Ford Personalized Fuel-Efficiency Ideas Challenge – Official Rules – (the “Official Rules”)

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT NECESSARY. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.

Introduction

The Ford Personalized Fuel-EfficiencyIdeas Challenge (the “Ideas Competition”) is an initiative of Ford Motor Company challenging the public to share ideas for personalized fuel-efficiency apps.

By entering the Ideas Competition, you agree that others may use or develop the ideas you suggest.

1. Sponsor and Administrator 

Sponsor (the “Sponsor”): Ford Motor Company, One American Road, Dearborn, MI 48126.

Administrator (the “Administrator”): ChallengePost, Inc., 425 W. 13th Street, Suite #504, New York, NY 10014, USA.

2. Competition Schedule

Submission Period: April 24, 2013 (10:00am Eastern Time) – July 24, 2013 (5:00pm Eastern Time)

Public Voting Period: April 24, 2013 (10:00am Eastern Time) – July 24, 2013 (5:00pm Eastern Time)

Judging Period: August 5, 2013 (10:00am Eastern Time) – August 23, 2013 (5:00pm Eastern Time) 

Winners Announced: On or around September 10, 2013 (10:00am Eastern Time)

3. Eligibility

A. The Competition is open only to individuals who are at least the age of majority in their jurisdiction of residence at the time of entry (“Contestants”). 

B. Contestants must own or have access at their own expense to a computer, an Internet connection, and any other electronic devices, documentation, software or other items that Contestants may deem necessary to create and enter their Submission. 

C. The following individuals are not eligible regardless of whether or not they meet the criteria set forth above: 

(i) employees of the Sponsor, the Administrator or any advertising agency, contractor or other company involved with the design, production, paid promotion, execution, or distribution of the Competition, and all members of any such employee, representative or agent’s immediate family or household. 

(ii) any individual involved with the design, production, promotion, execution, or distribution of the Competition and each member of any such individual’s immediate family or household; 

(iii) any Judge or individual with a material business relationship or affiliation with any Judge; and

(iv) any individual residing in Cuba, Sudan, Iran, North Korea, Syria or any other country designated by the United States Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.

D. For purposes hereof: 

(i) the members of an individual’s immediate family include such individual’s spouse, children and step-children, parents and step-parents, and siblings and step-siblings; and 

(ii) the members of an individual’s household include any other person that shares the same residence as such individual for at least three (3) months out of the year. 

4. Competition Submission Period 

A. Contestants may enter a Submission between April 24, 2013 at 10:00am Eastern Time, USA and July 24, 2013 at 5:00pm Eastern Time (the “Competition Submission Period”). The Administrator’s computer is the official time keeping device for this Competition. 

B. Any Submission entered following the Competition Submission Period shall be disqualified. 

5. Registration and Submission 

A. Registration 

(i) Beginning at 10:00am Eastern Time on April 24, 2013, visit Ideas.Ford.ChallengePost.com (the “Competition Website”) and click “Sign Up” to create a ChallengePost account, or click “Log In” and log in with an existing ChallengePost account. There is no charge for creating a ChallengePost account. 

(ii) After a Contestant signs up on the Competition Website a confirmation email will be sent to the email address provided by the Contestant. The Contestant should use the confirmation email to verify their email address. Once registered and signed in, a Constant can enter a Submission as defined below. 

(iii) In the event of a dispute pertaining to this Competition, the authorized account holder of the email address used to sign up for the ChallengePost account used to enter the Submission will be deemed to be the Contestant. The “authorized account holder” is the natural person or legal entity assigned an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted address. Contestants generally and potential winners may be required to show proof of being the authorized account holder. 

B. Submission & Submission Requirements 

(i) Contestants must complete the following statement in 140 characters or less, “I want a fuel-efficiency app that…. (the “Submission”). 

(ii) Submissions must be ideas for software applications related to helping customers improve their personal fuel-economy while driving. The Sponsor and/or Administrator may, at their sole discretion, remove and disqualify Submissions that are not related to the topic of the Competition.

(iii) Once a Submission has been submitted, the Contestant may not make any changes or alterations to the Submission. 

(iv) Submissions must be 140 characters or less. 

(v) Submissions must be in English 

(vi) Submissions must not:

a. include confidential information;

b. relate to non-software product styling or designs;

c. include product names or slogans or advertising or marketing suggestions;

d. suggest business methods or ways of conducting business (restructuring, acquisitions, etc.); 

e. contain or constitute any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, junk mail, spam, chain letters, pyramid schemes, or any other form of solicitation;

f. include materials from a third party website, or personally identifiable information;

g. violate applicable law;

h. depict hatred;

i. be in bad taste;

j. denigrate (or be derogatory towards) any person or group of persons or any race, ethnic group or culture;

k. threaten a specific community in society, including any specific race, ethnic group or culture;

l. incite violence or be likely to incite violence;

m. contain vulgar or obscene language or excessive violence;

n. contain pornography, obscenity or sexual activity; or

o. disparage the Sponsor.  

(vii) Submissions must not attempt to duplicate a prior Submission already submitted in this Competition. Sponsor or Administrator reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any Submission that is a duplicate or substantially similar to another Submission. 

(viii) A Contestant may submit more than one Submission. However, each Submission must be unique, as determined by Sponsor and/or the Administrator in their sole discretion. If a Contestant enters two or more Submissions that are substantially similar, the Sponsor and Administrator reserve the right to disqualify Submissions or require the Contestant to choose one Submission to enter into the Competition. 

(ix) By entering a Submission, Contestant represents, warrants and agrees that the Submission is the original work of the Contestant and complies with the Official Rules. 

Contestant further represents, warrants and agrees that any use of the Submission by the Sponsor, Administrator and/or Judges (or any of their respective partners, subsidiaries and affiliates) as authorized by these Official Rules, shall not: 

a. infringe upon, misappropriate or otherwise violate any intellectual property right or proprietary right including, without limitation, any statutory or common law trademark, copyright or patent, nor any privacy rights, moral rights nor any other rights of any person or entity;

b. constitute or result in any misappropriation or other violation of any person’s publicity rights or right of privacy. 

6. Submission Rights: 

By entering the Ideas Competition and submitting a Submission, the Contestant agrees that others may use or develop the Contestant’s Submission. Furthermore, by entering the Ideas Competition and submitting a Submission, the Contestant grants to the Sponsor a non-exclusive, irrevocable, unlimited, perpetual, royalty free, worldwide license to copy, combine, create derivative works, display publicly, develop, implement into products or services, translate and use for any purposes, the Submission. Contestants waive all rights to any compensation or recognition for the use and development by the Sponsor of the Submission. Once submitted, the Sponsor may modify, augment, and incorporate the Submission into any other work, and use it for any other purposes at its sole discretion. 

7. Display of Submissions, Public Voting and Commenting on Submissions 

A. Submissions will be posted on the Competition Website on a rolling basis.  

B. Posting of a Submission to the Competition Website does not constitute a determination of the Sponsor and/or Administrator that the Submission is eligible. Sponsor and/or Administrator may remove a Submission after reviewing it for appropriateness of content and compliance with these Official Rules.

C. Non-Contestants interested in the Competition may obtain updates on the competition by creating an account on the Competition Website or by logging in using an existing ChallengePost account. Additionally, such registered visitors (“Registered Visitors”) will be able to cast one vote during the Voting Period for each of their favorite Submissions to determine Finalists, as further described in Section 9 below. 

D. Registered Visitors will be able to post comments on Submissions. If a Contestant is posting a comment on his or her own Submission, the Contestant must post the comment from the same account that was used to make the Submission. Comments shall not disparage a Submission in order to increase or improve another Submission or be otherwise inappropriate, as determined by the Sponsor or the Administrator in their sole direction. Any such disparaging or inappropriate comments may be removed and all other comments made by the individual that posts such comments may also be removed. The Sponsor and the Administrator are not responsible for any action or negative impact that may arise from any comments posted by any person on the Web, or elsewhere. 

8. Finalist and Winner Selection 

A. Finalists and Public Voting 

(i) Public voting is scheduled to take place during the Competition Submission Period, between April 24 2013 at 10:00am Eastern Time and July 24, 2013 at 5:00pm Eastern Time (also the “Voting Period”). Public voting will determine the finalists, the twenty-five (25) Submissions that receive the most verified and confirmed votes (the “Finalists”). 

(ii) Public votes may be displayed on the Competition website, on a real-time basis, before being verified for integrity. These unverified votes will not necessarily reflect accurately the voting for the Finalists. 

(iii) The Finalists will be determined on the basis of the verified vote counts, as determined by the Sponsor or the Administrator. The Sponsor and the Administrator reserve the right to extend the Voting Period at any time for any reason. 

(iv) Use of an automated process or similar device to submit an electronic vote is strictly prohibited. Any attempt to circumvent the one-vote limit per Submission, including the use of multiple email addresses or any form of automated vote processes will subject all votes from the person or entity to disqualification. The Sponsor and/or the Administrator reserves the right to disqualify any Contestant at their sole discretion, if a Contestant receives multiple and/or irregular votes from the same user or users, or receives votes in a manner that otherwise may indicate automated or non-automated vote manipulation. If the voting process for the Finalists fails to operate properly or appears to be tampered with or tainted with errors, fraud or unfair practices, the Sponsor and/or the Administrator at their sole discretion reserve the right to determine the Finalist by using non-suspect votes, or by any other means the Administrator deems appropriate. Contestants may not pay or otherwise compensate anyone or provide any other type of consideration in exchange for votes. 

(v) There is no limitation on the number of Submissions a Contestant can enter during the Competition Submission Period. However, a Contestant may only have at most three (3) Submissions declared a Finalist. If a Contestant has more than three (3) Submissions among the Finalists with the most verified votes, only the three (3) Submissions from that Contestant with the most verified votes will be declared among the Finalists – subject to conditions set forth herein. 

(vi) In the event one or more Submission(s) receive(s) the same number of votes (the “Tied Submissions”), then the Tied Submission that was submitted earlier in time will prevail. 

(vii) If two or more Submissions are among the Finalists for votes and the Submissions are substantially similar, as determined by the Sponsor and the Administrator in their sole discretion, only the one Submission that received the most votes will be declared a Finalist.

B. Winner Selection 

(i) At the conclusion of the Voting Period, the Finalists will be judged by a judging panel determined by the Sponsor (the “Judges”). The Sponsor reserves the right to substitute or modify the judging panel at any time for any reason. Judges do have the right to withdraw without advance notice in the event of extenuating circumstances beyond their control. Judges will be fair and impartial. A Judge may elect to recuse him or herself from judging a Submission, if in the Judge’s sole discretion it is not appropriate for him or her to judge that particular Submission because of a past or current relationship with a particular Contestant. A Submission will not be at a disadvantage if one or more Judge recuses him or herself. The dates for the judging panel are between August 5, 2013 at 10:00 AM ET and August 23, 2013 at 5:00 PM ET. Judges may consider any comments that are posted to a Submission consistent with the stated judging criteria. A Submission will not be disadvantaged if it does not receive any comments. 

(ii) Judging Criteria – to be equally weighted: 

a. Quality of the idea (including creativity, originality, and potential to improve personalized fuel-efficiency); and

b. Feasibility of implementation (including how feasible it is to build a functioning fuel-efficiency app based on the idea).

(iii) The ten (10) Finalists Submissions that earn the highest overall score based on the above criteria will be declared the potential winners of the Top 10 Prize identified below in Section 10. In the event of a tie between or among two or more of the ten (10) Finalists Submissions with the highest overall scores, the tied Submission with the highest score in the Quality of Idea category shall be deemed the higher scoring Submission (“First Tie-Breaker”); in the event that any ties remain after the First Tie-Breaker, the remaining tied Submission with the highest score in Feasibility of implementation category shall be deemed the higher scoring Submission (“Second Tie-Breaker”); in the event that any ties remaining after the Second Tie-Breaker, the Sponsor shall decide among the remaining tied Submissions. The decisions of the Sponsor are final. The Sponsor is not required to give an explanation for its selections.

9. Verification of Potential Winners 

A. ALL POTENTIAL IDEAS COMPETITION WINNERS ARE SUBJECT TO VERIFICATION BY THE SPONSOR AND/OR THE ADMINISTRATOR WHOSE DECISIONS ARE FINAL AND BINDING IN ALL MATTERS RELATED TO THE IDEAS COMPETITION. Potential winners must continue to comply with all terms and conditions of these Official Rules throughout the Competition and Judging Period. Potential winners will be notified using the email address associated with the ChallengePost account used to enter the Submission on or about September 10, 2013. 

In order to receive a Prize, the potential winner will be required to sign and return to the Administrator, affidavit(s) of eligibility or a similar verification document and liability/publicity release(s) within ten (10) business days. 

B. At the sole discretion of the Sponsor and the Administrator, a potential winner will be deemed ineligible to win if: 

(i) the potential winner cannot be contacted within seven (7) business days, or is contacted and refuses the Prize;  

(ii) the potential winner fail(s) to sign and return the affidavit(s) of eligibility or a similar verification document and liability/publicity release(s) within ten (10) business days from receipt of such documents;  

(iii) the Prize or Prize notification is returned as undeliverable; or  

(iv) the Submission or the potential winner is disqualified for any other reason.  In the event of such disqualification, Sponsor and Administrator at their sole discretion may award the applicable Prize to an alternate potential winner. 

10. Prizes 

A. No Prize substitutions will be made except for the right of the Sponsor to make a Prize substitution of equivalent or greater value in the event the Prize or any portion thereof is unavailable. Prizes must be accepted as awarded. No transfer or substitution of a Prize is permitted except at the Sponsor’s and Administrator’s sole discretion. The Prize will be mailed to the winning Contestant’s address within 45 days of receipt of the signed affidavit(s) of eligibility or a similar verification document and liability/publicity release(s) form(s).  

B. Winners are responsible for reporting and paying applicable taxes in their jurisdiction of residence (federal, state/provincial/territorial and local).

C. Each Contestant hereby acknowledges and agrees that the relationship between the Contestant and the Sponsor and the Administrator, is not a confidential, fiduciary, or other special relationship, and that the Contestant’s decision to provide the Contestant’s Submission to Sponsor and the Administrator for the purposes of this Ideas Competition does not place the Sponsor, the Administrator, and their respective agents in a position that is any different from the position held by the members of the general public with regard to elements of the Contestant’s Submission, except as specifically provided in these Official Rules.  

11. Entry Conditions and Release 

A. By entering, each Contestant agree(s) to: 

(i) comply with and be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor, Administrator, and/or the Competition judges which are binding and final in all matters relating to this Competition;  

(ii) release, indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Sponsor, Administrator, and their respective parent, subsidiary, and affiliated companies, the Prize suppliers and any other organizations responsible for sponsoring, fulfilling, administering, advertising or promoting the Competition, and all of their respective past and present officers, directors, employees, agents and representatives (hereafter the “Released Parties”) from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liabilities (including reasonable attorneys’ fees), including but not limited to negligence and damages of any kind to persons and property, defamation, slander, libel, violation of right of publicity, infringement of trademark, copyright or other intellectual property rights, property damage, or death or personal injury arising out of or relating to a Contestant’s entry, creation of Submission or entry of a Submission, participation in the Competition, acceptance or use or misuse of the Prize (including any travel or activity related thereto) and/or the broadcast, transmission, performance, exploitation or use of Submission as authorized or licensed by these Official Rules. 

B. Without limiting the foregoing, the Released Parties shall have no liability in connection with: 

(i) any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by the Sponsor’s, the Administrator’s or a Contestant’s electronic or printing error or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Competition; 

(ii) technical failures of any kind, including, but not limited to malfunctions, interruptions, or disconnections in phone lines, internet connectivity or electronic transmission errors, or network hardware or software or failure of the Competition Website; 

(iii) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the Competition; 

(iv) technical or human error which may occur in the administration of the Competition or the processing of Submissions; or 

(v) any injury or damage to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from the Contestant’s participation in the Competition or receipt or use or misuse of any Prize. If for any reason any Contestant’s Submission is confirmed to have been erroneously deleted, lost, or otherwise destroyed or corrupted, the Contestant’s sole remedy is to request the opportunity to resubmit its Submission, which request will be determined at the sole discretion of the Sponsor and the Administrator if the Competition Submission Period is still open. 

12. Publicity 

Participation in the Competition constitutes a winner’s consent to Sponsor’s, and their agents’ use of the winner’s name, likeness, photograph, voice, opinions, comments and/or hometown, country, and state/territory of residence for promotional purposes in any media, worldwide, without further payment or consideration, for a period of two years following the conclusion of the Competition. 

13. General Conditions 

A. Sponsor and Administrator reserve the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Competition, or any part of it, if any fraud, technical failure or any other unanticipated factor or factor beyond Sponsor’s and Administrator’s control impairs the integrity or proper functioning of the Competition, as determined by Sponsor and Administrator at their sole discretion. The Sponsor and Administrator reserve the right at their sole discretion to disqualify any individual or Contestant it finds to be tampering with the entry process (for example by using the aid of computer software programs to auto-fill entries) or the operation of the Competition or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or in a manner that is inappropriate, not in the best interests of this competition, or a violation of any applicable law or regulation. 

B. Any attempt by any person to undermine the proper conduct of the Competition may be a violation of criminal and civil law, and, should such an attempt be made, the Sponsor and the Administrator reserve the right to take proper legal action, including, without limiting, referral to law enforcement, for any illegal or unlawful activities. 

C. The Sponsor and/or the Administrator’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. The Sponsor and the Administrator are not responsible for incomplete, late, misdirected, damaged, lost, illegible, or incomprehensible Submissions or for address or email address changes of the Contestants. Proof of sending or submitting will not be deemed to be proof of receipt by Sponsor or Administrator. The Sponsor and the Administrator are not responsible for, nor are they required to count any vote which, in their sole judgment, is incomplete, late, misdirected, damaged, unlawful or illicit, including those secured through payment, votes achieved through automated means, as well as those lost for technical reasons, defective or otherwise in violation of these rules. 

D. In the event of any discrepancy or inconsistency between the terms and conditions of the Official Rules and disclosures or other statements contained in any Competition materials, including but not limited to the Competition Submission form, Competition Website, or point of sale, television, print or online advertising, the terms and conditions of the Official Rules shall prevail. 

E. The Sponsor and the Administrator reserve the right, without liability, to amend the terms and conditions of the Official Rules at any time, including the rights or obligations of the Contestant, the Sponsor, and the Administrator. The Sponsor and Administrator will post the terms and conditions of the amended Official Rules on Competition Website. As permitted by law, any amendment will become effective at the time the Sponsor and/or Administrator post the amended Official Rules. 

F. All intellectual property related to this Competition, including but not limited to trademarks, trade-names, logos, designs, promotional materials, web pages, source codes, drawings, illustrations, slogans and representations are owned or used under license by the Sponsor and/or the Administrator. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized copying or use of any copyrighted material or intellectual property without the express written consent of its owners is strictly prohibited. 

G. Should any provision of these Official Rules be or become illegal or unenforceable in the jurisdiction of a permitted entrant, such illegality or unenforceability shall leave the remainder of these Official Rules unaffected and valid. The illegal or unenforceable provision shall be replaced by a valid and enforceable provision that comes closest and best reflects the Sponsor’s intention in a legal and enforceable manner with respect to the invalid or unenforceable provision.

14. Limitations of Liability 

By entering, all Contestants agree to be bound by the Official Rules and hereby release the Released Parties from any and all liability in connection with the Prizes or Contestant’s participation in the Competition. Provided, however, that any liability limitation regarding gross negligence or intentional acts, or events of death or body injury shall not be applicable in jurisdictions where such limitation is not legal. 

15. Disputes 

A. Contestants agree that: 

(i) any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Competition, or any Prizes awarded, other than those concerning the administration of the Competition or the determination of winners, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action; 

(ii) any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Competition, or any Prizes awarded, shall be resolved exclusively by the United States District Court of Michigan or the appropriate Michigan State Court;

(iii) under no circumstances will Contestants be entitled to, and Contestants hereby waives all rights to claim, any punitive, incidental and consequential damages and any and all rights to have damages multiplied or otherwise increased. 

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. 

B. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of the Contestants, the Sponsor and the Administrator in connection with the Competition, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of Michigan, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whether of the State of Michigan or any other jurisdiction), which would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of Michigan. 

16. Privacy 

A. Personal information: Personal information collected from individual Contestants is subject to the ChallengePost privacy policy located at http://ChallengePost.com/privacy and Ford Personalized Fuel-Efficiency App and Ideas Competitions Privacy Policy located at www.ford.com/resources/ford/general/pages/app_challenge_privacy_policy.html. By entering and participating in the Competition, Contestants expressly agree to the terms of the privacy policies.

B. For Non-U.S. Residents:

(i) See the Challenge Post Privacy Policy at: http://ChallengePost.com/privacy

(ii) Ford Notice: Processing of data including personal data

Ford Motor Company is located in the United States.  In accordance with its Privacy Policy located at www.ford.com/resources/ford/general/pages/app_challenge_privacy_policy.html, Ford may use vendors or partners globally, including in the United States, to collect and/or transfer PII for purposes of Competition administration.  By providing PII (and other information) in connection with the Competition, you understand and voluntarily consent to the collection, use, and processing of the PII (and other information) in the United States, and other countries globally and consent to the transfer of such information across country borders in accordance with this Privacy Policy, or you have obtained consent from team members  to the collection, use, and processing of their PII (and other information) in the United States, and other countries globally and consent to the transfer of such information across country borders in accordance with this Privacy Policy. 

17. Competition Results 

For Competition results, visit Competition Website on or about September 10, 2013. 

18. Contact Us

If you have any questions or wish to send us any notice regarding this Competition, please email us at Support@ChallengePost.com.