Terms Of Use

These Terms were last updated on 28 July 2020.

1. Who we are

   We are Brand Finance plc, a company incorporated and registered in England and Wales with company number 03170141. Our normal place of business is at 3 Birchin Lane, Langbourn, London EC3V 9BW. Our registered VAT number is GB270556990 ("we", "our", or "us").

2. These Terms
   1. These terms and conditions (together with the documents referred to herein) (the "Terms") govern the relationship between you (or the business on whose behalf you act) and us when you access our website located at brandfinance.com (the "Website"), access and/or purchase any content and/or services through the Website, and (if applicable) register to set up a user account on the Website (a “User Account”). If your registration is successful, these Terms will also govern your use of your User Account.
   2. Please read these Terms carefully prior to using the Website. By using the Website, regardless of whether you create a User Account, you will be deemed to have understood and accepted these Terms, which form a legally binding agreement between you and us. You should therefore read these Terms carefully to understand your rights and liabilities before placing an order or using the Website. If you do not agree to these Terms, please do not use the Website.
   3. In these Terms, you will see capitalised words and phrases. These capitalised words and phrases are defined terms – this means that they have specific meanings. The first time a defined term is used, you will see it in brackets and in bold (for example where we have defined "Terms" and "Website" in clause 2.1).
   4. We recommend that you print a copy of these Terms for your future reference.

3. Other Applicable Terms
   1. The following additional documents also apply to your use of the Website:
      1. our privacy policy (the "Privacy Policy"), which sets out the terms on which we process any personal data we collect from you or that you provide to us via the Website; and
      2. our cookies policy as contained in the Privacy Policy (the "Cookies Policy"), which sets out information about the cookies on the Website.
   2. You must ensure that you have read and understood the Privacy and Cookies Policies before you provide us with any personal data.
   3. We reserve the right to add to and supplement these Terms and the documents referred to above at any time (whether in respect of use of the entirety or certain aspects of the Website or Material available from it) by direct notice to you or in accordance with the notice provisions in clause 4 below.

4. Changes to these Terms
   1. At any time, we may amend these Terms to ensure that we remain compliant with relevant laws and regulations and to ensure that we are constantly improving your experience of using and interacting with the Website.
   2. Please check this page from time to time to take notice of any changes we have made. If we make any material changes to these Terms, in addition to posting the updated Terms on the Website, if you have created a User Account we will let you know directly via the email address you have supplied to us for that purpose. By continuing to use the Website after any changes to these Terms are made, you will be deemed to have accepted those changes and will be bound by them.
   3. To ensure that you are aware of the most up to date version of these Terms, you will be asked to read and accept these Terms each time you place an order to purchase content through your User Account.
   4. The date that these Terms were last modified can be found at the top of these Terms.

5. The Website
   1. We offer the Website primarily for the purpose of providing content and information about our products and services. Some of this content is provided for free (see Clauses 6, 7 and 8 below) and some content is provided at a charge (see Clauses 6 and 9 to 13 below).
   2. If you wish to use any of our content in any way not expressly permitted in these Terms (including, but not limited to making it available via an intranet or extranet or to or via a mobile device), you must first obtain our written permission. We may grant or withhold permission for such use at our own discretion and our grant of any permission may be conditional. If we grant you permission for such use, in addition to any other conditions applied, you must always attribute the content to us in the following form: "source: © and database right Brand Finance Plc. All rights reserved".
   3. We may decide to offer additional Website functions, or cease to provide any Website functions, at any time. We may also update and change the Website from time to time.
   4. The Website is made available free of charge. We do not guarantee that the Website, or any content on it, will always be available or be uninterrupted. We may suspend or withdraw or restrict the availability of all or any part of our site for business and operational reasons.

6. User Account Registration
   1. You must set up a User Account in order to access certain free content (as set out in clause 7) and to place orders for purchased content (as set out in clause 10).
   2. To create a User Account you must provide the name, address phone number and contact details of your business in addition to your own name, email address and any other information reasonably required by us.
   3. You must ensure all information provided when registering and or when placing an order is true, accurate, current and complete in all respects. Changes to your information can be made through the ‘Profile’ page.
   4. Each registration is for a single user only. You should not share your log-in details with any other person (even those from within your own organisation) as you will be held personally responsible for all activities that occur under these passwords and/or accounts with or without your knowledge.
   5. You agree to inform us immediately of any misuse or unauthorised use of your User Account you become aware of by sending an e-mail to our Customer Services Team using the email address set out at clause 22.
   6. If you choose, or you are provided with, a user identification code, password or any other piece of information as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential. You must not disclose it to any third party.
   7. We have the right to disable any user identification code or password, whether chosen by you or allocated by us, at any time, if in our reasonable opinion you have failed to comply with any of the provisions of these Terms.
   8. If you know or suspect that anyone other than you knows your user identification code or password, you must promptly notify our Customer Services Team using the information provided at clause 22.

7. Free Content
   1. Material which is available free of charge on the Website, including but not limited to a selection of whitepapers, summary valuation reports, country/sector/global tables for top 10 brands, is referred to in these Terms as "Free Content".
   2. Whilst some Free Content is accessible to all users of the Website, some Free Content, including reports relating to the Global Soft Power Index, is only accessible free of charge to users who intend to use it for one of the following purposes (i) academic use; (ii) journalism; (iii) governmental use; or (iv) personal, non-commercial use ("Restricted Free Content").
   3. Use of any and all Free Content is subject to these Terms and all our rights in relation to it are otherwise fully reserved. We draw your attention in particular to clauses 14 and 15 below (Intellectual Property Rights and Acceptable Use Restrictions).

8. Restricted Free Content
   1. In order to access the Restricted Free Content, you must create a User Account and complete the relevant "unlock"
   2. In addition to complying with these Terms (in particular to clauses 14 and 15 below regarding Intellectual Property Rights and Acceptable Use Restrictions), access to the Restricted Free Content is subject to compliance with the following conditions:
      1. you warrant, represent and undertake to us that you intend to use the Restricted Free Content for one of the following purposes: (i) academic use; (ii) journalism; (iii) governmental use; or (iv) personal, non-commercial use;
      2. government users may only use the Restricted Free Content within their governmental department or agency and only for research, information and internal communications purposes;
      3. academic users may only use the Restricted Free Content in research projects and only with our written permission;
      4. journalists may only reproduce any aspect of the Restricted Free Content in a commercial publication, store it in a database or publish derivative studies or visuals with our written permission;
      5. other users may access the Restricted Free Content for personal, non-commercial use; and
      6. you may share, link to, republish and redistribute the Restricted Free Content provided you prominently credit us (as set out in clause 5.2) and provide a link to the original online source from the Website.
   3. For any other uses of the Restricted Free Content, please contact us to arrange a commercial licence.

9. Paid-For Content
   1. Content available for purchase includes selected specialist and valuation reports, rankings (country/global/sector tables), consumer equity research and other content (reports/data) in digital format for download from the Website ("Paid-For Content").
   2. In order to buy Paid-For Content you must:
      1. create a User Account; and
      2. have a valid credit or debit card to complete the purchase.
   3. Paid-for Content is available for download and use in certain digital formats, which are noted on a case-by-case basis (for example Adobe PDF or Microsoft Excel) and which we reserve the right to change at any time at our discretion. Please check carefully that the format that you select is appropriate to your needs as we accept no responsibility for ensuring that any Paid-for Content is compatible with your requirements.
   4. When you purchase any of our Paid-For Content, in addition to any other permitted acts generally provided for elsewhere in these Terms, you are also permitted to:
      1. view the Paid-For Content online;
      2. download and store a single copy of the Paid-For Content on one hardware device only;
      3. print out a single hard copy of the Paid-For Content;
      4. re-format any statistical data that is provided with the content for use in your own analysis; and
      5. use the content for your organisation’s own commercial purposes only. For the avoidance of doubt and without prejudice to clause to 14.1.2, the phrase "commercial purposes" as used in the preceding sentence does not and shall not in any circumstances extend to the resale or redistribution of the Paid-For Content to any third party, including in a re-formatted form.

10. Placing an order
    1. By placing an order for the purchase of any Paid-For Content you are making (and will be deemed to have made) an offer to buy the relevant Paid-For Content subject to these Terms.
    2. Unless otherwise indicated, the prices for Paid-For Content stated on the Website shall be exclusive of VAT or other applicable taxes.
    3. You will find the total itemised cost of your order in your ‘Shopping Basket’ before you submit an order. All orders will be invoiced in Sterling (£).
    4. EU-based purchasers may be required to account for VAT under the reverse charge procedure according to the local VAT rules in your country.
    5. Non-EU based purchasers may be required to account for VAT and other applicable taxes under the reverse charge or other procedure according to the local tax rules in their country. The recipient of the service will need to report and pay these taxes to their tax authorities at the rate and in the manner prescribed by applicable local law, rules and regulations.
    6. We currently accept payment by all major credit or debit cards (including Visa, Mastercard and American Express). By submitting your payment details, you confirm that you are entitled to purchase the Paid-For Content using those payment details. We will send any invoices to the e-mail address provided during the registration process.
    7. To process payments you are required to enter your payment details, authorisation and click the ‘Submit payment’ button. If we are unable to supply the content you have ordered, we will let you know as soon as possible. In such event, we will give you a full refund if payment has already been taken.
    8. To pay for the Paid-For Content by invoice please contact our Customer Services Team using the email address provided at clause 22.
    9. Payment is due in full prior to us issuing access to the Paid-For Content or unless agreed in writing with us.
    10. In addition to fees payable for Paid-For Content, you are responsible for paying any internet connection or other telecommunications charges that you may incur to access the Website or using the services available on it.

11. Accessing the Paid-For Content
    1. After you have placed an order and we have confirmed your payment details, we will e-mail you confirming our acceptance of your order and attaching a copy of our invoice. The Paid-For Content you have ordered will then be available for you to download immediately through your User Account (via a link on the ‘Purchases’ page within ‘My Dashboard’) in accordance with the usage restrictions set out herein.
    2. Once payment is received in full, we will make any content purchased other than through the Website available to you either via your User Account or by email.

12. Cancellation and termination of Paid-For Content
    1. If we decline your order of Paid-For Content for any reason, which we are permitted to do at our sole discretion, we will send you an e-mail to inform you that your order has been declined. We may decline your order and invite you to pay for your order by another method if we cannot obtain authorisation of your payment details for any reason.
    2. If we discover that the description of any Paid-For Content that you have ordered is wrong, we will contact you and allow you to choose whether you wish to continue with your order or cancel it. If we discover that there has been an error in pricing and the correct price of any Paid-For Content you have ordered is lower than the price stated on the Website, we will charge you the lower price and process your order. If the correct price is higher than the price stated on the Website, we will, at our sole discretion, either contact you to confirm whether you would like to proceed or cancel your order and notify you of such cancellation.
    3. We do not offer refunds or accept returns and you do not have the right to cancel your contract with us in relation to Paid-For Content, except that we will accept your return of reports/data which are materially defective or give you a refund if we have already taken payment for your order but we are unable to fulfil it for any reason.
    4. We reserve the right to terminate any contract with you if your payment is not processed for any reason but you have nevertheless received the Paid-For Content. In such an event, we may withdraw your right to use such Paid-For Content immediately upon giving you notice and require you to delete or return such Paid-For Content.

13. Defective Paid-For Content

    If the Paid-For Content is defective (e.g. it is corrupted) and such defect has not been caused by you, you will be entitled to a replacement. You must contact our Customer Service Team using the email address set out at clause 22 to arrange for a replacement as soon as you discover the Paid-For Content is defective. This constitutes our sole liability to you for any defective Paid-For Content you have purchased.

14. Intellectual Property Rights
    1. You acknowledge and agree that except where otherwise permitted by these Terms:
       1. the Website, and all material published on, in, or made available via the Website (including but not limited to any reports whether paid-for or free, text, graphics, photos, logos, button icons, images, trade marks, audio and audio visual clips, databases, data compilations, data and software) (together the "Material") is owned and controlled by or licensed exclusively to us;
       2. you may not remove any proprietary or copyright notices from any Material;
       3. any limited rights to use the Material are licensed (not transferred) to you under these Terms; and
       4. you have no rights in, or to, the Material other than in accordance with these Terms.

15. Acceptable Use Restrictions
    1. Unless expressly permitted by us (whether elsewhere in these Terms or otherwise), you may only use the Website and any Material available via the Website for non-commercial and lawful purposes. In particular, but without limitation, and save as expressly permitted by these Terms from time to time, you agree not to:
       1. use the Website or any Material available via the Website in any way other than as permitted by these Terms;
       2. use the Website or any Material available via the Website for commercial purposes;
       3. publish, disseminate, disclose, share, communicate to the public or otherwise distribute by any means any Material without our express written permission;
       4. re-sell the Material, or any derived data, research, finding or report without our express written permission;
       5. upload the Material to any database or server;
       6. use the Website or any Material available via the Website in any way that is unlawful or fraudulent, or has any unlawful or fraudulent purpose or effect;
       7. reproduce, duplicate or copy any part of the Website or any Material available via the Website;
       8. store any Material available via the website in a database or digital retrieval system without our express written permission;
       9. transmit any data, send or upload any material that contains viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time-bombs, keystroke loggers, spyware, adware or any other harmful programs or similar computer code designed to adversely affect the operation of the Website; or
       10. access without authority, interfere with, damage or disrupt: (a) any part of the Website; (b) any equipment or network on which the Website is stored; (c) any software used in the provision of the Website; or (d) any equipment, network or software owned or used by any third party,

    (together the "Acceptable Use Restrictions").

16. Websites we link to
    1. The Website and the Material may contain links to third party websites or online and mobile services provided by independent third parties, including websites of our advertisers and sponsors, either directly or through frames.
    2. Any links we do provide are for your information only. Unless otherwise stated, linked websites are independent from us and we make no representations or warranties as to the legitimacy, accuracy or quality of such third party websites or services, and we do not accept any responsibility or liability for their content, safety, practices or privacy policies.
    3. The Website may also contain third party advertising and sponsorship. Advertisers and sponsors are responsible for ensuring that material submitted for inclusion on the Website complies with international and national law. We are not responsible for any error or inaccuracy in advertising or sponsorship material.

17. Linking to our Website
    1. You may link to our home page, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it.
    2. You must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on our part where none exists.
    3. You must not frame our Website on any other site, nor create a link to any part of the Website other than the home page.
    4. We reserve the right to withdraw permission to link to our Website at any time and without notice.

18. Computer viruses
    1. We do not guarantee that the Website or any of the Material will be secure or free from bugs or viruses.
    2. You are responsible for configuring your information technology, computer programmes and platform to access the Website. You should use your own virus protection software.
    3. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we exclude liability for damage or loss of any kind caused by viruses or other harmful components originating or contracted from the Website or any of the Material.

19. Termination of your rights
    1. We may terminate your rights under these Terms immediately and without notice if:
       1. you have breached any of the Acceptable Use Restrictions;
       2. we believe that your use of the Website is unsuitable in any way; or
       3. you are otherwise in breach of these Terms.
    2. If we terminate your rights under these Terms you must immediately stop all activities authorised by these Terms, including your access to the Website.

20. No reliance on information

    All information published on or via the Website or in the Material is for general information only and does not constitute advice or recommendations. We make no warranties about the completeness, reliability, or accuracy of such information. Any action you take based on such information is taken at your own risk and we are not liable for any loss or damage that may result.

21. Our responsibility for loss or damaged suffered by you
    1. We do not exclude or limit our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors.
    2. We do not have any knowledge of, nor control over, the particular purpose(s) for which the Material and services available on or via the Website is used. Accordingly, subject to Clause 21.1, we exclude any and all liability for any loss of any nature suffered by you, or by any of your clients or customers, as a direct or indirect result of your/their use of any of the Material or services available on or via the Website or of making any business decision, or refraining from making any such decision, based wholly or partly on any data, expression of opinion, statement or other information or data contained in the Material or accessible through the services available on the Website.
    3. The Material and services available on the Website are provided on an "as is" basis and you accept and agree we will not be liable for any harmful effect that accessing the Website or any of our Material may have on you, and you agree that you access the Website and at your own risk. All other warranties, conditions, or representations relating to the Material and services, whether express, implied, oral or written, and including any which may be contained in any description, specification or proposal provided to you by us, via the Website or otherwise. This exclusion applies to any and all implied warranties of quality, performance, merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
    4. To the fullest extent allowed by law, we will not be liable for: (i) any loss of data; use; reputation; goodwill or opportunity; (ii) any loss of or failure to realise expected profit, revenue or savings or any other form of pure economic loss, whether such loss is direct or indirect; or (iii) any indirect, special, incidental, punitive, consequential damages or losses that you may suffer, whether relating to your downloading, purchase or use, or inability to use, the Website or any Material or services we provide or otherwise, and, in each case, howsoever arising.
    5. Other than as set out above, our maximum aggregate liability to you for all claims whether arising in contract, tort, breach of statutory duty or otherwise, and, whether in respect of a single event, series of connected events or of unconnected events, will be limited to: (i) in the case of any defective Material as described under clause 13, the replacement of such Material; or (ii) in any other case, the price of the Material or service for which you have paid.

22. Communications between us / Complaints

    If you have any complaints or wish to contact our Customer Services Team for any reason, you can do so using the following details:

    Mailing address:
    Brand Finance Plc
    3 Birchin Lane
    London
    EC3V 9BW

    Telephone (Switchboard): +44 (0)20 7389 9400

    E-mail: enquiries@brandfinance.com

23. Other important terms
    1. We may transfer our rights and obligations under these Terms to another organisation, but this will not affect your rights or our obligations under these Terms. You are not permitted to assign, sub-license or transfer all or part of your rights or obligations under these Terms without our prior written permission.
    2. If we do not enforce our rights against you, or if we delay in doing so, that does not mean that we have waived our rights against you, and it does not mean that you are relieved of your obligations under these Terms. If we do waive a breach by you, we will only do so in writing, and that will not mean that we will automatically waive any later breach by you.
    3. Each of the terms and conditions of these Terms operates separately. If any court or competent authority decides that any of them are unlawful or unenforceable, the remaining terms and conditions will remain in full force and effect.
    4. If we are unable to perform our obligations under these Terms due to circumstances beyond our reasonable control (including, but not limited to, system failure, fire, flood, earthquake and other natural physical disasters, strikes, trade disputes, lock outs, riot, accident, disruption to energy supplies, civil commotion, acts of terrorism or war, epidemic or pandemic) our inability or delay in performing our obligations will not be deemed to be in breach of contract.
    5. Each party acknowledges that these Terms represent the entire agreement between the parties and in connection with your use of the Website and the Material made available on or via the Website. Neither party is relying on any representations or warranties (whether implied or otherwise) other than those expressly set out in these Terms and the parties irrevocably and unconditionally waive any right they may have to any remedy in respect of any other such representation or warranty, except in the case of fraud.
    6. These Terms are governed by English law and the courts of England and Wales will have non-exclusive jurisdiction over any disputes arising in respect of or in relation to these Terms and your use of the Website and the Material.