1. Orders given to BOHEST are executed in accordance with the tariff valid at the time of execution of the order.

BOHEST may make execution of the order dependent on an advance payment. In case BOHEST has determined that an advance payment be made and the advance payment has not been received or has not been received in time by BOHEST to the full amount determined by BOHEST, BOHEST is not obliged to execute the order.

BOHEST shall execute an accepted order to the best of its knowledge and capabilities; it should, however, be able to count on the close cooperation of each principal especially regarding the latter's providing of all information available. In particular, when an application for an intellectual property right is to be filed, the principal must fully inform BOHEST of his intentions, of all measures already taken as well as of all prior filings and publications which he is aware of, referring to the same or a similar subject.

In the absence of any explicit instruction, BOHEST is neither obliged to make any prior art searches nor to determine whether there might be a potential conflict of interest with another of its principals.

2. Principals, including those acting on behalf of third parties, in particular lawyers and patent agents, explicitly acknowledge at the time of giving the order to BOHEST that they themselves are liable for the settlement of invoices related to the execution of the order given.
 
After the expiration of thirty days from the date of an outstanding invoice, the principal is in default and owes BOHEST an interest of 5%. All reasonable costs incurred in obtaining the principal's settlement of the invoice are at the expense of the principal and shall be charged to him by BOHEST.

3. BOHEST shall endeavour to execute an accepted order within short. However, in case no specific time limit has been duly agreed upon, BOHEST is not obliged to execute the order within a specific period of time.

4. Files which have been opened at BOHEST in connection with execution of an order are the property of BOHEST. They remain property of BOHEST even after a potential expiry of a mandate.

5. When documents prepared by BOHEST are submitted to the principal for consideration and comment, it is understood that the principal has to check their material and technical accuracy.
BOHEST is entitled to assume that the principal is in complete agreement with the entire contents of such documents, unless he states otherwise in due time.
 
Copyright is reserved by BOHEST for all documents prepared by BOHEST, in particular for specifications, texts and drawings.

6. As a rule, the principal shall be informed of official communications, especially official actions on the merits, and he is expected to provide instructions as to how the official communications are to be responded to.
 
The principal can make enquiries with BOHEST as to the status of the case to prevent any potential drawbacks, in case no news is received.

7. When a particular term must be observed, the principal must provide his instructions early enough so that the work necessary for attending to the matter can be carried out with due care.
 
The principal must also monitor time limits which he has been informed of by BOHEST.

If the principal's instructions are not received in good time before expiry of the term, BOHEST may apply for an extension of the term where this is possible and if, in the opinion of BOHEST, circumstances do not speak to the contrary. However, in such cases BOHEST also may, at its own discretion, take urgent measures to observe the term. In the absence of specific instructions, BOHEST is in no case obliged to take extraordinary measures to extend a term.
 
When orders or instructions are given only shortly before expiry of a term or too late, BOHEST shall not be held liable for not having executed the order nor for not having dealt with the instructions in due time.

8. Unless expressly agreed otherwise, an order placed with BOHEST shall not expire upon the death of the client or upon the client's incapacity to act.

9. BOHEST is entitled to delegate the completion of orders placed with BOHEST to its employees and to third parties. BOHEST is solely liable for the supervision of its own employees and for the diligence in selecting and instructing third parties.

10. If BOHEST has resigned from representation of a specific intellectual property right, BOHEST is not obligated to forward or process official or private communications concerning that intellectual property right. This holds, too, in case the client has instructed BOHEST to abandon an intellectual property right or to stop monitoing it.

11. Orders for filing of intellectual property rights also include the conduct of the subsequent proceedings and the corresponding representation in these proceedings.

12. BOHEST's notifications of deadlines to be observed for maintaining the intellectual property rights will be provided to the client in the form of an offer. The client is expected to verify such notifications for factual accuracy.

If the client wishes to ensure that an intellectual property right is maintained and does not receive an offer from BOHEST in good time before expiry of the deadline, it is assumed that the client will place an order for the maintenance of the intellectual property right on its own initiative.

Instructions from the client regarding the maintenance of a intellectual property right or the abandonment of an intellectural property right must be complete and precise in every respect.

Payments for the maintenenace of an intellectual property right must be made by BOHEST only upon written order and, if an advance payment has been requested, only after BOHEST has received both the requested advance payment and the payment order. In case the order and the requested advance payment are not received in full by BOHEST in a timely manner, BOHEST may conclude that the right to maintain the intellectual property right has been waived.

13. All communications from BOHEST shall be sent to the address most recently provided to BOHEST by the client. They shall then be deemed to have been duly delivered.

14. In case of any discrepancies between the German and English versions of these General Terms and Conditions, the German version shall prevail.

15. The venue for any disputes between the client and BOHEST is Basel. Swiss law shall apply to the contractual relationship.