Startup Submission & Idea Disclosure Policy

1. Purpose of This Policy

CIBA Startups receives startup-related materials through its website, forms, email, events, competitions, pitch sessions, community programs, networking activities, and related channels.

This Startup Submission & Idea Disclosure Policy explains how CIBA Startups handles startup applications, pitch decks, presentations, videos, written materials, ideas, concepts, logos, graphics, business models, supporting documents, and other materials submitted to or shared with CIBA Startups.

This Policy is intended to make clear that submissions to CIBA Startups are not confidential, private, or restricted unless CIBA Startups expressly agrees otherwise in a separate written agreement signed by an authorized representative. Any person submitting materials to CIBA Startups should read this Policy carefully before doing so.

2. Scope of This Policy

This Policy applies to all materials, content, information, and communications submitted to, uploaded to, emailed to, shared with, or otherwise provided to CIBA Startups through any channel operated by, associated with, or used in connection with CIBA Startups, including without limitation the website, online forms, applications, event forms, registration forms, pitch events, competitions, email communications, community channels, networking channels, and related submission or intake processes.

3. Materials Covered

This Policy applies broadly to all types of submission-related materials, including without limitation startup ideas, business models, concepts, pitch decks, presentations, written summaries, founder profiles, application responses, videos, recordings, graphics, logos, branding materials, attachments, supporting documents, descriptions, proposals, communications, and any other information or materials submitted in connection with a startup, project, concept, initiative, opportunity, or related activity.

4. No Confidentiality; No Private Treatment

All submissions to CIBA Startups are made on a non-confidential, non-private, and unrestricted basis.

CIBA Startups does not treat any submission as confidential, secret, proprietary, private, restricted, or otherwise protected merely because it is submitted, uploaded, emailed, presented, discussed, or otherwise shared with CIBA Startups.

Unless CIBA Startups expressly agrees otherwise in a separate written agreement signed by an authorized representative, any person submitting materials should assume that such materials may be accessed, reviewed, discussed, used, copied, stored, disclosed, shared, distributed, published, archived, or otherwise handled by CIBA Startups and others in accordance with this Policy.

Submitting materials to CIBA Startups does not create any duty of confidentiality, non-disclosure obligation, restricted-access obligation, or similar duty of care with respect to the submission.

5. Do Not Submit Sensitive, Secret, or Restricted Information

Persons submitting materials should not submit trade secrets, source code, confidential business information, customer lists, non-public financial records, patent-sensitive technical details, security credentials, or any other private, secret, sensitive, commercially restricted, or protected information they do not want disclosed, shared, stored, used, discussed, or otherwise handled by CIBA Startups or others.

If any person nevertheless submits such information, that person does so voluntarily and entirely at their own risk. Responsibility for deciding what to submit remains solely with the submitter. CIBA Startups does not accept responsibility for preserving the secrecy, confidentiality, exclusivity, or restricted status of any information submitted in violation of this warning.

6. No Promise of Idea Protection

Submitting materials to CIBA Startups does not create any obligation on the part of CIBA Startups to protect, preserve, monitor, enforce, or commercially safeguard any idea, concept, business model, strategy, innovation, content, or other submission.

Submission alone does not create any non-disclosure agreement, confidential relationship, fiduciary relationship, agency relationship, partnership, joint venture, investment relationship, special review relationship, or other special legal duty between the submitter and CIBA Startups.

Any person submitting materials is solely responsible for deciding whether, when, and how to protect their own intellectual property, confidential information, proprietary information, business interests, and legal rights before submission.

7. Similar Ideas; Independent Development

CIBA Startups may receive, review, discuss, promote, organize around, or otherwise engage with submissions from multiple parties covering similar or overlapping industries, concepts, markets, products, services, technologies, strategies, themes, or business models.

A person submitting materials acknowledges and agrees that similar or identical ideas, concepts, business models, formats, or activities may already exist, may later be submitted by others, or may be independently developed, discussed, organized, supported, or pursued by CIBA Startups or third parties.

Similarity between a submission and any other submission, discussion, event, program, activity, opportunity, initiative, or third-party project does not by itself create any inference of copying, misuse, bad faith, wrongful conduct, or legal liability.

8. Ownership of Submitted Materials

As between the submitter and CIBA Startups, the submitter retains whatever ownership rights the submitter may have in the materials submitted, subject to the rights, permissions, and licenses granted under this Policy.

CIBA Startups does not, by this Policy alone, claim ownership of a submitter's materials. However, by submitting materials, the submitter grants CIBA Startups the broad rights described below.

9. License Granted to CIBA Startups

By submitting any materials to CIBA Startups, the submitter grants CIBA Startups a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, fully paid, transferable, sublicensable, perpetual, and irrevocable right and license to receive, access, host, store, reproduce, copy, review, analyze, evaluate, use, adapt, modify, excerpt, summarize, translate, publish, display, distribute, transmit, disclose, share, reference, archive, retain, index, reformat, and otherwise process such materials, in whole or in part, in any format, medium, or technology now known or later developed, for any lawful purpose related to CIBA Startups, its platform, its operations, its development, its administration, its programs, its events, its activities, its outreach, its communications, its educational initiatives, its promotional efforts, its community functions, its collaborations, its recordkeeping, or any related present or future activity.

This license includes the right for CIBA Startups to exercise such rights directly or indirectly through or with committees, judges, mentors, advisors, reviewers, sponsors, partners, investors, service providers, contractors, consultants, collaborators, event personnel, program participants, community members, affiliated persons, and any other third parties, in each case at CIBA Startups' sole discretion, including persons or entities located inside or outside the United States.

10. Sharing and Disclosure of Submissions

CIBA Startups may share, disclose, distribute, transmit, make available, provide access to, publish, or otherwise provide submitted materials to any person or entity, including internal teams and external third parties, at CIBA Startups' sole discretion.

This may include, without limitation, committees, judges, mentors, advisors, reviewers, sponsors, partners, investors, service providers, contractors, consultants, collaborators, event participants, community members, affiliated persons, and any other individuals or organizations, whether located domestically or internationally.

Once materials are submitted, no separate notice, approval, confirmation, or additional consent is required for CIBA Startups to use, share, disclose, or otherwise handle them as permitted under this Policy.

11. Uses Are Not Limited to Evaluation

Submitted materials may be used for more than evaluation alone. Without limiting the breadth of the license granted above, materials may be used for screening, review, discussion, internal circulation, selection processes, shortlisting, community visibility, introductions, event preparation, event programming, educational programming, communications, publicity, promotion, outreach, collaboration, relationship-building, platform development, archiving, recordkeeping, administrative purposes, operational planning, and any other related or incidental purpose determined by CIBA Startups to be appropriate.

No submitter should assume that materials will be used only in a limited review, judging, or selection context.

12. Publicity, Promotion, and Visibility

CIBA Startups may use startup names, founder names, team names, logos, brand elements, summaries, excerpts, visuals, presentation materials, recordings, graphics, descriptions, and other submitted content in connection with platform content, event materials, announcements, features, showcases, directories, promotional materials, educational materials, marketing communications, community visibility, and other public or non-public uses, in each case at CIBA Startups' sole discretion.

CIBA Startups is not obligated to publish, display, feature, announce, promote, or otherwise use any submission, and may determine how, where, when, whether, and to what extent any submission or portion of a submission is referenced or used.

13. Submitter Representations and Warranties

By submitting materials, the submitter represents, warrants, acknowledges, and agrees that:

• The submitter has the full right, authority, and permission to submit the materials;
• The submitter has the right to grant the licenses and permissions described in this Policy;
• The submission does not knowingly infringe, misappropriate, or otherwise violate the intellectual property, contractual, privacy, publicity, confidentiality, or other rights of any third party;
• The submitter has obtained any permissions, approvals, and authorizations necessary from co-founders, team members, collaborators, rights holders, or other relevant persons;
• The information provided is accurate to the best of the submitter's knowledge and is not knowingly false, misleading, fraudulent, or deceptive; and
• The submitter has read, understood, and accepted this Policy.

14. No Obligation to Review, Accept, Respond, Return, or Remove

CIBA Startups has no obligation to review any submission, respond to any submission, provide comments or feedback, select any startup, include any person in any program or event, return any submitted materials, maintain access to submitted materials, preserve any submission, or remove materials upon request.

CIBA Startups may reject, disregard, decline to process, stop reviewing, stop displaying, stop using, remove, restrict, or ignore any submission at any time, for any reason, or for no stated reason.

15. Retention, Storage, Archiving, and Records

CIBA Startups may retain, store, archive, back up, index, organize, catalog, reference, or otherwise maintain submissions and related records for operational, administrative, historical, legal, evidentiary, compliance, security, dispute-resolution, programmatic, educational, promotional, analytical, or other legitimate purposes.

This retention right applies whether or not a submission is reviewed, accepted, rejected, shortlisted, publicized, used, or otherwise acted upon.

16. Withdrawal and Deletion Requests

A submitter may contact CIBA Startups to request withdrawal or deletion of submitted materials. However, CIBA Startups is not obligated to honor any such request and may evaluate any such request in its sole discretion.

Even where CIBA Startups considers, limits, removes, or otherwise acts on a withdrawal or deletion request, CIBA Startups may retain copies already stored, archived, backed up, indexed, shared, disclosed, distributed, referenced, or otherwise maintained, including where retention is reasonably necessary or appropriate for operational, administrative, legal, compliance, security, historical, evidentiary, recordkeeping, or dispute-resolution purposes.

Withdrawal or deletion of a submission from one location, one channel, one use, or one system does not guarantee complete deletion from all systems, records, archives, backups, prior disclosures, third-party holdings, or downstream uses.

17. Rejected, Unused, or Unselected Submissions

Rejected, unused, inactive, or unselected submissions may still be retained, stored, archived, referenced, discussed, analyzed, or otherwise handled under this Policy.

Rejection, non-selection, inactivity, or non-use does not create any obligation to delete, return, or stop retaining submitted materials.

18. Unsolicited Submissions

Any ideas, proposals, concepts, materials, communications, or other content sent to CIBA Startups outside an official, requested, or designated submission process are also treated as non-confidential, non-private, and non-proprietary unless CIBA Startups expressly agrees otherwise in a separate written agreement signed by an authorized representative.

CIBA Startups is under no obligation to review, respond to, compensate for, return, acknowledge, or protect unsolicited submissions.

19. No Restriction on Parallel Activities or Similar Work

Nothing in this Policy restricts CIBA Startups or others from exploring, discussing, developing, organizing, supporting, promoting, funding, partnering on, investing in, or otherwise working with ideas, startups, events, programs, initiatives, concepts, or opportunities that are similar or related to any submitted materials.

A submitter understands and agrees that CIBA Startups may already be involved in, or may later become involved in, activities that overlap with the subject matter of a submission, and that such overlap alone does not create any duty, liability, compensation right, credit entitlement, restriction, exclusivity, or claim of misuse.

20. No Reliance; Submitter Responsibility

Each submitter is solely responsible for deciding whether to submit materials to CIBA Startups and for determining what information to disclose.

If a submitter believes that certain information requires confidentiality, staged disclosure, restricted review, legal protection, patent filing, trademark protection, contractual safeguards, or other protections, the submitter is solely responsible for addressing those matters independently before submission.

No person should rely on submission to CIBA Startups as a substitute for legal protection, confidentiality arrangements, or other protective measures.

Any label, legend, disclaimer, or notation placed on submitted materials by a submitter, including "confidential," "private," "proprietary," or similar language, does not create any confidentiality obligation and does not override this Policy.

21. Complaints Regarding Rights, Identity, Branding, or Misrepresentation

If any person believes that a submission or related content improperly uses their name, logo, brand, likeness, identity, copyrighted material, or other protected content, or falsely implies affiliation, sponsorship, endorsement, authorship, authorship approval, authorization, or association, they may contact CIBA Startups using the contact information listed below.

CIBA Startups may review such complaints in its sole discretion and may request supporting information before taking any action. CIBA Startups reserves the right, but not the obligation, to remove, restrict, ignore, retain, investigate, request clarification regarding, or otherwise handle challenged materials in the manner it considers appropriate.

22. No Duty to Monitor or Investigate

CIBA Startups has no duty to monitor submissions for originality, ownership, infringement, accuracy, legality, truthfulness, rights clearance, or compliance, and no duty to investigate disputes between submitters, founders, contributors, or third parties unless it chooses to do so.

Any review, inquiry, complaint handling, or action taken by CIBA Startups does not create an ongoing obligation to continue such review or take similar action in other situations.

CIBA Startups may also refuse, restrict, remove, decline to process, or disregard submissions that it determines, in its sole discretion, are inappropriate, objectionable, inconsistent with the Platform's purpose, or otherwise unsuitable for the Platform, its programs, its events, or its community.

23. No Compensation, Credit, or Business Opportunity

Submission of materials to CIBA Startups does not entitle any person to payment, compensation, reimbursement, credit, attribution, partnership, investment, business opportunity, selection, publication, promotion, exposure, or any other benefit unless CIBA Startups expressly agrees otherwise in a separate written agreement signed by an authorized representative.

24. Relationship to Other Policies and Agreements

This Policy should be read together with CIBA Startups' Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, DMCA & Copyright Complaint Policy, event terms, participation terms, media-related terms, and any submission-specific, program-specific, application-specific, or event-specific rules that may apply.

If there is a conflict between this Policy and a separate written agreement signed by an authorized representative of CIBA Startups, that separate written agreement will control only to the extent of the specific conflict.

25. Right to Refuse, Restrict, Suspend, or Stop Engagement

CIBA Startups reserves the right, at any time and in its sole discretion, to refuse, restrict, suspend, discontinue, or terminate review of any submission, engagement with any submitter, access to any submission process, participation in any related activity, or use of any submitted materials, with or without notice, and with or without stating a reason.

26. Changes to This Policy

CIBA Startups may modify, revise, update, supplement, replace, or discontinue this Policy at any time, in its sole discretion. Any updated version becomes effective when posted, unless a different effective date is stated.

Continued submission of materials after an updated Policy becomes effective constitutes acceptance of the revised Policy.

27. Contact Information

Questions about this Policy or requests relating to submissions may be directed to: info@cibastartups.com or 25351 Commercentre Dr, Suite 100, Lake Forest, CA 92630.