry, no confidential or fiduciary relationship or obligation of
secrecy is established between the parties and you, your Entry team, the company or institution you
represent when submitting an Entry, or any other person or entity associated with any part of your
Entry. If your Entry is selected for further evaluation by the Committee (as defined below), any of the
Sponsors may (but are not obligated to) offer to sign a confidentiality agreement as part of further
discussions about your Entry and the technology/material/method/idea/testing or training
protocol/solution it describes.
7.
WARRANTIES: By submitting an Entry, you represent and warrant that all information you enter on
the Event Website is true and complete to the best of your knowledge, that you have the right and
authority to submit the Entry on your own behalf or on behalf of the persons and entities that you
specify within the Entry, and that your Entry (both the information and materials submitted in the
Entry and the underlying technology/method/idea/treatment protocol/solution described in the Entry):
(a) is your own original work, or is submitted by permission with full and proper credit given within
your Entry;
(b) does not contain confidential information or trade secrets (yours or anyone else’s);
(c) does not knowingly, after due inquiry (including, by way of example only and without limitation,
reviewing the records of the United States Patent and Trademark Office and inquiring of any
employees and other professionals retained with respect to such matters), violate or infringe upon
the patent rights, industrial design rights, copyrights, trademarks, rights of privacy, publicity or
other intellectual property or other rights of any person or entity;
(d) does not contain malicious code, such as viruses, malware, timebombs, cancelbots, worms, Trojan
horses or other potentially harmful programs or other material or information;
(e) does not and will not violate any applicable law, statute, ordinance, rule or regulation; and
(f) does not trigger any reporting or royalty or other obligation to any third party.
8.
JUDGING: Two groups will evaluate all Entries received for Challenge II:
(a) An evaluation committee (the “Committee”) comprised of representatives of the Sponsors’
businesses or their designees. The Committee will evaluate Entries to select the number of Entries
that will be provided to the Judges for final judging.
(b) An independent judging panel (the “Judges”) comprised of academics, technologists, physicians,
or other advisors selected by Sponsors will evaluate the selected number of Entries provided to
determine which Entries will receive cash awards as described below. Entries will be judged on
merit; proper reliance on science and engineering fundamentals; innovative character; potential to
create significant societal impact; commercial feasibility in light of applicable market dynamics;
and the Judging Criteria listed on the Event Website.
All decisions made by the Committee and the Judges are final, at their sole discretion, and not subject
to further review.
9.
AWARDS: Sponsors will announce via the Event Website a list of Entries to whom the Judges have
made an award (each, an “Award”). The anticipated number and amount of the cash awards that will
be awarded for Challenge II and further requirements for receiving the awards will be set forth as part
of the announcement of Challenge II at the Event Website; however, the Judges reserve the right to
award fewer than the anticipated number of cash awards in the event an insufficient number of eligible
Entries meet the Judging Criteria for Challenge II, in either the Committee’s or Judges’ sole discretion.
Awards will be made based on the Judges’ analysis of an Entry’s compliance with the Judging Criteria
for Challenge II. All potential winners will be notified by the e-mail address provided in the
submission document and may be required to complete further documentation confirming their
eligibility. Return of any notification as “undeliverable” will result in disqualification. After
verification of eligibility, awards will be distributed in the form of a check addressed to the official
representative specified in the winning entry. That official representative will have sole responsibility
for further distribution of any cash Award among participants in a group Entry or within a company or
institution that has submitted an Entry through that representative. Each list of Entries receiving cash
Awards for Challenge II will be made public according to the timeline outlined on the Event Website
http://www.ninesights.com/community/nfl-ge-grand-challenge/schedule
The initial round of cash Awards will be offered by the Sponsors to Entries selected by the Judges and
will be disbursed in two equal installments. The first installment of the initial round of the cash Award
will be disbursed after the winner meets with the Sponsors and they jointly agree upon a plan for
guided funding. A progress report from the awardee will be required 6 months from the first
installment disbursement date, and the second installment of the initial round of the cash Award will be
released following approval by the Sponsors of the progress report. A final report summarizing the
results and comparing the outcomes to the proposed results will be due at the end of the Award period
in order to be considered for the Phase 2 round of cash Awards.
All cash Awards are a one-time offer and there is no offer of licensure, royalty, or other financial
compensation implied beyond the initial round of cash Awards. You are responsible for all taxes and
reporting related to any Award that you receive as part of Challenge II.
10.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: By participating in Challenge II, you agree to release, indemnify and
hold harmless the Sponsors, NineSigma, each of the Judges and members of the Committee, and their
respective affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotions agencies, as applicable, and each of their
respective agents, representatives, officers, directors, shareholders, and employees (collectively,
“Sponsor Entities”) from and against any injuries, losses, damages, claims, actions and any liability of
any kind (including attorneys’ fees) resulting from or arising out of your participation in, association
with or submission to Challenge II (including any claims alleging that your Entry infringes,
misappropriates or violates any third party’s intellectual property rights). Sponsor Entities are not
responsible for any miscommunications such as technical failures related to computer, telephone,
cable, and unavailable network or server connections, related technical failures, or other failures
related to hardware, software or virus, or incomplete, late or misdirected entries. Any compromise to
the fair and proper conduct of Challenge II may result in the disqualification of an Entry, termination
of Challenge II, or other remedial action, at the sole discretion of the Sponsors. The Sponsors reserve
the right in their sole discretion to extend or modify the dates of Challenge II, and to change the terms
of these Official Rules governing any phases taking place after the effective date of any such change.
By entering, you agree to these Official Rules and to all decisions of the Sponsors, NineSigma, the
Judges, the Committee, and/or all of their respective agents, which are final and binding in all respects.
11.
NO OBLIGATION: You acknowledge that multiple participants may submit Entries that contain
concepts or technologies similar to your Entry and that the Sponsors or their subsidiaries and business
partners may already be investigating or developing technical solutions or business activities that are
related or similar to those that you disclose in your Entry. You acknowledge and agree that any actions
or omissions of the Sponsors with respect to another entry or one of its own solutions or business
activities, even if similar to your Entry, shall not create in the Sponsors, as applicable, any liability to
you or others. Further, none of the Sponsors are or shall be restricted in any way from pursuing,
developing, or commercializing, in any way that the Sponsors, as applicable, sees fit, independent of
you and at the Sponsors’ sole discretion, any technology that is created independent of your Entry. For
the avoidance of doubt, you acknowledge that none of the Sponsors are obligated to take any action
whatsoever with regard to your Entry.
12.
WAIVER: By entering Challenge II, you waive all rights to seek injunctive or equitable relief, or to
claim punitive, incidental or consequential damages, or attorneys’ fees.
13.
LAW: You agree that these terms and the relationship between you and the Sponsors shall be governed
by the laws of the United States and the State of New York.
For entrants living outside the United States, you specifically acknowledge that you accept the
practices and policies outlined in these Official Rules and in the Privacy Policy for the Event Website
and consent to having your data transferred to and processed in the United States.
14.
TERMS OF USE: Please see NineSights Terms of Use http://www.ninesights.com/docs/DOC-1034/
regarding your participation on NineSights, the website hosting the Event.