Terms of use

General Terms and Conditions of “labfolder”

1. Subject matter

  1. This Agreement regulates all relations between
    labfolder GmbH
    Elsenstraße 106
    12435 Berlin
    Germany
    (referred to hereafter as: “labfolder” or “the provider”) and the customer regarding the use of labfolder under the URLs www.labfolder.net, www.labfolder.com, www.labfolder.de, www.labfolder.info, www.labfolder.org, labfolder.eu.
  2. labfolder provides a digital laboratory notebook, in which scholars can enter and retrieve their experimental data. labfolder allows scholars to share their data with other people in a private group or to publish it on a publication platform. Furthermore, the data can be downloaded as a PDF file at any time.
  3. As a registered user the customer can create a “Free Account” without charge or an “Advanced version Account” with charge. labfolder provides the user with digital storage capacity according to sec. 3 paragraph 1. The user can save, edit and retrieve data from the provider’s server.
  4. The user can forward their data and files stored in the database to other persons or groups of persons, both private or public. Furthermore, the user can publish their data on labfolder or other platforms or media. A publication or provision in a public group requires the user’s previous approval.

2. Concluding of the Agreement

  1. The creation of an account is deemed an offer to conclude a legally binding user contract. After registration labfolder will send out a confirmatory e-mail.
  2. A valid e-mail-address and a personally assigned password are required for the registration of a Free Account. For an Advanced version Account the user will have to provide name, surname and billing address. Correct statement of name, company affiliation and address are required to provide a documentation ensuring intellectual property rights protection.

3. Obligations of the provider

All servers of labfolder are based in Germany and are subject to the German/European data security law. The user agrees to the processing of their data provided to labfolder in Germany/Europe. labfolder saves the user’s scientific experimental data but does not access the data at any time, unless the user agrees by written consent.

When the upload is completed and the data or files are fully saved, they are retrievable within the account of the user and downloadable as a PDF file.

The provider ensures that the user has access to their saved data. For this, labfolder sends a password to the user’s e-mail-address. The user can log into their account by entering e-mail-address and password. For safety reasons the user can and should change this password regularly.

The privacy policy can be reviewed here. labfolder provides memory capacity for the storage of content (files). When registering the user can choose between a “Free Account” without charge or an “Advanced version Account” with charge entitling to the following benefits:

Free Account
If the customer opts for Free Account, labfolder provides memory capacity to the amount of 3 GB to save user’s data. Furthermore the user of the Free Account can participate one closed group of up to three members. Currently only a valid e-mail-address and a password are required to create a free account. Correct statement of name, company affiliation and address are required to provide a documentation ensuring intellectual property rights protection.

Advanced version Account
If the customer opts for Advanced version Group Account, labfolder provides memory capacity to the amount of 300 GB per Advanced version user to save user’s data. Uploaded data willbe available until the user deletes the data from their account or the contract of the Advanced version terminates. The specification of the provider’s obligation can be reviewed on the pricing page. The provider’s obligations are subject to change. If these changes cause the reduction of functions, the Advanced version users is eligible to special termination rights.

4. User obligations

  1. The user will inform provider when detecting any malfunction.
  2. The user is not entitled to offer their access data to third parties. The user is obliged to handle their access data with care and to prevent usage of access data by third parties.
  3. The user assures not to save or publish any content the reproduction or usage of which could impinge upon applicable law or the rights of others. The user assures to dispose of the relevant rights (in particular copyright, trademark and obligation rights). It is strictly prohibited to save or publish any material that may be considered pornographic, discriminating, racist, derogatory, detractive or anti-competitive. The user agrees not
    to save data or to The user agrees not to save data or to disclose it to other members or the public which violates youth protection or criminal law.
  4. The user is not allowed to access labfolder or parts of labfolder by using automatic processes, unless obtaining a previous permission to do so.
  5. An account may only be used by one single person. Multiple people are not allowed to use the account mutually or to use one single account. This serves intellectual property protection and is essential to identify the relevant originator.
  6. The user is solely responsible for content and integrity of the data saved on labfolder. The provider has no influence on the user’s data, neither on correctness nor on legality or the like.
  7. The user agrees not to publish any personal data of third parties in a group or on the publication platform without a written permission.
  8. The user is obliged to indemnify the provider for any liability whatsoever which originates from the unlawfulness of content saved on the user’s account or made public by the user. This includes the obligation to indemnify the provider for all legal expenses.
  9. If the user encodes their data using the provider’s system, the decoding key will be kept in safe custody. The user is aware that the provider has no possibility to access the decoding key. If the decoding key gets lost, the decoding of the data will not be possible anymore.
  10. Users of labfolder who represent other persons, groups or institutions declare that they act with permission of these persons, groups or institutions.
  11. The software is accessible via a web browser across all operating systems. The current supported browsers in their respective versions can be found here: www.labfolder.com/browser-support.

5. Payments (Advanced version Account)

  1. The user is obliged to pay a charge to labfolder for the provision of the Advanced version. Charges are listed on the pricing page.
  2. The charge is due at the time of conclusion of the contract respectively at the time of extension of the contract. The payment is to be made at the beginning of the contract period contractually agreed on (monthly, annually). The payment is to be made via the contractually agreed method of payment.
  3. The final charge, including all taxes, will be displayed before the order is made. The amount of VAT, which may be added to the charge, is 19% of the total billing amount and will be added depending on the location and legal entity of the purchaser. According to the European Union Council Directive 2006/112/EC, 19% VAT will be added if the purchaser
    • is from Germany
    • is from within the European Union and does not have a European VAT ID

The purchaser has to compensate all additional costs which may arise.

6. Rights to use

  1. The provider is granted a non-transferable, worldwide, non-exclusive right for the duration of the contract to make the data saved on the servers available to third parties via the internet within the limits set up by the user. This includes the right to duplicate and to transmit data for the purpose of data protection.
  2. In case the user makes their data open to public on labfolder, the provider is granted an unlimited, non-exclusive right to save and use the data published by the user.

7. Warranty / Liability

  1. Defects of the supplied memory capacity shall be remediated according to the German warranty rights (§§ 536 pp. BGB).
  2. labfolder is not liable for the server’s connections, nor for blackouts and for failures of servers which don’t belong to the provider’s sphere of influence.
  3. labfolder will do everything possible to protect data against unauthorized access or damage. Nevertheless the liability is limited/no compensation in the case of intrusion, deletion, etc.
  4. labfolder indicates that the functionality of the platform can be interrupted temporarily because of evaluation, overhaul, update and installation of new functions.
  5. labfolder reserves the right to add or remove single functions of the platform. The users will be informed on www.labfolder.com.
  6. Advanced version liability: The pre-contractual, contractual and non-contractual liability of labfolder is limited to cases of intent and gross negligence. The limitations of liability shall also apply where labfolder is vicariously responsible for its employees and agents. labfolder shall also be liable for relating to fatalities, injuries and impairment of health for which the liability may not be excluded. Liability of labfolder under the German Product Liability Act (Produkthaftungsgesetz) may also not be excluded.
  7. Limited liability: in cases of ordinary negligence labfolder’s liability shall be limited to
      1. the breach of contractual obligations which are Cardinal Obligations. Cardinal Obligations are those obligations for which due fulfillment is essential to the proper implementation of the contract as a whole, and the contractual partner may depend upon their fulfillment.
      2. the amount of losses which were generally foreseeable at the moment of conclusion of contract.

The limitations of liability shall also apply where labfolder is vicariously responsible for its employees and agents.

labfolder does not assume any responsibility for the content of external websites and for content which is provided by users or partners of labfolder.

8. Deletion and blocking of content/account

  1. The user can delete their saved data at any time.
  2. If an account is changed from “Advanced version Account” to “Free Account” the saved data will be deleted within 30 days without further notice until the maximum memory capacity of 3 GB is reached. Older files will be deleted first. The user is personally responsible to save or extract their data in time.
  3. After termination of the contract all data which has been saved by the user will be deleted. The user is personally responsible to save or extract their data at the moment of termination of the contract.
  4. The provider can block or delete saved user’s data if there is reason to believe that the content of the data violates the user’s obligations (4).

9. Confidentiality

  1. The provider binds himself not to forward or utilize in any way data which was obtained in preparation or execution of the contract, in particular the experimental data of the user or a user’s customer. The provider holds any of this information in strict confidence. This also applies towards third party, employees of the provider and unauthorized users, unless it is necessary to fulfill the contract. In case of doubt the provider has to ask for the user’s permission.
  2. The provider agrees to implement identical provisions for all employees involved in the execution of this contract.

10. Publication

  1. By publishing the data and content on labfolder the user guarantees to be in possess of the data’s and content’s publication rights.
  2. By publishing the data and content on labfolder the user guarantees that he does not violate data protection and privacy laws as well as the data protection, security and privacy or ethical guidelines of his institution or company.
  3. By publishing the data and content the user allows labfolder and all partners a non-exclusive, licence-free utilisation and disclosure of the published data.
  4. The user guarantees that the published data is free of any content contrary to sec. 4 of this agreement.

11. Contract duration

  1. This agreement is in effect from the moment the user creates an account, i.e. their login information is registered. The parties may terminate this agreement at their convenience with due regard to the cancellation period when using the Advanced version Account. Termination may be issued in writing to labfolder GmbH,Elsenstraße 106, 12435, Berlin, Germany or via e-mail to contact@labfolder.com.
  2. If the customer creates a Free Account the contract runs for indefinite time and can be terminated for any or no reason at their convenience with no further notice.
  3. When a Advanced version Account is registered, the user can choose between a basic contract duration of one month or one year. After the expiry of this basic contract duration the contract automatically extends for another period of time of the basic contract duration chosen by the user, unless the contract is terminated in written form till the 15th of the previous month. After the termination of the Advanced version Account the account will be automatically transferred to a Free Account.
  4. After termination of the contract the user has 30 days to extract their data.
  5. In addition each party’s right to terminate this agreement for a good cause remains unaffected. A good cause for termination of the agreement by labfolder shall particularly include a serious breach of the obligations arising from this agreement in sec. 4 by the customer or a sustainable default in payment of the customer (sec. 5). If the user defaults in payment, the provider can transfer the Advanced version Account to a Free Account instead of termination.

12. Final provisions

  1. These General Terms and Conditions may be modified by labfolder at any time. labfolder will inform the customer via email to the registered e-mail address of the user.
  2. If any provision of this agreement is or later becomes invalid, or contains omissions, the validity of the other provisions shall remain unaffected.
  3. This agreement, together with any documents referred to in it, or expressed to be entered into in connection with it, constitutes the whole agreement between the parties concerning the subject matter of This Agreement. It applies for all business relations between the parties also in the future, even if not explicitly agreed. The provider disagrees explicitly to the inclusion of contrary customer’s general terms and conditions.
  4. This Agreement (and any dispute, controversy, proceedings or claim of whatever nature arising out of or in any way relating to This Agreement or its formation) shall be governed by material German law. The UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) shall not apply.
  5. Berlin, Germany, shall be agreed upon as the place of jurisdiction for all claims and legal proceedings.