Marico Innovation Foundation (“MIF”) is conducting an event titled Innovation for India Awards (“Awards”) which are intended to recognize and felicitate (if eligible) undiscovered innovations of India (“Innovation”), which have in the recent past positively impacted the lives of people and have at the core of their innovations: great innovation coupled with a unique insight. Awards will be governed by these standard terms and conditions (“Terms”). Each participant agrees that he/she has read and understood these Terms and by their participation in the Awards, each participant agrees to be bound by these Terms. Mere participation should not be perceived as any commitment on the part of MIF to select a participant as the winner. Nothing herein amounts to a commitment by MIF to conduct further, similar or other events in future.
An Individual, a team, and/or a legal entity, including a start-up, not-for-profit organisation, a government body or institution, corporate foundation, social organisations or any other body corporate, incorporated under the laws of India may enrol as a participant under the Awards (each a “Participant”). Each participant must select one representative to serve as the primary point of Contact (“Representative”).
MIF intends to conduct the Awards between February-March 2025 (“Tentative Dates”), however the final dates will be declared on the Website (defined hereinafter). The Participants are requested to periodically visit the Website for any updates on the Awards. Each Participant is expected to fill in and submit the Enrolment Form (complete in all material aspects) latest by 15th August 2024 (“Enrolment Closing Date”).
By participating in this Contest, Participant fully and unconditionally agrees to and accepts these Terms and the decisions of MIF, which are final and binding in all matters related to the Awards. MIF reserves the right to modify these Terms at any point in time. The Participant is expected to review the official rules periodically.
4.1 Participants are expected to fill in an application form available at a third-party website (“Website”) (hereinafter “Enrolment Form”), to enrol themselves for the Awards. The Enrolment Form shall be made available only on the Website from June-July 2024 unless extended otherwise by MIF, in its sole discretion. Only an online application made submitted by the Website after fulfilment of all the mandatory fields in the Enrolment Form will be accepted as a valid application. Any application sent by post or otherwise to the office address of MIF or via email as an attachment or body copy would not be considered as a valid application. MIF retains the right to cancel any Enrolment Form at any time. However, the Enrolment Form can also be provided via email, in the sole discretion of MIF, if there are any technical issues with the Website. An application, once submitted, shall be considered as the final submission of the application (“Submission”). Any additional amendments, comments or modifications post Submission shall not be considered. The Enrolment Form may be disabled at the sole discretion of MIF, if the expected number of entries is received, and the Enrolment shall remain on first come basis.
4.2 The Participant should note that no enrolment fee is charged by MIF for participation in the Awards and MIF has not appointed any agencies to solicit participants for the Awards. The Awards will be promoted only by MIF or its authorised partners and not via any other intermediary agency.
5.1 Each Participant is expected to provide a brief of his or her Innovation along with the strategy, invention, tools or products in the Enrolment Form. The brief should be concise and should clearly state out the manner of use and the ability of the Innovation. Any unfilled or partly filled applications may be rejected by MIF. The Innovation can be the work of an individual, a group of individuals or even a department.
5.2 Each Form will provide an option to the Participant to categorise their business under certain predefined categories in the Enrolment Form. The Participants are expected to judicially understand the requirement of each category, before listing their Innovation under a particular category. In case MIF believes that the categorization chosen by the Participant is incorrect, MIF may change it in its sole discretion.
5.3 MIF also retains a right to request more information on the Participant’s Innovation or business, in order to evaluate the Innovation and this information may be shared with the third parties including but not limited to Knowledge Partners for the Awards, the Jury or any other external expert that MIF feels would be necessary in evaluating the participant.
5.4 Each Participant while submitting the Enrolment Form represents and warrants to the MIF and its partners, that:
5.4.1 all the information provided under the Enrolment Form is true, accurate and complete and in no manner is false or contains false contact details or information, impersonating a third party.
5.4.2 the Innovation has been created by the Participant or his/her firm/company/organisation, and the Participant has the necessary consents, approvals and authorizations to present the Innovation in the Awards;
5.4.3 the Innovation does not and shall not breach the intellectual property rights, or any other legal or moral rights of any third party;
5.4.4 the Innovation does not invade privacy or other rights of any person, firm or entity, and does not defame, disparage or invade the publicity rights or privacy of any person, living or deceased, or otherwise infringe upon any person’s personal or proprietary rights
5.4.5 the Participant has not been involved or convicted under any criminal offence, breach of intellectual property or corruption charges;
5.4.6 it has the necessary authorizations and licences to run the business that the Participant is involved in.
5.4.7 the Innovation has been legally created and does not violate the laws, regulations or public policy of any state
5.4.8 the Innovation is not obscene or indecent and does not include nudity or pornography. It does not contain defamatory statements (including but not limited to words or symbols that are widely considered offensive to individuals of a certain race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or socioeconomic group). Also, it does not include threats to any person, place, business, group or world peace; and does not depict any drugs or unlawful, immoral or dangerous acts, or suggest that any individual should undertake any such act.
5.5 Incomplete information provided or failure to provide true and accurate information as stated in the Enrolment Form may automatically disqualify the participant. MIF shall have the absolute and sole discretion to determine whether any participant should be disqualified by reason of failure to abide by these Terms, bad faith, fraud or any other legitimate reason.
5.6 Each Participant agrees and acknowledges that MIF or any member of the Jury does not require the confidential information or trade secrets of a third party. Each Participant shall ensure that while demonstrating its Innovation, it shall not present the information or intellectual property rights, including the trade secrets of a third party.
5.7 A meeting and presentation session for the Selected Innovations with the Jury and/ or audience shall be conducted virtually or in person (To be decided in accordance with prevailing circumstances) between September-March 2025 [“Venue”] (tentatively). Only Participants of Selected Innovations shall be called to the Venue. The Participants are requested to keep themselves updated with the Website in order to receive the exact details of the Venue.
5.8 The selected Participants should ensure the Representative from their team should attend the Awards and be present at the Venue. The Participants’ travel and stay will be borne by MIF. Lunch /Tea/ Snacks may be served at the Venue. The Participants whose Innovations have not been selected shall not be allowed in the Awards. No late entrants shall be allowed at the Venue.
5.9 Participants are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and shall at all times follow the rules and policies of the Venue and the Awards. Any misbehaviour or deviation from the Terms shall not be entertained and MIF may, if deemed necessary take corrective measures to ensure decorum. MIF retains the right to dismiss any Participant.
Applications of only those Participants whose Innovation fulfils the below-mentioned criteria shall be scrutinised for eligibility for the Awards:
6.1 Each Participant shall only submit one entry under each category which should address current pressing needs and should create a positive impact from an environmental/economic/social lens.
6.2 The Innovation has to be beyond the prototype stage, and should be running and functional,
6.3 The Innovation should have been implemented and commercialised post the year 2009,
6.4 The Innovation should have completed proof of concept, generated sales, and exhibited results in the past ten years, commencing from the Enrolment Date, and
6.5 The Innovation must be owned and under the control of the Participant and should not have any pending claims or alleged claims of breach of intellectual property rights of any third party.
6 .6 Participants should not share any confidential information such as trade-secrets, structural data, source code etcetera relating to their Innovation.
7.1 Each Enrolment Form shall be scrutinised by MIF and its Knowledge Partners along with their contractors and may include other third parties (each a “Knowledge Partner”). MIF shall make reasonable endeavours to protect the confidentiality of each Enrolment Form. Each Enrolment Form shall be scrutinised by the Knowledge Partners, the Jury, the MIF team, and the partners of MIF and out of which a number of applications shall be selected for presentation (“Selected Innovations”) at the Venue.
7.2 Participants shall be notified of the selection of their Innovation and shall be awarded an opportunity to be virtually present at the Venue of the Awards and showcase their Innovation in front of the Jury. MIF selects certain eminent personalities at their sole discretion to form a jury that will evaluate each of the Innovations (“Jury”).
7.3 The Innovation shall have to be presented to the Jury in the time frame allotted to a Participant. The Participants are expected to be precise and brief while showcasing their Innovation. Any delay by a Participant may lead to disqualification. MIF shall not entertain rescheduling requests by any of the Participants.
7.4 The Jury may after consideration of an Innovation, provide certain good faith suggestions or amendments to an Innovation. Each such suggestion is only advisory and non-binding. The Participants are expected to use their own commercial judgement and business acumen in applying any such suggestions. MIF and the Jury shall not be liable for any damages, injury, claims or losses arising out of the implementation of any of these suggestions.
7.5 The Jury will scrutinise and evaluate each application on the basis of Uniqueness, Usability, Potential, Impact, Potential to further Scale Up and Practicality of the Innovation, and such other parameter as the Jury in its sole discretion may deem fit and decide a winner (“Winner”). The Jury’s decisions on all matters pertaining to judging, administering and/or interpreting the terms and conditions of the Awards are final. The Jury retains the sole right to provide or not to provide any Awards.
7.6 No objections or complaints to the judgement of the Jury shall be entertained. The Participants expressly waive their right to contest any decisions or the Jury. MIF or the Jury or the Participants shall not engage or correspond with any Participant should there be any disputes or clarifications required by any Participants.
7.7 The person named on the Enrolment Form shall be deemed as the point of contact for the Participant, by MIF. Any change in the details of the contact person of the Participant should be promptly notified to MIF in writing at mif@marico.com. Failure to do so shall lead to the entry being disqualified. The Participant also agrees that MIF shall have a right to communicate with the Participants via messages, emails or other forms on their respective contact numbers and email ids. The Participant specifically waives off the “do not disturb” condition for MIF and its partners.
All intellectual property rights vested in the Innovation submitted belongs to the Participant. MIF along with its Knowledge Partners and the Jury will be judging the Awards purely based on the Innovation being presented by the Participant. MIF will not attempt to verify the rightful owner of any of the intellectual property rights vested in the Innovation at any point in time either during or post completion of the event. MIF will assume that the Participant is either the rightful owner of the entry or has procured the necessary permissions. In case of any infringement claim against an entry, MIF will not bear any responsibility and the Participant would be bound to resolve the infringement claim..
9.1 The Participant agrees and acknowledges that MIF retains a right to receive any grants, sponsorship or other donations from various corporates or other entities. The names and details of such entities may be used in any and all media coverage and communications in relation to the Awards.
9.2 MIF reserves the right to change any Process Partner, Knowledge Partner, Jury member etc, at its discretion and without any prior notice or providing any reason for the same.
9.3 MIF reserves the right to disqualify any Participant without assigning any reason to the Participant if the Participant in the reasonable belief of MIF is not fit for the Awards, or is found involved in acts which are in violation of the rules or principles of the Awards or if MIF have already received desired number of applications, or if the Participant appears to be legally or otherwise problematic e.g. the Innovation is expected to be infringing the copyright or other intellectual property or privacy rights of others, or the Participants are using defamatory language or depictions etc. The rejection may also happen at any time during the process or even post Awards. In the event of rejection post Awards, the Participant shall return the awards to MIF. MIF retains a right to make any media publications during or post the Awards citing any Participants and their business. The Participant expressly waives their right to make any claims or any nature against such publications.
9.4 Before or following the participation and/ or selection in the Awards, the Participants shall not in any manner publicise or make any reference to the Participants enrolment, selections or benefits (if any) received under the Awards or use the name of MIF or the Awards for publicity of the Participant or his/her organisation. If the Participant intends to make any publication or statements, such publication shall be made only after review and the receipt of a written consent from MIF. MIF retains a right to deny or review any statement or publications.
9.5 The Participant understands, agrees and consents to MIF that MIF a. May delay, reschedule or cancel the Awards; b. May disqualify at any time during or post the Awards, any participant for any reason whatsoever c. May store and use any the personally identifiable information and the data provided by the Participant under the form; and use the same for communicating or sending periodic updates to the Participants of various Awards or initiatives of MIF; d. May create a video, take photo or audio, or in any manner do the media coverage of the event and use the same coverage in perpetuity in any manner whatsoever and at any forum, including TV, radio, micro- blogging (Youtube, Twitter, Facebook etc) e. Retains the copyright and all other intellectual property rights in the media coverage of the Awards and all content created under the Awards; and post-Awards citing any Innovators and their business. The Innovator expressly assigns all intellectual properties in that content to MIF. f. May use, transfer, or assign any images, videos or audios, or other media coverages created for the purpose of marketing or advertising in relation to MIF or its affiliates Awards, (examples, include use in articles in newspapers / magazines / websites / social media posts / blogs / the showcase section of our website; printed materials at the Awards ceremonies; prints at exhibitions; projected and on-screen visuals at our ceremonies; videos and photos displaying winners; case studies, books and presentations and like).
9.6 MIF shall in no event shall be responsible or liable for: a. any damage, loss, injury or disappointment suffered by the Participant b. any indirect damages, loss or opportunity, loss of profit or any loss or damage that is not reasonably foreseeable or occurs under the Awards; c. any injury or damage to a Participant’s or any other person’s computer systems relating to their participation in the Awards; or d. receipt or application of any advice/suggestion/amendment to Innovation received under the Awards.
9.7 The Participant hereby agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmless, MIF, the Jury and each of the Knowledge Partners, sponsors, employees, agents or other representatives of MIF against any loss, claim, demands, costs, damages, judgments, expenses or liability arising out of or in connection with any or all claims whether or not groundless, that may be brought against the MIF, the Jury or the partners and all persons mentioned above by any third party in connection with the Awards. The Participants agrees to defend at its own cost or up-front pay MIF the cost of such defence, on request of MIF.
9.8 MIF’s total liability under these Awards arising or attributable to the Participant or any third party claims, including indemnity obligations shall not be more than five thousand Indian rupees.
9.9 The benefits provided under these Awards are personal to the Participants and should not be assigned to any third party.
9.10 The Participants acknowledge that as a part of the Awards, the Participant may receive certain proprietary or confidential information of MIF, the Jury, the Knowledge Partners or other Participant. The Participant agrees to keep such information confidential during the Awards and thereafter and not to use such Information for any commercial benefit or in a manner detrimental to other participants, MIF, the Jury, the knowledge partners or MIF.
9.11 Any term or condition mentioned herein, including but not restricted to the timelines, may be cancelled, modified, extended or withdrawn by MIF in its sole and absolute discretion and without assigning any reason.
9.12 Nothing herein shall be construed as an investment or a promise for investment, consultancy or other benefits or creating any relation between the Participants and MIF or the Jury.
9.13 GOVERNING LAW: Participant agrees that any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with the Awards shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Mumbai, India. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Terms or the rights and obligations of the Participant and Sponsor in connection with any Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of India, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules, which would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the laws of India.
9.14 Nothing herein shall be construed as a waiver by MIF or any of its rights available under the applicable law, contract or equity.
The Participant acknowledges and agrees that he/she has received independent legal advice and has read through and understands each of the above mentioned terms and conditions. By signing or agreeing below, the Participant provides its irrevocable consent and agreement to be legally bound by these terms and conditions and all rules, regulations and principles of the Awards.
The signature below, an acceptance given on an email or website shall also be considered as consent of the Participant to be part of the Awards and be legally bound by these terms.
