Terms of Use

Welcome to the Cogence member website (“Member Website”), owned and operated by Cogence, LLC (“Cogence”). Cogence offers members who subscribe to this Member Website access to online webinars, instructional videos, and other services and products related to functional immunology and related health topics, electronically and in person. Your use of this Member Website and all Cogence services and products, electronically and in person, is subject to the following Terms of Use. Acceptance of these Terms of Use is a requirement for purchasing a membership that grants you access to the Member Website, and a requirement of your ongoing participation.

This Member Website does not provide medical advice. All health and health-related information contained within this Member Website is intended to be general in nature and for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional health advice, diagnosis or treatment or a professional’s independent medical judgment.

By receiving information from Cogence, you agree that you will only use the information provided by Cogence in a manner consistent with your type, level, and degree of professional training.

Cogence reserves the right to terminate a Member’s subscription with no refund of membership payments, if the Member allows another person to access the Member’s account credentials. Do not share your account credentials.

Intellectual Property

The entire contents of the Member Website, including without limitation text, graphics, photographs, images, moving images, sound, and illustrations, are the property of Cogence (or its affiliates or licensors) and are protected by copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property laws (except that when applicable, copyright to cited materials is retained by the authors of the articles cited or the assigned rights holders, as stipulated by United States copyright law, or unless otherwise indicated on the subject material). The trademarks, service marks and logos (including the name “Cogence” and the tagline “Shaping the Future of Functional Immunology”) used and displayed on this Member Website belong to Cogence or others, as applicable. Nothing on this Member Website should be construed as granting—by implication, estoppel, or otherwise—any license or right to use any trademark displayed on this Member Website without the prior written permission of the trademark owner. This Member Website is copyrighted.

As a member (“Member”), you have certain rights specified below; all other rights are reserved. Subject to the exceptions set forth below, you may not use the Member Website in a manner that constitutes an infringement of our rights or that has not been authorized by Cogence.

Use of Material

By subscribing to the Cogence Immunology Course (“Course”) offered by Cogence, Members will have access to the Course instructional videos, and access to supportive materials related to the Course. These may change from time to time. They currently include question and answer webinars, access to an ongoing question and answer member community online question and answer forum, periodic emails of research updates and clinical pearls, and any advanced instructional modules purchased separately by the Member that may become available from time to time.

Members may display and view the Member Website content for their own individual use that is of a personal, scholarly, educational, or scientific nature. Members, however, may not download, retrieve, copy, save, display to others, or printout copies of Member Website content for any reason. Nor may Members copy, distribute, modify, transmit, reuse, re-post, or otherwise display any Member Website content for public or commercial purposes without Cogence’s express written permission. Unauthorized access, distribution, reproduction, copying, retransmission, publication, sale, exploitation (commercial or otherwise), or any other form of transfer of any portion of the Member Website is hereby expressly prohibited. Sending unsolicited email, solicitations, or advertisements to any user of the Member Website is also expressly prohibited by these Terms of Use.

Account Registration

You understand that you will need to create an account to subscribe to this Member Website, that the duration of your subscription is twelve (12) months per membership period, and that you will need to renew your subscription for a fee at the end of each subscription period. As part of the registration process, you agree to provide true, accurate, current, and complete information about yourself, including your degree type, as prompted by the Member Website’s registration form.

You understand and agree that Cogence membership is intended for persons engaged in clinical work with patients or clients, or engaged in research related to such clinical work, or for persons enrolled in degree granting programs leading to such. You affirm by joining that you meet these criteria. You agree that your eligibility for membership is at the sole discretion of Cogence.

Access Denial

Cogence, LLC reserves the right to deny access to its services to any individual, at any time, for any reason or no reason, at the sole discretion of Cogence, LLC.

Access Credentials

During the registration process, Members will be given access credentials (user name, password, etc.). All Members must keep their access credentials confidential and not disclose them to or share them with anyone else. It is your sole responsibility to (1) prevent the dissemination of or use of your access credentials by any other party; (2) promptly inform Cogence if you believe your access credentials have been compromised or if there is any other reason you need to deactivate a password or otherwise change your access credentials. To send Cogence an email, use the “Contact Us” link located on the website. You grant Cogence and all other persons or entities involved in the operation of this Member Website the right to transmit, monitor, retrieve, store, and use your information in connection with the operation of the Member Website. Cogence cannot and does not assume any responsibility or liability for any information you submit or any misuse of information transmitted to or received by Cogence. Cogence reserves the right to terminate a Member’s subscription without refunding any part of the Member’s membership fee if the Member allows other persons to access the Member Website content using the Member’s username and password.

Cancellation

You acknowledge 1) that “online access to proprietary educational materials” constitutes the product being provided, 2) that once you have been granted access, you have received the product that you purchased, and 3) that the opportunity for access is by its nature not a reversible process. Accordingly, you acknowledge that it is impossible for you to return the item or be entitled to a return of the membership fee.

You may cancel your membership at any time. Cancellation of membership results in loss of access to materials to which membership provides the privilege of access.

Warranty Limitations

All materials contained in this Member Website are provided on an “as is” basis, without warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, warranties of title or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. The use of contents of this Member Website is at the Member’s own risk.

Cogence does not warrant that the site or any of its functions will be uninterrupted or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or that any part of this site, including bulletin boards or the servers that make it available are free of viruses or other harmful components.

Limitations on Liability

Neither Cogence nor anyone else involved in creating, producing, or delivering the materials contained in this Member Website (including Cogence’s officers, directors, managers, members, shareholders, and agents) shall be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising out of the Member’s use of or inability to use the contents of this Member Website, even if Cogence or any such persons noted above are advised beforehand of the possibility of such damages.

Because some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain categories of damages, the above limitation may not apply to you. In such states, our liability and the liability of our subsidiaries, parent companies and affiliates, is limited to the fullest extent permitted by such state law.

Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold Cogence and any individuals or entities affiliated with Cogence (including officers, directors, members, managers, and employees) harmless from any and all liabilities, costs, and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, related to or in connection with (i) your use of the Member Website or application of knowledge gained by it, (ii) your violation of any term of these Terms of Use; (iii) your violation of any third party’s rights, including any right of privacy, publicity rights, or intellectual property rights; or (iv) any other circumstance in which Cogence becomes involved in legal action arising from your involvement with or connection to Cogence, electronically or in person.

Appropriate Dialogue and Interaction on all Cogence Forums:

All videos, forum discussions, clinical pearls, and all other Cogence materials and activities, including Cogence Q&A webinars, are intended solely for educational purposes, conducted in a framework that is intended to be scientific in nature. This is not a forum for inappropriately political commentary, for “alternatives to science,” or for any other such communication. All members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner in this regard. In the event that you engage in problematic communication of any sort, including the forms described here, Cogence reserves the right to cancel your membership immediately, or to issue a warning, sent to the email you have provided when you joined. In the event a warning is issued, if you violate this policy a second time, you will be removed from the Cogence community. By becoming a member of the Cogence community, you agree that what constitutes inappropriate communication is determined at the sole discretion of Cogence.

Access and Interference

You agree that you will not use any robot, spider, scraper or other automated means to access the Member Website for any purpose. You also agree not to: (i) take any action that imposes or may impose in our sole discretion an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure; (ii) interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Member Website or any activities conducted on the Member Website; or (iii) bypass any measures we may use to prevent or restrict access to the Member Website.

Links

This Member Website may contain links to other sites as a convenience to you. Cogence does not monitor and has no control over the information and privacy policies and practices of those websites. Nor is it responsible for their content, collection and use of information, or freedom from error or viruses. Cogence assumes no responsibility for any materials contained in any third-party website. Links to other websites do not necessarily constitute endorsement of products, services, or ideas, described or appearing in other resources. Members assume sole responsibility for accessing third-party websites and using the content on those sites. It is your responsibility to recognize, by paying attention to your browser’s address bar, when you are leaving Cogence’s Member Website.

Cookies

A cookie is a small piece of information that a website puts on a hard drive so that it can remember information about a user at a later date. To use this Member Website, Members must have their browsers set to accept cookies. By subscribing to this Member Website, you consent to the use of cookies. Members must be careful not to store their username and password as a cookie on any computer that is not their own since doing so would enable other users coming to that computer to access this Member Website under their name and have access to their account, which could potentially disable the Member’s own ability to access this Member Website from their own computer. Cogence reserves the right to terminate a Member’s subscription with no refund of membership payments, if the Member allows another person to access the Member’s account using the Member’s access credentials.

Additional Terms

You must provide and are solely responsible for all hardware or software necessary to access this Member Website. You assume the entire cost of and responsibility for any damage to, and all necessary maintenance, repair or correction of, that hardware and or software.

You acknowledge that you may incur charges from your wireless carrier, internet service provider, or other method of internet or data access by using this Member Website and that payment of any such charges will be your sole responsibility. You agree that your use of the Member Website will be in accordance with all requirements of your wireless carrier, internet service provider, or other method of internet or data access. We do not control network access. Your use of these networks may not be secure and may expose your personal information sent over such networks.

Governing Law

These Terms of Use constitute the entire agreement between you and Cogence with respect to your use of this Member Website and any interactions you have with Cogence, LLC and its members, managers, officers, agents, or employees, electronically or in person.

You agree that any action at law or in equity arising out of or relating to the Terms or to Cogence, LLC will be filed only in the state or federal courts in and for Orange County, North Carolina, and you hereby consent and submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of such courts for the purposes of litigating any such action, without regard to any conflict of law provisions. You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to your use of this Member Website or any other circumstance involving Cogence, its members, managers, agents, or employees, must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred. You agree to submit any dispute with Cogence exclusively to final and binding arbitration in accordance with the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association. The location of any arbitration shall be in the County of Orange County, North Carolina. You agree that any arbitrator shall not have the authority to award punitive damages. You agree to be bound by any ruling in such arbitration proceeding and that such ruling shall be enforceable in any court of competent jurisdiction. You agree that if any portion of these Terms of Use or Privacy Policy is found by an arbitrator or court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the arbitrator or court shall nevertheless give effect to the parties’ intentions expressed therein. All other provisions of these Terms of Use and Privacy Policy remain in full force and effect.

Notwithstanding this, Cogence, LLC shall still be allowed to apply for injunctive or other equitable relief to protect or enforce its intellectual property rights in any court of competent jurisdiction.

Improperly Filed Claims

All claims you bring against Cogence, LLC and its members and managers must be resolved in accordance with the Section on Governing Law of these Terms of Use (“Section”). All claims filed or brought contrary to this Section shall be considered improperly filed. Should you file a claim contrary to this Section, Cogence, LLC may recover all attorneys’ fees and costs involved in defending said filing.

Waiver

Any failure by Cogence to exercise any rights or to enforce any of the terms of the Terms of Use or Privacy Policy shall not constitute a waiver of such rights or terms.

Termination of Service

Cogence reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to terminate your subscription if you fail or refuse to abide by these Terms of Use or violate any other terms of this Agreement. You agree that we will not be liable to you or any third-party for any suspension or termination of your password, account (or any part thereof), or use of this Member Website. In the event that we suspend or terminate your access to or use of this Member Website, the Terms of Use that were in effect as of the date of your suspension or termination will survive termination and you will continue to be bound by them.

If your subscription is discontinued due to your violation of any portion of these Terms of Use or for any otherwise inappropriate conduct, then you agree not to attempt to re-register with or access the Member Website through use of a different Member name or otherwise.

Personal Information

To access certain features of our Member Website, we may ask you to provide certain demographic, information including your clinical degree, year of birth, location, or other such information. In addition, if you elect to sign-up for a particular feature of the Site, such as discussion forums, blogs, photo- and video-sharing pages or social networking features, you may also be asked to register with us on the form provided and such registration may require you to provide information, such as your name and email address. You agree to provide true, accurate, current, and complete information about yourself as prompted by the Site’s registration form. If we have reasonable grounds to suspect that such information is untrue, inaccurate, or incomplete, we have the right to suspend or terminate your account and refuse any and all current or future use of the Site (or any portion thereof).

Digital Millennium Copyright Act

In operating this Member Website, we may act as a “services provider” under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the “Act”) and offer services as an online provider of materials and links to third-party web sites. As a result, third-party materials that we do not own or control may be transmitted, stored, accessed or otherwise made available using the Member Website. If you believe any material available on this Member Website infringes a copyright, you should notify us using the notice procedure for claimed infringement under the Act (17 U.S.C. Sect. 512(c)(2)). We will respond expeditiously to remove or disable access to the material claimed to be infringing and will follow the procedures specified in the DMCA to resolve the claim between the notifying party and the alleged infringer who provided the content. Any notice of copyright infringement under the Act should be sent to Cogence, LLC using the contact information that appears on the website.

Right to Change Terms of Use

We reserve the right to change these Terms of Use or impose new conditions on the use of this Member Website at any time. We will post any changes to the Terms of Use on this Member Website and update the “Last Updated” date to reflect the date of the changes. If we make a material change to the Terms of Use, we will not enforce the material change retroactively (i.e., to use of the Member Website before the change) unless we notify you by posting a notice of the change on the Member Website or otherwise notify you of the changes. By continuing to use the Member Website after we post (or notify you of) any changes, you accept the modified Terms of Use.

Acceptance of Privacy Policy:

Accepting these Terms of Use also constitutes acceptance of the current version of the Cogence Privacy Policy, which can be viewed on our website, as an intrinsic part of this agreement.

Last Updated:

These Terms of Use are version 2.3. Last Updated: November 22, 2021.