ConocoPhillips Energy Prize Contest - Official Rules
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.
- Eligibility
- How to Enter
- Submission Guidelines
- Judging
- Intellectual Property
- Conditions of Participation
- Publicity
- Contest Modification
- ConocoPhillips and University’s Liability
- Governing Law
- Winning Concept
- Use of Information
- Sponsor
1. Eligibility
The ConocoPhillips Energy Prize Contest (the “Contest”) is open to legal residents of the 50 United States and District of Columbia who are at least 18 years of age or older at the time of entry. Board members, officers, directors, employees, and students (and their immediate families – defined as biological or adoptive parents, siblings, children and spouse) of ConocoPhillips, or its designated University representative (“University”), and Contest Judges (as defined in Section 4 below), or their respective subsidiaries, affiliates, retailers or wholesalers (including the retailers and wholesalers themselves), and public relations, advertising or promotion agencies are not eligible to enter the Contest. Employees of contract companies who perform, or have performed, work for ConocoPhillips are not ineligible; however, the Submissions (see Section 2 below) of these contract employees may not be associated with such work performed for ConocoPhillips.
Entries may be submitted by an individual, or by a team of no more than five people, who own, or have in their possession, all necessary legal rights and title to all intellectual property embodied or used to develop the Concept (as defined in Section 2 below) submitted. All individual members of the team must meet the eligibility requirements set forth above. No Submission (see Section 2 below) may be made by, on behalf of or in the name of any company or organization, and must be made on behalf of individuals or team members only. The Contest is void where prohibited by law, and is subject to all U.S. federal, state and local laws and regulations.
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2. How to Enter
To enter, each individual entrant or team of entrants (collectively, “Entrant”) must submit a comprehensive proposal (no more than 2,000 words) for a Concept, which for purposes of this Contest is defined as follows: a technology, process or method that identifies a new alternative and/or renewable energy source or a new way to develop an alternative and/or renewable energy source; determines a way to use any type of energy source more efficiently; and/or combats climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The proposal (the “Submission”) can include the following elements: up to five pieces of supporting information, such as original diagrams or color pictures (no larger than 8” x 10” if sending hard copy format or 1MB if sending digital images, which should be in a .jpeg format); video of no more than five minutes in length on a CD-ROM (saved as an .mpg, .avi or .mov file) or ½ -inch, VHS-formatted cassette queued to the starting point; or others, with the proposal.
Each Entrant (and each individual team member if team of Entrants) must register for the Contest by providing their name, address, e-mail address (if applicable), and telephone number (“Registration Information”) with their Submission.
The Submission may not include any material or information other than as set forth in these Official Rules and any Submissions that do not comply with the format and content requirements set forth in these Official Rules may be disqualified by ConocoPhillips in its sole discretion.
The Submission can be entered into the Contest via the Internet or by mail. To enter via the Internet, go to www.conocophillips.com/energyprize (the “Contest Site”) and follow the online instructions for Submissions. Online entrants will be required to provide all Registration Information on an online form. To enter by mail, send your Submission and Registration Information to ConocoPhillips Energy Prize Contest Entries, P.O. Box 9249, Medford, NY 11763-9249. Please note that CD-ROMs and video cassettes can be sent only via mail and Entrants are responsible for properly protecting CD-ROM, video cassette, and/or photographs for mailing and labeling each piece of information with his/her/their name for identification purposes. All Submission materials become the property of ConocoPhillips and will not be returned.
Submissions can be submitted online between 12:00 a.m. CST on March 31, 2008, to 12:00 p.m. CST on May 30, 2008. Mailed Submissions must be postmarked by May 30, 2008, and received by June 4, 2008. Any Submissions not received within the deadlines stated will not be considered. Proof of submission does not constitute proof of receipt. No responsibility is assumed for lost, late or misdirected mail. ConocoPhillips reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to move, change or extend the Submission deadlines if an insufficient number of Submissions that satisfy the Judging Criteria (as defined in Section 4 below) are received by the Contest deadline. In such event, notification will be posted on the Contest Site.
Limit five (5) Submissions per Entrant. If an individual Entrant is also part of a team, all Submissions by such individual whether as an individual or as part of a team will count towards the five Submission limit for that individual.
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3. Submission Guidelines
All Submissions must be the original work of the Entrant or team of Entrants and may not have been previously published, released or distributed in any form, or won any award.
All Submissions must be written in English and any audio files must be in English.
Each Submission must not contain any confidential or proprietary information of any person or entity, or material that infringes the copyrights, trademarks, rights of privacy/publicity, trade secrets or other intellectual property rights of any person or entity. If the Submission contains any personally identifiable information or features any individual, the Entrant shall be required to provide written consent to ConocoPhillips from each such individual in a form acceptable to ConocoPhillips.
Each Submission must not violate the terms of any Entrant’s employment, work for hire, or any other agreement.
All Submissions are planned to be treated as confidential by the collecting entity, ConocoPhillips and Judges, through the time of the announcement of the Concepts chosen to move to Phase II; provided that the collecting entity, ConocoPhillips and Judges do not undertake any obligation of confidentiality with respect to information which they had prior to receipt of the Submission, or which was publicly available, or was independently developed by any of them without reference to the Submission.
Entrants may be required to provide further information to assist the Judges in assessing the Concept, and each Entrant agrees to fully cooperate with the Judges. Failure to provide any additional information requested by the Judges may result in disqualification.
Each Submission must not contain or reference any names, products or services of any company or entity or any third-party trademarks, logos, trade dress or promotion of any brand, product or service.
Each Submission must be suitable for display and publication and must not contain any material that is lewd, obscene, pornographic or profane, must not contain any defamatory, disparaging, libelous or slanderous statement about any company or person, must not include threats to any person, place, business group, or world peace, and must not include acts of violence and must not in any other way violate applicable laws, regulations or terms of use.
ConocoPhillips reserves the right in its sole and absolute discretion to disqualify any Submission at any time that does not meet these Official Rules of the Contest.
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4. Judging
All Submissions will be judged in two phases by a panel of qualified judges who are selected by ConocoPhillips (the “Judges”):
Phase I
Phase I Submissions will be judged according to the following equally weighted criteria on a sliding scale of 1-10, with one representing the lowest score and 10 the highest: creativity (i.e., how novel is the Concept), scalability (i.e., can the Concept have a large-scale impact), sustainability (i.e. can the Concept be used over time without severely depleting resources), and commercial viability (i.e., is the Concept legal?) (the “Judging Criteria”). In the event of a tie, the tied Submissions will be re-evaluated by the judging panel.
The Judges will have two months after the Phase I submission timeframe has closed to select up to five Concepts to move on to Phase II (the “Finalists”). Finalists selected to move to Phase II, and Entrants not chosen to move to Phase II, will be notified via e-mail, phone or mail.
The Judges shall not be obliged to select any, or any minimum number of Submissions as Finalists, if, in the Judges’ absolute discretion, none of the Submissions meet the judging criteria or less than five Submissions are received for the Contest.
All Finalists shall, as a condition of advancing to Phase II, be required to sign and return an Affidavit of Eligibility, a Liability Release, and a Publicity Release (where lawful). Finalists may also be required to submit a written release from any individuals appearing in the Submission. In the event that any Finalist is under the age of majority in his/her state of residence, the required documentation must be signed by the Finalist’s parent/legal guardian. Failure to return the required documentation within seven (7) days following the date of first attempted notification may result in disqualification and selection of an alternate Finalist.
Phase II
For Phase II, the invited Finalists will be required to attend and present their Concepts during a two-day event in Houston, Texas, in October 2008 (the “Event”). If an invited Finalist elects not to attend the Event and notifies ConocoPhillips in writing 30 days prior to the Event, an alternate Finalist may be selected. Finalists who do not attend the Event will be disqualified. ConocoPhillips reserves the right to move, change or extend the Event dates by informing the Finalists via e-mail, phone or mail.
ConocoPhillips will notify the Finalists of the exact Event date and location when they are invited to participate in Phase II, and will pay for the following travel costs for each Finalist : three nights double occupancy hotel accommodations at a hotel near the Event location, a coach-class round-trip plane ticket to/from an airport closest to the Finalist’s home, and a $300 per diem for meals and miscellaneous expenses. All other expenses not specified herein will be the Finalist’s responsibility. ConocoPhillips will not pay for Event travel costs for anyone other than the Finalists. If the Finalist is comprised of a team, ConocoPhillips will pay the above Event travel costs for up to five (5) individuals.
On the first day, each of the Finalists will have up to 30 minutes to present their Concept to the Judges and up to 30 minutes to answer questions from the Judges. In the case of a team being selected as a Finalist, it is up to the team to determine if all, or some, of the team members should be in attendance at the Event. Those team members in attendance will be solely responsible for effectively communicating the Concept.
On the second day, the Judges reserve the right to ask the Finalists additional questions before selecting the Prize winner, first runner-up, and second runner-up.
Finalists will be judged based on the same equally weighted Judging Criteria defined above. Concepts will be judged on a sliding scale of 1-10, with one representing the lowest score and 10 the highest.
In the event of a tie, an additional “tie-breaking” judge, also selected by and under the supervision of ConocoPhillips, who will abstain from assisting any Finalists, will determine the winner based on the stated criteria.
The Finalists will each receive a cash award of $25,000. The winner, first runner-up and second runner-up will receive additional cash awards as follows: the winner will receive an additional $100,000 (for a total of $125,000), the first runner-up will receive an additional $50,000 (for a total of $75,000), and the second runner-up will receive an additional $25,000 (for a total of $50,000). (the “Prize Winners”). In the event that any Finalist or Prize Winner is a team, the prize will be divided equally among and awarded separately to each member of the team.
The Judges reserve the right to award fewer cash awards, or no cash awards, if in their sole and absolute discretion, the presented Concepts are insufficiently qualified. There is no alternative to the cash award, except at the discretion of ConocoPhillips. Provided all completed forms are timely received (including a W-9 form) from the Finalists and Prize Winners, the cash awards will be given to the Finalists and Prize Winners within thirty (30) business days after the two-day Event is complete.
The Finalists and Prize Winners are strongly encouraged to use the cash awards for the furtherance of the Concepts. Taxes on prizes are the sole responsibility of the Finalists and Prize Winners. Any Finalist not present to deliver the Concept presentation and answer Judges’ questions will be disqualified from the Contest. Prize Winners will be notified in person, and must be present to win.
The decision of the Judges in each of the phases will be final and binding. Neither ConocoPhillips nor the Judges will enter into any correspondence with any Entrant.
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5. Intellectual Property
We strongly suggest, if you have not already done so, that you take such steps as appear appropriate to fully protect your Concept prior to any submission to us, which could include applying for patent, design or other registered intellectual property right protection or otherwise.
ConocoPhillips will provide reasonable assistance to the Finalists during the estimated six-week period between Phase I and Phase II, to assist, if required in taking appropriate steps to further protect the Finalist’s intellectual property rights, provided, however, that the Finalists shall be responsible for all costs and expenses associated with securing such protection, including without limitation any and all filing and registration fees and ConocoPhillips’ costs incurred in connection with such assistance, if any. In addition, in the event that ConocoPhillips provides such assistance, Finalists will provide reasonable assistance to ConocoPhillips with its efforts to secure intellectual property rights; and Finalist agrees to execute, and/or deliver, any additional documentation that ConocoPhillips may deem necessary or desirable in the course of such assistance.
Entrants, Finalists and Prize Winners will retain ownership of the intellectual property rights for the Concepts and the Submissions, however, ConocoPhillips may discuss with the Entrants, Finalists and Prize Winners the possibility of exploiting the Concept(s) for corporate or commercial purposes.
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6. Conditions of Participation
By participating in the Contest, each Entrant :
- Agrees to be bound by the Official Rules of the Contest and by the decisions of the Judges which are final and binding.
- Warrants and represents that his/her Submission is original and has been legally created, does not infringe upon the intellectual property, privacy or publicity right or any other legal or moral right of any person or entity, or violate any laws, rules or regulations.
- Warrants that he/she owns all legal rights and permissions necessary to enter the Submission in the Contest and to exploit or grant to ConocoPhillips the right to exploit the Concept for any commercial or other purposes anywhere in the world.
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Entrants hereby grant to ConocoPhillips the right to, use, post and publish Concept details for all Submissions and the right to use, post and publish the Finalist Concepts in whole or in part on the ConocoPhillips web site and in other promotional, advertising and publicity material they consider appropriate, including (without limitation) for the purpose of promoting ConocoPhillips without additional compensation.
As a condition of participation, Entrants agree, that if selected as a Finalist, they will be willing and available to participate in publicity and promotional activities and events and/or press conferences held within a reasonable timeframe after Phase II is complete. Entrants further grant to ConocoPhillips the right to use their first and last names, photographs, voice(s), city and state of residence(s), Concept details and other relevant information in trade, public relations, advertising and promotional activities in any media now and hereafter without further compensation, permission or notification.
No Entrant can take part (or agree to take part) in any media interviews or events, or issue any press releases or other announcements regarding participation in the Contest without the prior agreement of ConocoPhillips. No Entrant shall refer to the Contest or permit it to be referred to by any third party for the purpose of promoting or publicizing any company or business other than ConocoPhillips. Failure to comply with this requirement may result in disqualification.
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8. Contest Modification
By entering the Contest, Entrants agree to waive any right to claim any ambiguity or error in these Rules, or the Contest itself, and agree to be bound by these Rules and by all decisions of Sponsor, which are binding and final. Failure to comply with these Rules may result in disqualification from this Contest. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify, cancel, terminate or suspend the Contest and/or these Rules without advance notice for any reason including, without limitation, if (i) viruses, bugs, unauthorized human intervention, fraud, technical failure or other causes which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of the Contest; or (ii) earthquake, flood, fire, storm or other natural disaster, act of God, labor controversy or threat thereof, civil disturbance or commotion, disruption of the public markets, war or armed conflict (whether or not officially declared). Any changes to the Rules will be posted on the rules page of the Contest Site and an e-mail will be sent to the e-mail address used to register for the Contest.
Sponsor and its representatives reserve the right to make changes to any elements of this Contest, or these Official Rules at any time with or without notice. Sponsor further reserves the right to postpone, amend or modify the Contest for any reason, in the sole discretion of Sponsor.
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Each Entrant hereby releases and agrees to indemnify ConocoPhillips, the representative University, and the Judges, their respective agents, representatives, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies, and the board members, officers, directors, employees and students of each, (collectively, the “Releasees”) against any and all loss, damages or liability which the Entrant might incur by reason of the Entrant’s Submission or participation in the Contest, including without limitation, personal injury or death to Entrant, or any other person or damage to personal or real property, due in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, to Entrant’s participation in the Contest, or the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of the cash awards or ConocoPhillips or their designees’ use of any Concept submitted in this Contest.
Released Parties accept no liability or responsibility for (a) lost, stolen or misused Concepts, whether such entries are taken by force, misappropriated by another user (such as a member of the participant’s household); (b) computer, technical or transmission errors or problems; (c) lost, late, incomplete, damaged, stolen, misdirected, illegible, inaccurate, or postage-due entries or mail (proof of mailing is not proof of delivery); (d) supporting information that is lost, damaged, destroyed or cannot be read, viewed or played; or incorrect or inaccurate entry information; (e) any other technical or human or other problems or errors that may occur in connection with this program; (f) or damage caused by computer virus or otherwise resulting to any computer from Entrant’s access or participation with the Contest, whether human, mechanical or electronic. CONOCOPHILLIPS RESERVES THE RIGHT IN ITS SOLE AND UNFETTERED DISCRETION TO DISQUALIFY ANY PERSON WHO TAMPERS WITH OR IS SUSPECTED OF TAMPERING WITH THE SUBMISSION PROCESS. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY ANY PERSON TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE THE OPERATION OF THE WEB SITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, CONOCOPHILLIPS RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES AND/OR OTHER RELIEF FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW.
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Except where prohibited by law, all issues concerning the construction, validity and enforcement of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of the Entrant and Sponsor, shall be construed by the laws of the state of Texas, without regard to conflicts of law. See the Alternative Dispute Resolution to learn more.
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To obtain a description of the winning entry, visit www.conocophillips.com/energyprize after November 1, 2008, or send a stamped, self-addressed envelope for receipt by December 5, 2008, to: ConocoPhillips Energy Prize Contest Winners List Requests, P.O. Box 9254, Medford, NY 9254.
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By participating in the Contest, Entrants agree that any personal information provided may be used in accordance with ConocoPhillips’ Privacy Statement which can be found at www.conocophillips.com/legal_statement.htm.
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ConocoPhillips, 600 N. Dairy Ashford, Houston, TX 77079
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