EX-10.2
3
exhibit10_2cassette.htm
EXHIBIT 10.2 HIV CASSETTE LICENSE, MARKETING AND
DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT
HIV
Cassette License, Marketing and
Distribution Agreement
Execution
Version
HIV
Cassette License, Marketing and
Distribution Agreement
Dated
As Of
September
29, 2006
Between
Inverness
Medical Innovations, Inc.
And
Chembio
Diagnostic Systems, Inc.
Table
of Contents
1.
Definitions.
|
2
|
1.1.
Certain Definitions
|
2
|
1.2.
Additional Definitions
|
7
|
2.
HIV Cassette Product: Exclusive Licenses and Manufacturing
and
Distribution Arrangements.
|
7
|
2.1.
Exclusive Right to Manufacture for United States
Sale
|
7
|
2.2.
Exclusive Right to Purchase and Exploit in the United
States
|
7
|
2.3.
Non-Exclusive License under Inverness Lateral Flow
Patents
|
8
|
2.4.
Patent Marking
|
8
|
2.5.
SDS Access
|
8
|
2.6.
Termination of Licenses Upon Challenge of Validity
|
8
|
3.
Termination of Exclusivity in event of Competition.
|
9
|
4.
Limits to Scope of Inverness Licenses 1
|
10
|
5.
Royalties and Payments.
|
10
|
5.1.
Exclusive Payment Arrangements
|
10
|
5.2.
Pricing of HIV Cassette Products
|
10
|
5.3.
Inverness Sale of HIV Cassette Products - Division
of Net
Sales
|
11
|
5.4.
Payment Mechanism for HIV Cassette Products Sold
by Inverness
|
11
|
5.5.
Royalties Payable by Chembio on Inverness Lateral
Flow Patents
|
11
|
5.6.
Payment by Inverness for Samples
|
12
|
5.7.
Reporting and Calculation of Payments.
|
12
|
6.
Regulatory and License Matters.
|
14
|
6.1.
Facility Registration/Inspections
|
14
|
6.2.
Regulatory Filings
|
14
|
6.3.
Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc
|
15
|
7.
Manufacture and Sale.
|
15
|
7.1 Chembio
Efforts
|
15
|
7.2 Forecasts
|
15
|
7.3 Purchase
Orders
|
16
|
7.4 Shipment
Terms
|
16
|
7.5 Acceptance
|
16
|
7.6 Sales
Effort
|
16
|
7.7 Inverness
Responsibilities; Rights
|
16
|
7.8 Marketing
Plans and Budgets
|
17
|
8.
Trademarks
|
17
|
8.1.
Trademark License
|
17
|
8.2.
Compliance with Law; Registration
|
17
|
8.3.
Termination
|
17
|
8.4.
Labeling
|
17
|
9.
Prosecution and Enforcement of Licensed Intellectual
Property.
|
18
|
9.1.
Prosecution
|
18
|
9.2.
Enforcement of Licensed Patents
|
18
|
10.
Confidentiality.
|
18
|
10.1.
Limited Disclosure and Use
|
18
|
10.2.
Exceptions
|
19
|
10.3.
Use of Name; Disclosure of Terms of the Agreement
|
19
|
10.4.
Effect of Termination
|
19
|
10.5.
Survival
|
19
|
11.
Representations; Warranties.
|
20
|
11.1.
Corporate Power
|
20
|
11.2.
No Default or Violation
|
20
|
11.3.
Licensed Intellectual Property
|
20
|
11.4.
Regulatory Matters
|
20
|
11.5.
Product Quality
|
20
|
11.6.
Exclusion of Other Representations and Warranties
|
21
|
12.
Indemnification
|
21
|
12.1.
By Manufacturer
|
21
|
12.2.
By Sellers
|
22
|
12.3.
Notice of Claims
|
22
|
12.4.
Disputes
|
23
|
13.
Term and Termination
|
23
|
13.1.
Term of Agreement
|
23
|
13.2.
Material Breach
|
23
|
13.3.
Section 365(n); Agreement to Deliver Embodiments
|
24
|
13.4.
Effect of Termination for Breach by Inverness
|
24
|
13.5.
Effect of Termination for Breach by Xxxxxxx
|
00
|
00.0.
Xxxxxxxx
|
00
|
00.
Limitation of Liability
|
25
|
14.1.
Exclusion of Liability for Certain Damages
|
25
|
14.2.
Limitation on Liability for Direct Damages
|
26
|
15.
General.
|
26
|
15.1.
Waivers and Amendments.
|
26
|
15.2.
Entire Agreement
|
26
|
15.3.
Severability
|
26
|
15.4.
Relationship of the Parties
|
26
|
15.5.
No Election of Remedies
|
27
|
15.6.
Notices
|
27
|
15.7.
Governing Law
|
27
|
15.8.
Dispute Resolution
|
28
|
15.9.
Waiver of Jury Trial
|
28
|
15.10.
Counterparts
|
28
|
15.11.
Assignment
|
28
|
15.12.
Force Majeure
|
28
|
15.13.
Further Assurances
|
29
|
HIV
Cassette License, Marketing and
Distribution Agreement
PREAMBLE
This
HIV
Cassette License, Manufacturing and
Distribution Agreement (the
“Agreement”)
is
made as of September 29, 2006 (“Effective
Date”),
by
and between Chembio
Diagnostic Systems, Inc.,
a
Delaware
corporation
having its principal place of business at 0000 Xxxxxxxxxx Xxxx,
Xxxxxxx, Xxx
Xxxx 00000, (“Chembio”)
and
Inverness
Medical Innovations, Inc.,
a
Delaware corporation having its principal place of business at
00 Xxxxxx Xxxx,
Xxxxxxx, XX 00000 (“Inverness”).
RECITALS
Certain
capitalized terms used in these Recitals but not defined in the
Preamble or upon
first use are defined in Section 1.1.
Inverness,
among other activities, is in the business of developing, marketing
and selling
products used to diagnose various diseases, including HIV, and
owns or has
rights to grant licenses to a number of patents pertaining to HIV
diagnosis,
including the Inverness Lateral Flow Patents. Inverness asserts
that the HIV
Cassette Product is within the scope of the claims of the Inverness
Lateral Flow
Patents.
Chembio,
among other things, is in the business of developing, marketing
and selling
products used to diagnose various diseases, including HIV, and
has designed and
developed the HIV Cassette Product, and has received approval of
its pre-market
application to the FDA for the HIV Cassette Product for manufacture
by Chembio
at its facility in Medford,
New York and for Chembio to market
to clinical
laboratories and hospitals in the United States.
During
the Term, Inverness wishes to be the exclusive United States marketer
and
distributor of the HIV Cassette Product and to license the Inverness
Lateral
Flow Patents to Chembio for the purpose of manufacturing the HIV
Cassette
Product for sale by Inverness in the United States and to allow
Chembio to
manufacture, market and sell the HIV Cassette Product outside the
United States,
and Chembio wishes to obtain such licenses to the extent such licenses
are
necessary.
During
the Term, Chembio also wishes to grant Inverness an exclusive United
States
license to market and sell the HIV Cassette Products, to the extent
such license
is required and, as provided herein, to covenant not to manufacture
the HIV
Cassette Products for, or sell the HIV Cassette Products to, any
Person other
than Inverness in the United States and Inverness wishes to obtain
such license
subject to such covenant.
The
Parties are simultaneously entering into certain other agreements,
licenses and
covenants, including an agreement between the Parties and StatSure
Diagnostic
Systems, Inc. (“SDS”).
NOW,
THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and the mutual promises,
covenants
and conditions hereinafter set forth, the receipt and adequacy
of which are
hereby acknowledged, Chembio and Inverness hereby agree as follows:
1
1.
Definitions.
1.1.
Certain
Definitions
.
For
purposes of this Agreement, in addition to the terms that are defined
on first
use herein, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(a)
The
“Act”
shall
mean the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, as amended, and all
relevant
federal regulations pertaining thereto.
(b)
“Affiliate”
shall
mean any Person that controls, is controlled by, or is under common
control with
a Party hereto. For purposes of this definition, “control” shall mean (i) in the
case of corporate entities, direct or indirect ownership of a majority
of the
stock or shares having the right to vote for the election of directors,
and (ii)
in the case of non-corporate entities, direct or indirect ownership
of a
majority of the equity interest with the power to direct the management
and
policies of such non-corporate entities.
(c)
“Audit”
shall
mean examination of each and every document relating to the licenses
and rights
granted herein, including but not limited to books, records, agreements,
communications, shipping records, purchase orders, invoices, credit
memos and
record of payments received or made, such audit to be conducted
by a nationally
recognized public accounting firm.
(d)
“Barrel
Field”
means
diagnostic testing for the presence of HIV antibodies utilizing
an integrated
in-vitro diagnostic testing device that (i) is a single use disposable
device
(ii) collects a physiologic sample from a patient directly into
the device and
delivers that sample into a system contained in the device, where
the reaction
reagent medium (for example, a reagent strip) is enclosed in a
barrel or other
container with a transparent portion which allows the results of
the reaction to
be visible, designed to protect the user from contact with its
contents, (iii)
produces a visually readable result in less than 20 minutes, and
(iv) is
primarily designed to be used in a Point of Care environment or
for self-testing
by consumers.
(e)
“Challenge”
means,
with respect to Patent Rights, to challenge the validity or enforceability
of
any Patent Rights, including without limitation by (i) filing a
declaratory
judgment action in which Patent Rights are alleged to be invalid
or
unenforceable; (ii) citing prior art pursuant to 35 U.S.C. Sec.
301, making a
request for re-examination of Patent Rights pursuant to 35 U.S.C.
Sec. 302 and
311, or provoking or becoming party to an interference with an
application for
Patent Rights pursuant to 35 U.S.C. Sec. 135; or (iii) filing or
commencing any
opposition, cancellation, nullity or similar proceedings against
Patent Rights
in any country.
2
(f)
“Chembio
IP”
shall
mean all proprietary rights and Intellectual Property Rights, including
but not
limited to Patent Rights, owned or Controlled by Chembio, which
are necessary or
useful for, or would be infringed by, the use, sale, distribution,
import or
export of the HIV Cassette Products, whether now in existence or
in the future,
including but not limited to those as listed on Schedule A.
(g)
“Chembio
Listed Patents”
shall
mean the patents and patent applications listed on Schedule A.
(h)
“Chembio
Trademarks”
shall
mean the Trademarks listed on Schedule B.
(i)
“Confidential
Information”
shall
mean all Technology and ideas and information of any kind, whether
in written,
oral, graphical, machine-readable or other form, whether or not
marked or
identified as confidential or proprietary, which are transferred,
disclosed or
made available by any Party hereto to any other.
(j)
“Control”
or
“Controlled
by”
shall
mean, in the context of Patent Rights or other Intellectual Property
Rights,
possession of the ability on the part of a Party to grant access
to or a license
or sublicense as provided for herein without violating the terms
of any
agreement or other arrangement with any Third Party (other than
an Affiliate)
existing at the time such Party would be required hereunder to
grant another
Party such access or license or sublicense.
(k)
“Costs”
shall
mean Chembio’s costs, calculated in accordance with GAAP and attributed on a
per-unit-of-HIV Cassette Product basis, of manufacturing and shipping
the HIV
Cassette Products provided to Inverness hereunder, obtaining and
maintaining
regulatory approvals for the HIV Cassette Products to the extent
set forth in
Section 6.2,
and
obtaining and maintaining licenses from any Third Parties to manufacture,
market, distribute or sell the HIV Cassette Products and the amortization
over
the period during which HIV Cassette Products are sold to Inverness
of the cost
in procuring such licenses. The term “Costs” shall also include costs associated
with (1) compliance, (2) complaint handling and (3) quality control.
Such costs
shall be restricted to costs incurred by Chembio after the Effective
Date,
except that license fees paid for those licenses listed in Schedule
C obtained
prior to the Effective Date will be amortized as set forth in Schedule
C over
the period during which HIV Cassette Products are sold to Inverness.
(l)
“Developing
Countries” means
those countries listed on Schedule J.
(m)
“Distributor”
shall
mean any Third Party, other than an Affiliate of Inverness, to
which Inverness
or Chembio grants a limited sublicense under the rights granted
Inverness under
Section 2.2
or
granted Chembio under Section 2.3
for the
purpose of reselling or distributing HIV Cassette Products.
(n)
“Exploit”
or
“Exploitation”
shall
mean to sell, offer for sale, import, export, transport, register,
distribute,
promote and market, together with other activities typically associated
with
maximizing the market penetration, profit margins and commercialization
of a
diagnostic medical product that is marketed to hospitals and clinical
laboratories for professional use and to doctors’ offices, insurance companies,
military facilities, and other Point of Care clinics, as well as
to the public
for self testing.
3
(o)
“FDA”
means
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
(p)
“First
Commercial Sale”
shall
mean, with respect to a product, the first sale to any
non-Affiliate.
(q)
“GAAP”
means
United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, as applicable
to the
Party in question.
(r)
“GMP”
means
current Good Manufacturing Practices as promulgated by the FDA.
(s)
“HIV
Barrel Product”
means
the product for HIV testing known as SURE CHECK(R)
HIV 1/2
as described in Chembio’s PMA on file with the FDA and further described in the
SURE CHECK(R)
HIV 1/2
package insert, Catalog #HIV202, which is the subject of a Related
Document.
(t)
“HIV
Cassette Product”
means
the Chembio product currently known as HIV 1/2 STAT PAK(TM) as
described in
Chembio’s PMA on file with the FDA and further described in the HIV 1/2
STAT
PAK(TM) package insert, Catalog #HIV 102, attached hereto as Schedule
E,
together with any improvements thereto.
(u)
“Intellectual
Property Rights”
shall
mean (i) Patent Rights; (ii) rights associated with works of
authorship including copyrights, copyright applications and copyright
registrations; and (iii) rights relating to the protection of trade
secrets, know-how and Confidential Information, but shall not include
any rights
to trade marks, trade names, or other distinctive brand names or
logos.
(v)
“Inverness
Lateral Flow Patents”
shall
mean any Patent Rights in the patents and patent applications identified
on
Schedule E.
(w)
“Inverness
Trademarks”
are
the
trademarks listed on Schedule F.
(x)
Net
Sales.
(i)
“Net
Sales”
shall
mean, with respect to any HIV Cassette Product, the gross amount
received by the
seller or its Affiliates or Sublicensees on bona fide sales of
such HIV Cassette
Product to Third Parties, less the following items (to the extent
the gross
amount received by them otherwise reflects such items): (i) credits and
allowances for price adjustment, rejection, recall or return of
the HIV Cassette
Product; (ii) amounts for transportation, insurance, handling or shipping
charges; (iii) taxes, duties and other governmental charges levied on or
measured by the sale of the HIV Cassette Product, but not franchise
or income
taxes of any kind whatsoever; (iv) quantity and other trade discounts,
credits or allowances actually allowed and taken; (v) charge back payments
and/or rebates for the HIV Cassette Product provided to managed
health care
organizations, international organizations, or federal, state,
local or other
governments, including, in the United States, Medicare and Medicaid;
or
(vi) license fees, royalties or similar amounts paid to Third Parties
to
allow the seller or its Affiliates or Sublicensees to Exploit the
relevant
Licensed Product without infringement of Third Party (other than
an Affiliate of
the seller) Intellectual Property Rights.
Net
Sales shall not include any consideration received for demonstrations,
test
marketing, clinical trial purposes or compassionate or similar
use. All of the
amounts specified in the definition of Net Sales shall be determined
from the
books and records of seller of the HIV Cassette Product, its Affiliates
and
Sublicensees, maintained in accordance with GAAP, consistently
applied.
4
(ii)
Bundling.
In the
event that any particular HIV Cassette Product is sold as part
of a bundle or
kit with products other than the HIV Cassette Product, the Net
Sales allocated
to such HIV Cassette Product shall be determined by multiplying
the net selling
price (that is, the gross selling price less such applicable deductions
as are
permitted in the calculation of Net Sales) of the bundle or kit
by the fraction
A ÷ (A + B) where A is the average selling price during the period
in question
in the country in question in quantities similar to the sale in
question for the
HIV Cassette Product sold separately and B is the average selling
price during
the period in question in the country in question in quantities
similar to the
sale in question for the remaining products in the bundle or kit,
when such
products are sold separately from the HIV Cassette Product (in
each case as the
average sellling price is documented by the seller or its Affiliates
or
Sublicensees’ records). In the event that any products contained in the bundle
or kit are not sold separately, the Net Sales from sales of such
bundle or kit
allocated to HIV Cassette Products shall be determined in a fair
and equitable
manner by mutual agreement of the parties.
(iii)
Sales
to Distributors.
It is
understood and agreed that all sales of HIV Cassette Product by
the seller, its
Affiliates and Sub-licensees to any Distributor shall be treated
as Net Sales
hereunder, and that subsequent sale of HIV Cassette Product by
any such
Distributor shall not be treated as Net Sales hereunder.
(y)
“Party”
or
“Parties”
shall
mean each of Inverness and Chembio (but not their Affiliates).
(z)
“Patent
Costs”
shall
mean the costs and expenses paid to outside legal counsel and other
Third
Parties, allocated in-house costs of legal counsel, and filing
and maintenance
expenses, incurred in connection with preparing, filing, prosecuting,
obtaining
and maintaining Patent Rights, including costs and expenses of
patent
interference, re-examination, reissue, opposition or similar
proceedings.
(aa)
“Patent
Prosecution Action”
shall
mean any and all actions that may be taken in connection with preparing,
filing,
prosecuting, obtaining and maintaining throughout the world patent
protection
for Patent Rights licensed hereunder, including patent applications
and other
related material submissions and correspondence with any patent
authorities.
(bb)
“Patent
Rights”
shall
mean all patents, patent applications and inventions on which patent
applications are filed and all patents issuing therefrom worldwide,
all
disclosures of inventions, together with any extensions, registrations,
confirmations, reissues, continuations, divisionals, continuations,
continuations-in-part, reexamination certificates, substitutions
or renewals,
supplemental protection certificates, term extensions (under applicable
patent
law or other law), provisional rights and certificates of
inventions.
5
(cc)
“Person”
shall
mean an individual, corporation, partnership, limited partnership,
limited
liability company, unincorporated association, trust, joint venture
or other
organization or entity, including a governmental authority.
(dd)
“POC”
or
“Point
of Care” shall
mean an
environment where sampling and testing is performed in the presence
or
near-presence of the patient.
(ee)
“QSRs”
means
current Quality Systems Regulations as promulgated by the FDA.
(ff)
“Related
Documents”
shall
mean the
Settlement Agreement and HIV Barrel Product Commercialization Agreement
between
SDS and Chembio, the License and
Distribution Agreement between
SDS and
Inverness, the Non-Exclusive License, Marketing and
Distribution
Agreement
between Chembio and Inverness, and the HIV Barrel License, Marketing
and
Distribution Agreement between Chembio and Inverness.
(gg)
“Rest
of the World”
means
worldwide, excluding the United States.
(hh)
“Specifications”
shall
mean the information contained in Schedule D regarding the HIV
Cassette Product
and the together with any and all other related documentation or
procedures in
possession by Chembio that substantiate or support the information
contained
within Schedule E .
(ii)
“Sublicensee”
shall
mean any sublicensee of any of the rights granted to Inverness
under
Section 2.2,
other
than an Affiliate or a Distributor.
(jj)
“Technology”
shall
mean all techniques, inventions, practices, procedures, knowledge,
improvements,
designs, processes, protocols, compositions, products, methods,
works of
authorship, know-how, data, clinical data, preclinical data, research
and
creations (whether or not subject to protection by any Intellectual
Property
Rights).
(kk)
“Third
Party”
shall
mean any Person other than Inverness or Chembio.
(ll)
“United
States”
means
the United States of America and its territories and possessions,
including
without limitation Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
6
(mm)
“Valid
Claim”
shall
mean a claim of an issued and unexpired patent that has not been
permanently revoked, held unenforceable or invalid by a final,
nonappealable decision of a court or other governmental agency
of competent
jurisdiction (the term “final, nonappealable decision” includes decisions that
become final through exhaustion of all permissible avenues for
rehearing or
review by a superior tribunal and decisions that become final through
expiration
of the time allowable for appeal), or admitted by the patentee to be
invalid or unenforceable through reissue, reexamination, disclaimer
or
otherwise.
(nn)
“Visual-Read
HIV Test”
shall
mean a rapid, non-digital diagnostic test for antibodies to HIV
designed
primarily to be read by the naked eye and to be used in a Point
of Care
environment. A “Visual-Read HIV Test” expressly excludes digital tests that
include a reading device or integrated digital technology to aid
in the
interpretation or indication of the result.
1.2.
Additional
Definitions
.
Certain
additional capitalized terms are defined below in the body of this
Agreement.
2.
HIV
Cassette Product: Exclusive Licenses and Manufacturing and Distribution
Arrangements.
2.1.
Exclusive
Right to Manufacture for United States Sale
.
Inverness, on and subject to the terms and conditions contained
herein, hereby
grants to Chembio and Chembio hereby accepts from Inverness an
exclusive license
during the Term under the Inverness Lateral Flow Patents to manufacture
the HIV
Cassette Product solely for sale to Inverness pursuant to this
Agreement.
Chembio shall manufacture the HIV Cassette Product itself or may
subcontract the
manufacture of the HIV Cassette Product to the extent permitted
by applicable
law, but may not sublicense such manufacturing right. In the event
Chembio
subcontracts its manufacturing right, Chembio shall enter a written
agreement
with such contractor consistent with the terms of this Agreement,
and Chembio
shall remain primarily liable for performance of this Agreement.
2.2.
Exclusive
Right to Purchase and Exploit
in the United States
.
Chembio,
on and subject to the terms and conditions contained herein, including,
without
limitation, Section 2.2(b)
hereof,
hereby grants to Inverness and Inverness hereby accepts from Chembio
the
exclusive right to purchase from Chembio and the exclusive right
and license
under any and all of the Chembio IP to Exploit, throughout the
United States,
during the Term, the HIV Cassette Product and may do so utilizing
Inverness
Trademarks.
This
right shall be deemed to include a grant to Inverness of the right
and license
to sell through any Affiliate of Inverness and through Distributors
of Inverness
or of any Affiliate of Inverness.
(a)
Subject
to Section 2.2(b)
hereof,
the foregoing rights and licenses are exclusive (even as to Chembio)
to
Inverness in connection with marketing, distributing and selling
in the United
States, and Chembio shall not itself Exploit, or grant any rights
to any Third
Party to Exploit, the HIV Cassette Product in the United States.
Chembio
acknowledges and agrees that such exclusivity is of critical importance
to
Inverness, and that without such exclusivity, Inverness would not
have entered
into this Agreement.
(b)
Chembio represents and warrants that Chembio has not as at the
Effective Date
granted licenses under the Chembio IP with respect to, and/or entered
into
agreements regarding, the Exploitation of the HIV Cassette Product
in
the
United States.
7
2.3.
Non-Exclusive
License under Inverness Lateral Flow Patents
.
Inverness,
on and subject to the terms and conditions contained herein, hereby
grants to
Chembio and Chembio hereby accepts a non-exclusive, royalty-bearing
license
during the Term, under the Inverness Lateral Flow Patents, to manufacture
and to
Exploit the HIV Cassette Products in the Rest of the World.
This
license: (i) may not be sublicensed or otherwise delegated without
Inverness’
prior written consent, which consent shall not be unreasonably
withheld; (ii)
includes the right for Chembio to subcontract the manufacture of
the HIV
Cassette Product, subject to the provisions of Section 2.1;
and
(iii) shall be deemed to include a grant to Chembio of the right
and license to
sell through any Affiliate of Chembio and through Distributors
of Chembio or of
any Affiliate of Chembio.
(a)
Inverness and Chembio acknowledge that the license in this Section
2.3
is
subject to the limitation that the Charlton Lateral Flow Patents
(as described
on Schedule E) are not licensed for the Over-The-Counter market;
such Charlton
Lateral Flow Patents are licensed only with respect to products
for
sale
through any channels for use by licensed professional health-care
providers
(including hospitals, physicians acting as such and licensed professional
health-care centers).
2.4.
Patent
Marking
.
Chembio
will include the patent numbers of the Inverness Lateral Flow Patents
and
indicate Inverness’ and its licensors ownership of such patents on the packaging
for all HIV Cassette Products, as set forth in Section 8.4.
2.5.
SDS
Access
.
It
is
understood by the Parties that SDS shall not be entitled to receive
copies of
this agreement and any amendments as if and when effected.
2.6.
Termination
of Licenses Upon Challenge of Validity
.
In all
jurisdictions where such agreement is permitted by law, and to
the maximum
extent so permitted: (a) Chembio agrees not to Challenge any Patent
Rights of
Inverness or its Affiliates in the Inverness Lateral Flow Patents
listed on
Schedule E; and (b) Inverness agrees not to Challenge any Patent
Rights in the
Chembio Listed Patents. In addition to the foregoing, and whether
or not the
foregoing prohibition is permissible or otherwise enforceable,
in the event that
Inverness Challenges any Patent Rights in the Chembio Listed Patents,
or Chembio
Challenges any Patent Rights in the Inverness Lateral Flow Patents,
the Party
whose right is Challenged shall have the right, in its sole discretion
and
immediately on written notice to terminate this Agreement for cause.
In the
event that such termination arises: (a) due to Challenge by Inverness,
Section
13.4
shall
apply; (b) due to Challenge by Chembio, Section 13.5
shall
apply. Each Party shall cause its Affiliates to refrain from any
Challenge that
the Party agrees not to make and the consequences of a Challenge
by a Party’s
Affiliate shall be the same as a Challenge by the Party itself.
8
3.
Termination
of Exclusivity in Event of Competition.
(a)
Chembio acknowledges that Inverness may Exploit any product that
competes with
the HIV Cassette Product, other than a Visual-Read HIV Test in
the Barrel Field
(a “Permitted
Competing Product”). Without
limitation of the foregoing, any Visual-Read HIV Test that does
not fall within
the Barrel Field, whether or not Exploitation of such Visual-Read
HIV Test by a
Third Party would infringe the Inverness Lateral Flow Patents,
is a Permitted
Competing Product. Inverness shall give Chembio written notice
of its intention
to Exploit a Permitted Competing Product. Such notice shall be
given by
Inverness by the later of: (i) 60 days before such Permitted Competing
Product
is first shipped by Inverness to a US customer or Distributor,
and (ii) the time
that Inverness is first able to give such notice without violation
of applicable
law, regulation, agreement, or the rules of any securities exchange
on which its
securities are listed.
Chembio
specifically acknowledge that nothing in this Agreement shall be
construed as
limiting Inverness’ right to acquire, develop, import, sell and/or manufacture
Permitted Competing Products.
(b)
At
any time after receipt of notice from Inverness pursuant to Section
3(a),
or
after First Commercial Sale of a Permitted Competing Product ,
Chembio may
either:
(i)
by
written Non-Exclusivity Notice to Inverness (a “Non-Exclusivity
Notice”),
convert Inverness’s exclusive right to distribute the HIV Cassette Product in
the United States into a non-exclusive right,
in
which case the non-exclusive, royalty-bearing license set forth
in Section
2.3
shall
automatically be expanded to allow Chembio to manufacture the HIV
Cassette
Product for sale in the United States, and to appoint Third Party
Distributors
to Exploit the HIV Cassette Product in the United States, subject
to payment of
royalties as set forth in Section 5.5;
or
(ii)
by
written notice to Inverness, terminate the Cassette Agreement,
such termination
to take effect 60 days after written notice of termination is given,
in which
case Section 13.4
shall
apply.
(c)
Notwithstanding anything in this Section 3
to the
contrary, Inverness’s continued sales outside the United States of products for
which a First Commercial Sale has been made as of the Effective
Date of this
Agreement, and improvements to such products, that compete with
the HIV Cassette
Products (whether or not they constitute Visual-Read HIV Tests,
are in a
cassette format, and/or are within the scope of the claims of any
of the
Inverness Lateral Flow Patents) shall not trigger Inverness’s loss of
exclusivity hereunder.
(d)
For
the avoidance of doubt, Inverness will have the right to acquire,
develop,
import, sell and/or manufacture any competing product (whether
or not a
Permitted Competing Product) without loss of its exclusivity pursuant
to Section
3(b)
if
Chembio breaches its obligation to supply Inverness’ requirements for HIV
Cassette Products hereunder, but only for so long as any breach
remains
uncured.
9
4.
Limits
to Scope of Inverness Licenses
(a)
The
parties acknowledge that: (a) the HIV Products may be divided into
the
“Existing
Products”,
meaning the HIV Cassette Product as it exists on the Effective
Date, and the
“Future
Products”,
meaning any modifications to, or future versions of, the HIV Cassette
Product
made after the Effective Date; and (b) the Inverness Lateral Flow
Patents may be
divided into “Current
Lateral Flow Patents”
and
“Future
Lateral Flow Patents”.
The
“Current
Lateral Flow Patents”
are:
(i) the patents and patent applications on Schedule F; (ii) any
continuations
and divisionals of the patents and patent applications on Schedule
F; (iii) any
continuations-in-part of the patents and patent applications on
Schedule F to
the extent the claims thereof are directed to subject matter specifically
described in (i) and (ii) above; and (iv) any foreign counterparts
of the
patents and patent applications described in (i) (ii) and (iii)
above. The
“Future
Lateral Flow Patents“
means
any continuation-in-part of the Current Lateral Flow Patents not
described in
(iii) above, and any foreign counterpart of such continuation-in-part.
All
licenses granted by Inverness in this Agreement grant licenses
to the Current
Lateral Flow Patents with respect to both Existing Products and
Future Products.
The licenses granted by Inverness in this Agreement grant licenses
to Future
Lateral Flow Patents: (a) for Existing Products; and (b) for Future
Products,
but only with respect to claims in the Future Lateral Flow Patents
that are
infringed by the making, using, selling or importing of any Existing
Product.
Otherwise, Inverness grants no right or license to any Future Lateral
Flow
Patents under this Agreement, including without limitation any
license to any
Future Lateral Flow Patent except as described in the foregoing
sentence.
(b)
The
Parties acknowledge that any licenses to the Inverness Lateral
Flow Patents are
subject to the limitation that the Charlton Lateral Flow Patents
(as described
on Schedule F) are not licensed for the Over-The-Counter market;
such Charlton
Lateral Flow Patents are licensed only with respect to products
for sale through
any channels for use by licensed professional health-care providers
(including
hospitals, physicians acting as such and licensed professional
health-care
centers).
5.
Royalties
and Payments.
5.1.
Exclusive
Payment Arrangements
.
This
Article 5
describes the manner in which the Parties will share revenues derived
from the
sale of HIV Cassette Products. Except as set forth in Section 13.4,
no
other fees, payments or royalties are due from any Party to any
other Party with
respect to the licenses and rights set forth in this Agreement.
5.2.
Pricing
of HIV Cassette Products
.
Subject
to the limitations set forth in this Article 5,
each
Party that sells any HIV Cassette Products hereunder may set the
prices at which
it sells such HIV Cassette Products in its sole and absolute
discretion.
10
5.3.
Inverness
Sale of HIV Cassette Products - Division of Net Sales
(a)
The
Parties shall share Net Sales of HIV Cassette Products in accordance
with the
formula set forth in Schedule K.
(b)
In
the event that the Chembio Profit Share (the amount identified
by (iii) on
Schedule K) is less than 15% of Costs no sale shall occur unless
both parties
consent.
(c)
Shares of Net Sales will be separately calculated and reported
on a quarterly
basis, and not on an order-by-order basis.
5.4.
Payment
Mechanism for HIV Cassette Products Sold by Inverness
.
Inverness shall pay Chembio its Costs of HIV Cassette Products
in accordance
with the following procedure:
(a)
For
the six months following the Effective Date, the parties agree
that the
estimated per-unit amount representing Chembio’s Costs for HIV Cassette Products
to be supplied by Chembio to Inverness (“Deemed
Cost”)
shall
be the amount set forth on Schedule L, and the estimated per-unit
amount
representing Inverness’ Net Sales for HIV Cassette Products sold by Inverness
(“Deemed
Price”)
shall
be the amount set forth on Schedule L. For the remainder of the
Term, the Deemed
Cost and Deemed Price shall be adjusted each quarter based on the
actual
per-unit Cost of HIV Cassette Products, and the actual per-unit
Net Sales for
HIV Cassette Products, in the latest quarter for which actual Costs
and Net
Sales have been reported pursuant to Section 5.7.
(b)
Each
shipment of HIV Cassette Products by Chembio shall be accompanied
by an invoice,
in a form reasonably satisfactory to Inverness, for the HIV Cassette
Products in
the shipment at the then-current Deemed Cost (as hereinafter defined).
Within
thirty (30) days of receipt of a duly issued invoice for HIV Cassette
Product
shipped by Chembio in accordance with this Agreement, Inverness
shall pay
Chembio, for such HIV Cassette Products, the Deemed Cost of such
HIV Cassette
Products, and any additional amount due to Chembio pursuant to
Schedule K, based
on the then-current Deemed Cost and Deemed Price.
(c)
Any
adjustments to actual Costs for overpayments or underpayments made
by Inverness
shall be made pursuant to the quarterly accountings set forth in
Section
5.7.
For
purposes of these calculations, Cost of HIV Cassette Product will
be matched to
sales on a FIFO basis.
5.5.
Royalties
Payable by Chembio on Inverness Lateral Flow Patents
.
Chembio
shall pay Inverness royalties of: (a) five percent (5%) of Net
Sales of HIV
Cassette Products sold by Chembio and its Affiliates in Developing
Countries;
and (b) eight and a half percent (8.5%) of Net Sales of HIV Cassette
Products
sold by Chembio and its Affiliates in the Rest of the World excluding
Developing
Countries. For the purposes of this paragraph, HIV Cassette Products
are “sold”
in a particular region, such as a Developing Country, when a sale
is made to a
Distributor that is located in such region; provided, however that
Inverness
reserves the right to charge the higher royalty rate if it can
reasonably show
that a Distributor located in a Developing Country is selling HIV
Cassette
Products to a purchaser located in a non-Developing Country, and
Inverness
shall charge the lower royalty rate if Chembio can reasonably demonstrate
that
its Distributor or purchaser located in a non-Developing Country
has purchased
goods for sale or distribution in a Developing Country.
11
(a)
No
royalties shall be payable unless the HIV Cassette Product infringes
a Valid
Claim of the Inverness Lateral Flow Patents in the country in which
the HIV
Cassette Product is manufactured or the country in which
the
HIV Cassette Product is sold.
(b)
Only
one
royalty shall be due Inverness for any HIV Cassette Product regardless
of the
number of Valid Claims of the Inverness Later al Flow Patents that
would be
infringed.
(c)
The
obligation to pay royalties on Net Sales of HIV Cassette Product
shall be
imposed only once with respect to each HIV Cassette Product, even
if such HIV
Cassette Product is sold more than once in the course of its transfer
to the
ultimate end-user.
(d)
The
above royalties on HIV Cassette Products are not payable by Chembio
with respect
to HIV Cassette Products distributed by Inverness, for which the
revenue sharing
arrangements set forth in Section 5.3
are the
sole and exclusive payment arrangements between the parties.
5.6.
Payment
by Inverness for Samples
.
Inverness
shall pay Chembio 110% of the Costs associated with the manufacture
by Chembio
of HIV Cassette Products that are used by Inverness for demonstrations,
testing,
clinical trials, sample and compassionate or similar use.
5.7.
Reporting
and Calculation of Payments.
(a)
For
any calendar quarter for which payments under Section 5.3
are due
to Chembio, Inverness shall deliver to Chembio, within sixty (60)
days after the
end of such calendar quarter, reasonably detailed written accountings
of Net
Sales of the HIV Cassette Products during such calendar quarter.
Such report
shall indicate Net Sales on a country-by-country and HIV Cassette
Product-by-HIV
Cassette Product basis (and not on an order-by-order basis).
(b)
Within seventy-five (75) days of the end of each calendar quarter
during the
Term, Chembio shall deliver to Inverness a complete and accurate
accounting of
all Costs and a determination of the cost per unit for all HIV
Cassette Products
sold to Inverness pursuant to this Agreement. The Costs reflected
shall be the
basis for payments to Chembio to be made by Inverness pursuant
to Schedule K.
The per-unit allocation of Costs to products sold shall be determined
on a FIFO
basis. Cost so determined shall remain in effect until the next
such accounting.
(c)
Within ninety (90) days after the end of any calendar quarter for
which reports
have been delivered pursuant to sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) above,
Inverness
shall deliver Chembio a report showing the calculation of the amounts
due to
Chembio pursuant to Schedule K, and any payments to be made hereunder.
Such
payments may be payable from either Inverness or Chembio, depending
on whether
Chembio has been underpaid or overpaid pursuant to the procedure
set forth in
Section 5.4,
and
shall be made no later than seven days after delivery of such report.
With
respect to Net Sales invoiced in a currency other than United States
Dollars,
Net Sales and royalties payable shall be expressed in their United
States dollar
equivalent, calculated using an average exchange rate for buying
United States
dollars published by The Wall Street Journal during the calendar
quarter. All
payments due to Chembio hereunder shall be made from the United
States in United
States dollars by transfer to such bank account as Chembio may
designate.
12
(d)
For
any calendar quarter for which payments are due under Section 5.5
or
Section 13.4(c)
to
Inverness, Chembio shall deliver Inverness, within sixty (60) days
after the end
of such calendar quarter, reasonably detailed written accountings of Net Sales
of the HIV Cassette Products during such calendar quarter. Such
report shall
indicate Net Sales on a country-by-country and HIV Cassette Product-by-HIV
Cassette Product basis, and the calculation of the royalty due
to Inverness, and
any payments to be made hereunder. When Chembio delivers such accountings,
it
shall also deliver all payments due under this Agreement to Inverness
for such
calendar quarter. With respect to Net Sales invoiced in a currency
other than
United States Dollars, Net Sales and royalties payable shall be
expressed in
their United States dollar equivalent, calculated using an average
exchange rate
for buying United States dollars published by The Wall Street Journal
during the
calendar quarter.
All
payments due from Chembio hereunder shall be made from the United
States in
United States dollars by transfer to such bank account as Inverness
may
designate.
(e)
Chembio shall keep complete and accurate records of the latest
two (2) years of
Costs of HIV Cassette Products sold to Inverness hereunder. For
the sole purpose
of verifying Costs to be reimbursed to Chembio, Inverness shall
have the right
once per calendar year to retain an independent certified public
accountant,
selected by Inverness and reasonably acceptable to Chembio, to
conduct an Audit
in the location(s) where such records are maintained upon twenty
(20) days prior
written notice and during regular business hours, with all information
disclosed
being deemed Confidential Information hereunder. The cost of the
Audit shall be
paid by Inverness. Such Audit shall be completed within fifteen
(15) business
days, subject to extension by the auditor if the auditor reasonably
determines
in good faith that data or information it requires is not available
and
identifies the data or information required. Results of such review
shall be
made available to Chembio and Inverness. Inverness shall recalculate
the
payments made to the Parties and any Party overpaid shall promptly
reimburse any
underpaid Party. If a recalculation of Costs is equal to or greater
than five
(5%) percent of the correctly-calculated Costs, Inverness shall
be entitled to
have Chembio pay the reasonable out-of-pocket costs incurred by
Inverness to
retain such independent certified public accountant to conduct
such
review.
13
(f)
Each
Party due to make payments based on Net Sales hereunder (“Payer”) shall keep
complete and accurate records of the latest two (2) years of sales
of HIV
Cassette Products to which royalties or shares of Net Sales attach
hereunder.
For the sole purpose of verifying payments due to the payee Party
(“Payee”),
said Payee shall have the right, once per calendar year, to retain
an
independent certified public accountant, selected by said Payee
and reasonably
acceptable to the Payer, to conduct an Audit in the location(s)
where such
records are maintained upon twenty (20) days prior written notice
and during
regular business hours, with all information disclosed being deemed
Confidential
Information of the Payer. Such Audit shall be completed within
fifteen (15)
business days, subject to extension by the auditor if the auditor
reasonably
determines in good faith that data or information it requires is
not available
and identifies the data or information required. Whichever Party
requests the
Audit shall bear the costs thereof. Results of such review shall
be made
available to the Payer and the relevant Payee. If the Audit reflects
an
underpayment of amounts due, such underpayment shall be promptly
remitted to the
appropriate Payee by the Payer. If the underpayment is equal to
or greater than
five (5%) percent of the amount that was otherwise due, the Payee
shall be
entitled to have the Payer pay the reasonable out-of-pocket costs
incurred by
the Payee to retain such independent certified public accountant
to conduct such
review.
(g)
Whenever reports upon which payments are based are to be made by
any Party, they
shall be certified as correct by the Chief Financial Officer of
the Party. In
addition, to the extent required of a Party by the provisions of
the
Xxxxxxxx-Xxxxx Act, each of the Parties shall make available information
as may
be required for proper certification in accordance with Section
404 and any
rules promulgated thereunder.
6.
Regulatory
and License Matters.
6.1.
Facility
Registration/Inspections
.
Chembio
shall, if it has not done so prior to the Effective Date, register,
at its
expense, with FDA, in accordance with the Act, each establishment
in which it
intends to manufacture any HIV Cassette Product and maintain, at
its expense,
all such establishment registrations during the term of this Agreement.
Chembio
shall permit FDA and Inverness to inspect each such establishment
for purposes
of verifying Chembio’s compliance with the Act, including GMPs and QSRs, and for
purposes of verifying that all items being manufactured by Chembio
for sale to
Inverness hereunder are being manufactured in accordance with the
applicable
Specifications; Inverness’ participation in such inspections shall be at
Inverness’ cost. Any such inspection by Inverness shall be conducted upon
reasonable advance notice to Chembio during the normal business
hours of the
facility to be inspected. Chembio acknowledges and agrees that
no inspection by
Inverness pursuant to this Section 6.1
shall
relieve or diminish any of Chembio’s obligations hereunder.
6.2.
Regulatory
Filings
.
Subject
to sub-paragraph (a) immediately below, Chembio shall be responsible
for (1)
obtaining and maintaining, and (2) paying for the obtaining and
maintaining of,
regulatory approvals required for the lawful distribution and sale
of HIV
Cassette Products in the applicable territories, including the
costs of the CLIA
waiver for the HIV Cassette Product in the United States, provided
however that
Inverness acknowledges that Chembio is under no obligation to obtain
approval
for Over-The-Counter sales of the HIV Cassette Product in the United
States.
14
(a)
In
the event that the FDA issues a regulation providing for the lawful
sale of the
HIV Cassette Product for Over-The-Counter uses in the United States,
Chembio may
issue Inverness a written notice requiring Inverness to decide
whether or not
Inverness wishes to pursue obtaining FDA approval to sell the HIV
Cassette
Product for Over-The-Counter uses in the United States, with costs
for obtaining
such approval to be shared equally between Inverness and Chembio.
Inverness
shall have until the last to occur of (i) 12 months after the FDA
formally
promulgates the relevant regulation, and (ii) three (3) months
after such notice
is given by Chembio (“Notice Response Period”), to respond to such notice by
informing Chembio whether it wishes to pursue such approval. If
Inverness fails
within the Notice Response Period to notify Chembio that it wishes
to pursue
Over-The-Counter approval for the HIV Cassette Product, Chembio
may pursue such
approval itself, at its own cost, and may Exploit the HIV Cassette
Product in
the Over-The-Counter market itself or through any Third Party Distributor;
in
such event, the Over-The-Counter market shall be excluded from
the exclusive
license granted by Chembio in Section 2.2,
and the
license granted by Inverness in Section 2.3
shall be
expanded to include the Over-The-Counter market in the United States,
subject
always to payment by Chembio of royalties as set forth in Section
5.5.
6.3.
Bio-Rad
Laboratories, Inc
.
Inverness
shall use reasonable commercial efforts to obtain and maintain
licenses for any
and all intellectual property necessary from Bio-Rad Laboratories
Inc. to permit
Inverness to Exploit the HIV Cassette Products in the United States,
provided
any license fees or royalties payable may be deducted from gross
sales pursuant
to sub-paragraph (vi) of the definition of “Net Sales” as set forth herein.
Inverness is aware of the royalties requested by Bio-Rad Laboratories,
Inc. and
agrees that it will pay appropriate royalties if a license can
be
obtained.
7.
Manufacture
and Sale.
7.1 Chembio
Efforts
.
Chembio
shall use commercially reasonable efforts to manufacture the HIV
Cassette
Product and to supply all of Inverness’ requirements for such product, in
accordance with the published specifications for each such HIV
Cassette Product
(the “Specifications”)
and
the supply requirements and limitations set forth in this Section
7.
7.2 Forecasts
.
During
the Term, Inverness shall provide Chembio, on a quarterly basis,
with forecasts
of Inverness’s anticipated orders for the HIV Cassette Product during the
succeeding three (3) quarters. The initial forecast shall be produced
and
delivered by Inverness to Chembio by the later of 60 days after
the Effective
Date or 60 days after the CLIA waiver is obtained. Chembio hereby
acknowledges
and agrees that Inverness shall have the right to revise any quarterly
forecast
issued pursuant to this Section at any time upon notice given to
Chembio not
less than three months before the forecast delivery date for any
products; any
forecasts for delivery less than three months from the forecast
date shall be
binding on both parties. Inverness
shall issue purchase orders and accept delivery of not less than
ninety (90%)
percent of the forecast quantity. Chembio shall not be required
to timely
deliver more than one hundred and twenty-five (125%) percent of
the forecast
quantity, but shall deliver not less than 100% of the quantity
required by
Inverness’ binding forecasts.
15
7.3 Purchase
Orders
.
All
sales
and purchases of the HIV Cassette Product, if any, hereunder shall
be initiated
pursuant to Inverness’s purchase order for the same placed with Chembio. Such
purchase orders shall include relevant details of the order such
as quantity,
the current Costs of each HIV Cassette Product, destination, billing
and
shipping information, and requested delivery date(s) (a “Purchase
Order”).
Chembio shall accept Purchase Orders by written notice to Inverness
within five
(5) days of receipt. In the event that Chembio cannot comply with
a delivery
date requested by Inverness in any Purchase Order, Chembio may
request an
alternative delivery date, which shall be not more than forty-five
(45) days
after the date requested by Inverness. Any terms and conditions
contained in any
Purchase Order or written acceptance of a Purchase Order, invoice
or other
writing delivered by Chembio to Inverness or by Inverness to Chembio
that are
inconsistent with the terms and conditions of this Agreement shall
be null and
void and of no effect unless agreed to in a writing executed by
an authorized
representative of Inverness and Chembio. At
any
time up to ten (10) days prior to the delivery date set forth in
any Purchase
Order, Inverness may issue an alteration to a Purchase Order in
order to
(i) change a location for delivery, (ii) correct typographical or
clerical errors, or (iii) reschedule a delivery. In such event, Inverness
shall reimburse Chembio for all reasonable resulting costs incurred
by Chembio
and notified by Chembio to Inverness within seven (7) days after
alteration of
the purchase order.
7.4 Shipment
Terms
.
HIV
Cassette Product ordered by Inverness shall be shipped FOB, point
of
manufacture, with the carrier and to the destination specified
in the Purchase
Order.
7.5 Acceptance
.
Within
twenty (20) days after receipt of any HIV Cassette Products, Inverness
shall
inspect and, in its discretion, test the HIV Cassette Products
to determine
whether they conform in all material respects to the Specifications.
In the
event an HIV Cassette Product does not so conform, Inverness may
within such
twenty (20) day period (i) continue to test the HIV Cassette Product, or
(ii) return the non-conforming HIV Cassette Product and Documentation
to
Chembio, at Chembio’s expense, and any amounts paid by Inverness for the HIV
Cassette Product returned shall be refunded by Chembio to Inverness.
If
Inverness does not return a non-conforming HIV Cassette Product
within such
twenty (20) day period, it is deemed accepted.
7.6 Sales
Effort
.
Inverness shall use commercially reasonable efforts to launch,
promote, develop
a demand for the HIV Cassette Product, and to Exploit the HIV Cassette
Products
to the markets for which regulatory approvals have been obtained
in the United
States and perform such responsibilities diligently, with the objective
of
maximizing the sales potential of those products and promoting
the benefits
thereof in the most commercially beneficial manner.
7.7 Inverness
Responsibilities; Rights
.
In
connection with its responsibilities for distribution, marketing
and sales of
the HIV Cassette Products (as permitted in this Agreement), Inverness
shall
provide all sales force (including, without limitation, sales administration
and
training), order entry, customer service, reimbursement management,
medical
affairs, medical information, marketing (including all advertising
and
promotional expenditures), warehousing, physical distribution,
invoicing, credit
and collections, production forecasting and other related facilities
and
services as it deems necessary or desirable for such distribution,
marketing and
sales.
16
7.8 Marketing
Plans and Budgets
.
Inverness
shall prepare proposed marketing and promotional plans for the
HIV Cassette
Products (as permitted in this Agreement), which shall include
plans related to
the prelaunch, launch, promotion and sales of the HIV Cassette
Products and
which shall include but not be limited to pricing strategy, sales
targets,
forecasts for the number of sales representatives, copies of promotional
materials and a reasonably descriptive overview of the marketing
and advertising
campaigns proposed to be conducted (the "Marketing Plans"). Inverness
shall
review the proposed Marketing Plans with Chembio as soon as practicable
after
preparation and as frequently as may be required based upon Inverness’ usual
marketing campaign cycles, but in no case less that once each calendar
year
during the Term. Inverness shall consider comments from Chembio
on the Marketing
Plans in good faith, but Chembio shall have no right of approval
with respect to
such Marketing Plans. Inverness shall meet with Chembio at their
request but no
more than on a quarterly basis to discuss sales activity and results
in each
market segment.
8.
Trademarks
8.1.
Trademark
License
.
Chembio
hereby grants Inverness, to the extent that Chembio possesses such
rights, a
worldwide, royalty-free license during the Term to use the Chembio
Trademarks in
connection with any advertisement and promotion of the HIV Cassette
Products
authorized hereunder. All such use of the Chembio Trademarks shall
inure to the
benefit of Chembio. Inverness hereby grants Chembio a non-exclusive,
non-transferable license to use the Inverness Trademarks, but only
for the
purpose of labeling and packaging the HIV Cassette Products for
sale to
Inverness. All such use of the Inverness Trademarks shall inure
to the benefit
of Inverness. Neither party shall use or alter such marks in a
manner which may
jeopardize or diminish the other party’s rights to use them, and all notices of
rights therein and all notices of any patent and/or patent pending
rights to the
HIV Cassette Products shall be clearly designated in all written
materials in
which such marks are used.
8.2.
Compliance
with Law; Registration
.
Each
Party, in using the other Party’s trademarks, shall use such marks and/or names
only in such manner as will comply with the provisions of applicable
trademark
laws. Any and all trademark applications which are filed in any
jurisdiction for
a Party’s trademarks shall be filed by that Party and that Party shall
bear all
costs incurred in connection with such trademark applications and
registrations.
No trademark costs incurred by Chembio shall be included in Costs.
8.3.
Termination
.
The
licenses granted under Section 8.1
shall
terminate upon any termination of this Agreement, and thereafter
neither party
shall use the other party’s trade names, service marks, or trademarks except in
connection with sale by Inverness of HIV Cassette Products purchased
prior to
the termination of this Agreement.
8.4.
Labeling
.
Inverness
shall develop, produce and provide all labeling for the HIV Cassette
Products,
subject to Chembio’s approval. All materials referring or relating to the HIV
Cassette Products shall include the following in legible font:
“Manufactured by
Chembio Diagnostic Systems, Inc., Medford, NY for Inverness Medical
Innovations
under [patents no.s of Inverness Lateral Flow Patents] owned or
licensed by
Inverness Medical Innovations, Inc.”.
17
9.
Prosecution
and Enforcement of Licensed Intellectual Property.
9.1.
Prosecution
.
The
owner or Controller of Intellectual Property Rights (the “Patent
Owner”)
(for
example, Inverness in the case of the Inverness Lateral Flow Patents
and Chembio
in the case of the Chembio IP) shall have the sole right to prepare,
file,
prosecute, obtain and maintain throughout the world, and otherwise
take all
Patent Prosecution Actions with respect to its Intellectual Property
Rights as
such Patent Owner shall deem to be appropriate in its discretion.
Each Patent
Owner shall pay all Patent Costs incurred by it in connection with
the foregoing
activities and such Patent Costs shall not be deemed Costs hereunder.
If it
becomes necessary or desirable, the
other
Parties shall fully cooperate with the Patent Owner, at the Patent
Owner’s
request and expense, in connection with all Patent Prosecution
Actions; provided
that no Party shall be obligated to provide such cooperation if,
in its
reasonable business judgment, such cooperation would be adverse
to its interests
outside this Agreement.
9.2.
Enforcement
of Licensed Patents
.
The
Patent Owner shall have the sole right to enforce and defend any
of its
Intellectual Property Rights licensed hereunder, at its own expense.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, each of the Parties shall inform
the other
Parties promptly in writing of any alleged infringement, misuse
or
misappropriation by any Person of any Intellectual Property Rights
licensed
hereunder that affects the Exploitation of HIV Cassette Products
or other
products licensed hereunder, and the Parties shall reasonably consult
with each
other with respect to the strategy to resolve the alleged infringement,
misuse
or misappropriation. In the event that a Patent Owner shall initiate
an
infringement action or defend an action in accordance with this
Section, the
other Parties shall fully cooperate and supply such assistance
as reasonably
requested by the Patent Owner; provided that no Party shall be
obligated to
provide such cooperation if, in its reasonable business judgment,
such
cooperation would be adverse to its interests outside this Agreement.
10.
Confidentiality.
10.1.
Limited
Disclosure and Use
.
Each of
Inverness and Chembio shall hold in confidence any Confidential
Information
disclosed by any other Party or otherwise obtained by such Party
from any other
as a result of this Agreement, and each of Inverness and Chembio
shall protect
the confidentiality thereof with the same degree of care that it
exercises with
respect to its own information of a like nature, but in no event
less than
reasonable care. Without the prior written consent of the disclosing
Party, a
receiving Party shall not use, disclose, or distribute any Confidential
Information, in whole or in part, except as required to perform
such Party’s
obligations or exercise such Party’s rights hereunder. Access to the disclosing
Party’s Confidential Information shall be restricted to the receiving
Party’s
employees and agents, who, in each case, need to have access to
carry out a
permitted use and are bound in writing to maintain the confidentiality
of such
Confidential Information.
18
10.2.
Exceptions
.
The
obligations set forth in Section 10.1
shall
not apply to any portion of the Confidential Information that the
receiving
Party can demonstrate by legally sufficient evidence: (i) now or hereafter,
through no act or failure to act on the part of the receiving Party,
is or
becomes generally available; (ii) is known to the receiving Party at the
time of receiving such Confidential Information and not subject
to an obligation
of confidentiality to a Third Party; (iii) is hereafter furnished to the
receiving Party by a Third Party as a matter of right (and without
violating any
agreement with the disclosing Party) without restriction on use
or disclosure;
or (iv) is independently developed by the receiving Party without use of
any Confidential Information received from the other
Party.
In addition, each receiving Party may disclose Confidential Information
to the
extent such disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect Intellectual
Property
Rights to which such Party has a license hereunder, to prosecute
or defend
litigation, to comply with applicable law or regulation, to obtain
necessary or
desirable regulatory approvals, to respond to a valid order of
a court or other
governmental body or any political subdivision thereof, or to conduct
preclinical or clinical trials, provided that, other than with
respect to
disclosure for protecting Intellectual Property Rights, the receiving
Party
shall use reasonable efforts to secure confidential treatment of
such
Confidential Information required to be disclosed.
10.3.
Use
of Name; Disclosure of Terms of the Agreement
.
Except
as authorized in Section 8
hereof
or otherwise required by applicable law, regulation or the rules
of any
securities exchange on which such Party’s securities are listed, no Party shall
use the names of the other Parties in any publicity or advertising
without the
prior written approval of the other Parties, except that any Party
may disclose
that they have entered into this Agreement. Except as may be required
by
applicable law, regulation or the rules of any securities exchange
on which such
Party’s securities are listed, no Party shall disclose any terms or conditions
of this Agreement without the prior written consent of the other
Parties,
provided that a Party may disclose such terms and conditions to
any Third Party
with whom such Party has entered into or proposes to enter into
a business
relationship (including any transaction that would result in a
permitted
assignment in accordance with the terms and conditions of
Section 15.11),
provided any such Third Party is informed of the confidentiality
restrictions
herein with respect to such terms and conditions and agrees to
abide by such
restrictions.
10.4.
Effect
of Termination
.
Each
Party shall, upon termination of this Agreement, immediately discontinue
use of
the other’s Confidential Information. Within
a
reasonable time after termination of this Agreement, but in no
event later than
thirty (30) days thereafter, all materials containing such Confidential
Information shall be returned by the receiving Party or (with the
disclosing
Party’s prior written consent) destroyed, provided, however, that each
Party may
retain copies of Confidential Information in which the Party has
a licensed
interest that survives termination (e.g., as provided in Section
13.4
through
13.6).
10.5.
Survival
.
The
confidentiality obligations set forth in this Section 10
shall
survive any termination or expiration of this Agreement in perpetuity
.
19
11.
Representations;
Warranties.
11.1.
Corporate
Power
.
Each
Party represents to the other Parties that it has full corporate
power and
authority to enter into this Agreement and to carry out the provisions
hereof.
Each Party represents to the other that this Agreement constitutes
a valid and
binding agreement, enforceable against it in accordance with its
terms.
11.2.
No
Default or Violation
.
Each
Party represents and warrants to the other Parties that the execution,
delivery
and performance of this Agreement does not (i) violate or require
any
registration, qualification, consent, approval, or filing under, (1) any
law, statute, ordinance, rule or regulation, or (2) any judgment,
injunction, order, writ or decree of any court, arbitrator, or
governmental
entity by which such Party or any of its assets or properties may
be bound or
(ii) conflict with, require any consent, approval, or filing under,
result in
the breach or termination of any provision of, constitute a default
under,
result in the acceleration of the performance of any obligations
under, result
in the vesting or enhancement of any other Person’s rights under, or result in
the creation of any lien upon any of such Party’s properties, assets, or
businesses pursuant to (x) its organizing documents or By-Laws
or (y) any
material indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, license, permit, approval,
consent,
franchise, lease, contract, or other instrument or agreement to
which such Party
is a Party or by which such Party or any of such Party’s properties or assets is
bound.
11.3.
Licensed
Intellectual Property
.
Each Party licensing any Intellectual Property
Rights (a “Licensor”)
to any
other Party hereunder (a “Licensee”)
represents and warrants to each such Licensee that: (a) it has
the full
right,
title
and
authority to grant to Licensee the licenses granted hereunder;
and (b) to the
best of the Licensor’s knowledge and except as otherwise disclosed to the
Licensee, all such licensed Patent Rights existing as of the Effective
Date are
valid and enforceable, and all patents, if any, issuing on any
of the pending
patent applications of the Patent Rights existing of the Effective
Date will be
valid and enforceable.
11.4.
Regulatory Matters
.
Chembio
represents and warrants to Inverness that, at the time when HIV
Cassette
Products are delivered, it will have obtained regulatory approval
under the Act
which is required to permit Chembio to manufacture the HIV Cassette
Products and
sell the HIV Cassette Products to qualified customers in the United
States
professional market for use by such customers in accordance with
and subject to
the limitations contained within the information contained within
Schedule D
hereof and information related to the HIV Cassette Products that
is listed by
the FDA. Chembio represents and warrants that, with respect to
the manufacture
of the HIV Cassette Products, Chembio will comply with the requirements
of the
Act, and to the best of its knowledge, all other applicable federal
and state
laws.
11.5.
Product
Quality
.
Chembio
represents and warrants that:
(a)
Each
unit of HIV Cassette Product sold to Inverness hereunder shall
be manufactured
in accordance with and shall comply, at the time of delivery to
Inverness, in
all material respects with the applicable Specifications therefor,
shall perform
as intended in all material respects, and shall otherwise be free
from defects
in material and workmanship; and each unit of HIV Cassette Product
sold to
Inverness hereunder will not, at the time of delivery, be adulterated
or
misbranded within the meaning of the Act or within the meaning
of any
jurisdiction in which the definitions of misbranding and adulteration
are
substantially the same as in the Act, nor will any such unit of
HIV Cassette
Product, at the time of delivery to Inverness, be an article which
may not,
under the Act, be introduced into interstate commerce.
20
(b)
In
the event any unit(s) of HIV Cassette Product does not conform
with a warranty
set forth in Section 11.5(a)
applicable thereto, Inverness or an Affiliate of Inverness may
return such
unit(s) of HIV Cassette Product within twenty (20 days of its receipt
to Chembio
and, in the event Inverness or an Affiliate of Inverness does so,
Chembio,
within thirty (30) days of its receipt of the return, shall either;
(a) refund or credit Inverness’s account in an amount equal to the purchase
price paid by Inverness for such unit(s) of non-conforming HIV
Cassette Product,
as the case may be, plus freight and insurance charges incurred
by Inverness
and/or its Affiliate incident to the original and return shipment,
as documented
by Inverness, or (b) replace, without charge, the non-conforming unit(s) of
HIV Cassette Product, as the case may be, with an equivalent number
of like
unit(s) HIV Cassette Product, as the case may be, conforming with
the applicable
warranties set forth in Section 11.5(a)
and
refund or credit Inverness’s account in an amount equal to said original and
return freight and insurance charges incurred as documented by
Inverness. The
cost of returned units and freight and insurance charges hereunder
shall not be
included in Costs.
11.6.
Exclusion
of Other Representations and Warranties
.
EXCEPT
AS EXPRESSLY SET FORTH IN THIS AGREEMENT, NO PARTY MAKES ANY REPRESENTATIONS
OR
WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY
REPRESENTATIONS
OR WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
OR
NON-INFRINGEMENT. NO PARTY WARRANTS THAT THE OTHER PARTIES WILL
RECEIVE ANY
PARTICULAR AMOUNT, OR ANY, REVENUES OR PROFITS AS A RESULT OF ENTERING
INTO THE
BUSINESS ARRANGEMENTS DESCRIBED IN THIS AGREEMENT.
12.
Indemnification
12.1.
By
Manufacturer
.
Each
Party that manufactures, either directly or through a contract
manufacturer, any
HIV Cassette Product hereunder (a “Manufacturer”)
hereby
agrees to indemnify, defend (using counsel selected by the Manufacturer
which is
reasonably acceptable to the other Party) and hold harmless the
other Party, its
Affiliates and their respective Distributors and customers, from
and against any
and all liabilities, losses, (exclusive of lost profits) damages,
costs and
expenses (including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees, court
costs, and out-of pocket expenses) suffered or incurred which arise
or result
from: (i) the material breach of any warranty or representation
of the
Manufacturer contained in this Agreement; (ii) any third party
claim of personal
injury (including death) or property damage arising in connection
with any HIV
Cassette Product manufactured by or for the Manufacturer; (iii)
any material
failure by the Manufacturer to perform any of the covenants, agreements
or
obligations of the Manufacturer contained in this Agreement; or
(iv) any third
party claim alleging that the manufacture, use, sale, offer for
sale, import or
export of the HIV Cassette Products manufactured by or for the
Manufacturer
infringes the proprietary rights of the third party claimant.
21
12.2.
By
Sellers
.
Each
seller of any HIV Cassette Product hereunder (a “Seller”)
hereby
agrees to indemnify, defend (using counsel selected by the Seller
which is
reasonably acceptable to the other Party) and hold harmless the
other Party from
and against any and all liabilities, losses (exclusive of lost
profits),
damages, costs, and expenses (including, without limitation, reasonable
attorneys’ fees, court costs, and out-of pocket expenses) suffered or incurred
by the other Party which arise or result from: (i) the material
breach of any
warranty or any representation of the Seller contained in this
Agreement; (ii)
any material failure by the Seller to perform any of its covenants,
agreements,
or obligations contained in this Agreement; or (iii) the promotion
and sale by
the Seller or any Affiliate or Distributor of the Seller of any
HIV Cassette
Product, except to the extent covered by the Manufacturer’s defense and
indemnification obligations under Section 12.1.
12.3.
Notice
of Claims
.
Within
thirty (30) days after a Person seeking indemnification hereunder
(hereinafter
the “Indemnified
Party”)
has
received notice of or has acquired knowledge of any claim by any
Person not a
Party to this Agreement of the commencement or threatened commencement
of any
action or proceeding by any Person not a Party to this Agreement
(“third
party claim”)
or has
acquired knowledge of any other claim hereunder against another
Party hereto
(“first
party claim”)
the
Indemnified Party shall, if such claim is indemnifiable by the
other Party
pursuant hereto (hereinafter the “Indemnifying
Party”),
give
the Indemnifying Party written notice of such claim and the commencement
or
threatened commencement of such action or proceeding, if any. Such
notice shall
state the nature and basis of such claim, and, if ascertainable,
the amount
thereof. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the failure of the Indemnified
Party to
give such notice shall not excuse the Indemnifying Party’s obligation to
indemnify and, in the case of a third party claim, defend the Indemnified
Party,
except to the extent the Indemnifying Party has suffered damage
or prejudice by
reason of the Indemnified Party’s failure to give or delay in giving such
notice. Within ten (10) business days of receipt of any notice
issued by the
Indemnified Party pursuant to this Section 12.3,
the
Indemnifying Party shall notify the Indemnified Party whether the
Indemnifying
Party acknowledges its indemnification obligation and, in the case
of a third
party claim, its defense obligation with respect to the claim which
was the
subject of the Indemnified Party’s notice or whether it disclaims such
obligations. In the event the Indemnifying Party disclaims or fails
to timely
acknowledge its obligations with respect to any claim by the Indemnified
Party
relating to any third party claim, the Indemnified Party shall
have the right to
defend such claim, with counsel of its own selection, and compromise
such claim
without prejudice to its right to indemnification hereunder. In
the event the
Indemnifying Party timely acknowledges its obligations hereunder
with respect to
any third party claim, the Indemnifying Party shall defend the
same with counsel
in accordance with this Section. Where the Indemnifying Party shall
have
acknowledged in writing its obligations hereunder with respect
to any third
party claim, the Indemnified Party may, at its expense, participate
in the
defense of such third party claim and no such third party claim
shall be settled
by the Indemnified Party without the prior written consent of the
Indemnifying
Party which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed.
At any time
after the Indemnifying Party acknowledges its obligations hereunder
with respect
to any third party claim, the Indemnifying Party may request the
Indemnified
Party to agree in writing to the payment or compromise of such
third party claim
(provided such payment or compromise has been previously approved
in writing by
the third party claimant), and, in the event the Indemnifying Party
does so, the
Indemnified Party shall promptly agree in writing to such settlement,
unless
such settlement would involve a remedy or remedies, other than
the payment of
money damages by the Indemnifying Party, to which the Indemnified
Party
reasonably objects.
22
12.4.
Disputes
.
In
the
event any party to this Agreement makes a claim against another
Party under this
Section 12
or in
any way relating to or arising under this Agreement and further
in the event the
Party receiving notice of such claim fails to timely acknowledge
its obligations
hereunder with respect to such claim or disclaims such obligations,
the relevant
Parties, within forty (40) days of the date of issuance of notice
by the Party
making such claim, shall meet and attempt to resolve in good faith
the dispute
between or among the Parties with respect to such claim. If the
Parties fail to
resolve such dispute within seventy-five (75) days of the date
of issuance of
notice by the Party making such claim, the Party making such claim
may
thereafter commence to arbitrate the claim in accordance with the
provisions set
forth in Section 15.8.
Upon
resolution of any claim referred to in this Section 12,
whether
by agreement between the Parties to this Agreement or the rendering
of a final
arbitration award, the appropriate Party under such agreement or
the Party
against which the arbitration award is rendered shall, within ten
(10) days of
such resolution, pay over and deliver to the other Party funds
in the amount of
any claim as resolved.
13.
Term
and Termination.
13.1.
Term
of Agreement
.
Unless
otherwise terminated as expressly provided herein or with respect
to any
perpetual licenses granted herein, with respect to each HIV Cassette
Product,
the licenses granted and appointments made hereunder shall commence
on the
Effective Date and continue until May 31, 2016 (the “Term”).
13.2.
Material
Breach
.
If a
Party:
(a)
materially breaches this Agreement in a manner which cannot be
cured;
(b)
materially breaches this Agreement in a manner that can be cured
and a Party has
failed to take steps to begin to cure within ninety (90) days following
written
notice of breach by the Party or Parties affected by the breach
or is not
diligently pursuing a cure thereafter; or
(c)
is
subject to a petition for relief under any bankruptcy legislation,
or makes an
assignment for the benefit of creditors, or is subject to the appointment
of a
receiver for all or a substantial part of the Party’s assets, and such petition,
assignment or appointment, if involuntary, is not dismissed or
vacated within
ninety (90) days (each an “Insolvency
Event”),
23
then,
on
each such occasion, the non-breaching Party shall have the right
to exercise one
or more of the following remedies: (x) upon written notice by the
non-breaching Party to the breaching Party within thirty (30) days
of the end of
the applicable cure period (if any) (assuming that the non-breaching
Party has
not already given such a notice upon the occurrence of a prior
material, uncured
breach by the breaching Party), the non-breaching Party shall have
the right to
seek monetary damages for such material breach within the limitations
set forth
in Section 14
hereof
and/or equitable relief to prevent such material breach from continuing
or
occurring again in the future; and, at its option, the non-breaching
Party shall
have the right to terminate the rights of the breaching Party licensed
hereunder
upon written notice to breaching Party. Notwithstanding the foregoing,
the
obligations of the breaching Party, including the licenses granted
and
appointments made hereunder to the non-breaching Parties shall
continue unless
the non-breaching Party agrees that such licenses and appointments
shall
terminate. Notwithstanding
the foregoing, if Chembio shall be enjoined from supplying HIV
Cassette Products
to Inverness because of a lawsuit regarding Intellectual Property
Rights of a
Third Party, or Inverness shall be enjoined from selling HIV Cassette
Products
because of a lawsuit regarding Intellectual Property Rights of
a Third Party,
and such injunction shall in either case cause a material breach
of this
Agreement, the non-breaching Party shall not have the right to
seek monetary
damages for such material breach. Whenever
a breach occurs and such breach can be cured in a timely manner,
the
non-breaching Party shall cooperate with the Party in breach and
take reasonable
steps (at the cost of the breaching Party) to allow the breaching
Party to cure
the breach.
13.3.
Section
365(n); Agreement to Deliver Embodiments
.
All
rights and licenses granted under or pursuant to this Agreement
are, and shall
otherwise be deemed to be, for purposes of Section 365(n) of Title
11, U.S. Code
(the “Bankruptcy
Code”),
licenses of rights to “intellectual property” as defined in the Bankruptcy Code.
The Parties agree that the licensee of such rights shall retain
and may fully
exercise all of its rights and elections under the Bankruptcy Code.
Chembio
agrees during the term of this Agreement to create and maintain
current copies
or, if not amenable to copying, detailed descriptions or other
appropriate
embodiments, of all intellectual property and Technology used in
the manufacture
of the HIV Cassette Products (“Escrow
Materials”).
Chembio
hereby grants to Inverness, with effect from the Effective Date,
a
non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual license under the Chembio
IP to use the
Escrow Materials to Exploit the HIV Products, and, if Chembio fails
to supply
HIV Products to Inverness as required by this Agreement, to manufacture
and have
manufactured the HIV Products; provided however that Inverness
shall not
exercise such license unless Chembio suffers an Insolvency Event.
In
the
event that Inverness obtains the right to manufacture the HIV Cassette
Products
in accordance with this Agreement, Inverness shall be entitled
to copies of all
Escrow Materials. All rights, powers and remedies of the Inverness
provided
under this Section 13.3
are in
addition to and not in substitution for any and all other rights,
powers and
remedies now or hereafter existing at law or in equity in the event
of any such
commencement of a bankruptcy proceeding by or against the Chembio.
13.4.
Effect
of Termination for Breach by Inverness
.
Upon
any
termination made in accordance with Section 3(b)(ii)
by
Chembio for sale of a Permitted Competing Product, or in accordance
with Section
13.2(a)
or
13.2(b)
by
Chembio for breach by Inverness:
(a)
The
license grants contained in Section 2.2,
and the
non-compete obligations in Section 3, shall terminate;
24
(b)
Inverness may sell any inventory of HIV Cassette Products in its
possession at
the effective date of termination, but shall have no further right
to Exploit
the HIV Cassette Products; and
(c)
on
and subject to the limitations set forth in this Agreement, Chembio
shall have a
perpetual, irrevocable, non-transferable, non-exclusive, license,
without right
to sub-license, under the Inverness Lateral Flow Patents to Exploit
the HIV
Cassette Product in the United States itself or through Third parties,
at a
royalty of 8.5% of Net Sales in the United States, subject to the
royalty
payment limitations set forth in 5.5(a),
5.5(b)
and
5.5(c).
13.5.
Effect
of Termination for Breach by Chembio
.
Upon
any
termination made in accordance with Section 13.2(a)
or
13.2(b)
by
Inverness for breach by Chembio:
(a)
The
license grant contained in Sections 2.2
shall
automatically be expanded to permit Inverness to manufacture or
have
manufactured the HIV Cassette Product, and such licenses shall
continue after
termination and shall be perpetual and irrevocable, subject to
payment of
royalties of five percent (5%) of Net Sales in Developing Countries,
and eight
and a half percent (8.5%) of Net Sales in the Rest of the World
excluding
Developing Countries; and
(b)
Chembio shall, at the written request of Inverness and at no cost
to Inverness,
provide copies of all technical information, including all Technology
in the
Chembio IP, reasonably necessary for Inverness to manufacture,
have manufactured
and Exploit the HIV Cassette Products.
13.6.
Survival
.
No
expiration or termination of this Agreement shall affect any rights
or
liabilities of the Parties which may have accrued prior to the
date of
expiration or termination. Notwithstanding anything herein to the
contrary, upon
any expiration or termination of this Agreement, in addition to
any provisions
that by their terms survive, the provisions of Sections 5.7,
9,
10,
11.5(b),
12,
13.3,
13.4,
13.5,
13.6,
14
and
15
shall survive and shall continue in full force and effect in accordance
with
their respective terms.
14.
Limitation
of Liability.
14.1.
Exclusion
of Liability for Certain Damages
.
EXCEPT
FOR BREACHES OF ITS CONFIDENTIALITY OBLIGATIONS HEREUNDER AND FOR
VIOLATIONS OF
ANOTHER PARTY’S INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AND FOR DAMAGES CAUSED BY A PARTY’S
GROSS NEGLIGENCE OR INTENTIONAL MISCONDUCT, IN NO EVENT SHALL A
PARTY BE LIABLE
TO THE OTHER PARTY FOR SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES,
INCLUDING,
WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, PROFITS,
BUSINESS OR
GOODWILL, WHETHER OR NOT THE PARTY ALLEGEDLY CAUSING THE DAMAGE
HAS BEEN ADVISED
OF THE POSSIBILITY THEREOF. THIS SECTION 14
SHALL
NOT BE CONSTRUED TO LIMIT ANY PARTY’S INDEMNIFICATION OBLIGATIONS UNDER SECTION
12
HEREOF.
25
14.2.
Limitation
on Liability for Direct Damages
.
EXCEPT
FOR BREACHES OF ITS CONFIDENTIALITY OBLIGATIONS HEREUNDER AND FOR
VIOLATIONS OF
ANOTHER PARTY’S INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS, FOR DAMAGES CAUSED BY A PARTY’S
GROSS NEGLIGENCE OR INTENTIONAL MISCONDUCT, OR FOR ANY PARTY’S INDEMNIFICATION
OBLIGATIONS UNDER SECTION 12
HEREOF,
EACH PARTY’S MAXIMUM AGGREGATE LIABILITY TO THE OTHER PARTY SHALL IN NO EVENT
EXCEED THE AMOUNT OF $1 MILLION, WHETHER SUCH DAMAGES ARISE IN
CONTRACT, TORT
(INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE.
15.
General.
15.1.
Waivers
and Amendments.
(a)
This
Agreement may be amended, modified or supplemented only by a written
instrument
executed by the Parties hereto.
(b)
No
waiver of any provision of this Agreement, or consent to any departure
from the
terms hereof, shall be effective unless the same shall be in writing
and signed
by the Party waiving or consenting thereto. No failure on the part
of any Party
to exercise, and no delay in exercising, any right or remedy hereunder
shall
operate as a waiver thereof, nor shall any single or partial exercise
of any
such right or remedy by such Party preclude any other or further
exercise
thereof or the exercise of any other right or remedy. The waiver
by any Party
hereto of a breach of any provision of this Agreement shall not
operate as a
waiver of any subsequent breach. All rights and remedies hereunder
are
cumulative and are in addition to and not exclusive of any other
rights and
remedies provided by law.
15.2.
Entire
Agreement
.
This
Agreement, the Schedules hereto and the Related Documents constitute
the entire
agreement among the Parties hereto with respect to the subject
matter hereof and
supersede all prior agreements and understandings, whether written
or oral,
among the Parties, or any of the Parties, in connection with such
subject
matter.
15.3.
Severability
.
If any
provision of this Agreement is found invalid or unenforceable by
a court of
competent jurisdiction, such provision shall be enforced to the
maximum extent
permissible by law and the other provisions of this Agreement shall
remain in
full force and effect.
15.4.
Relationship
of the Parties
.
This
Agreement shall not constitute any Party the agent or legal representative
of
any other Party for any purpose whatsoever, and no Party shall
hold itself out
as an agent of any other Party. This Agreement creates no relationship
of joint
venturers, partners, associates, employment or principal and agent
between or
among the Parties, and each of the Parties is acting as an independent
contractor. No Party is granted herein any right or authority to,
and shall not
attempt to, assume or create any obligation or responsibility for
or on behalf
of any other Party. No Party shall have any authority to bind any
other Party to
any contract, whether of employment or otherwise, and each Party
shall bear all
of their respective expenses for its operations, including, without
limitation,
the compensation of its employees and salespersons and the maintenance
of its
offices, service and warehouse facilities. Each Party shall each
be solely
responsible for its own employees and salespersons and for their
acts and the
things done by them.
26
15.5.
No
Election of Remedies
.
The
rights and remedies accorded herein are cumulative and in addition
to those
provided by law, and may be exercised separately, concurrently,
or
successively.
15.6.
Notices
.
All
notices and other communications hereunder shall be in writing
and shall be
deemed given if delivered personally, telecopied (with confirmation)
or mailed
by registered or certified mail (return receipt requested) or delivered
by
recognized courier service providing evidence of delivery to the
Parties at the
following addresses:
(a)
if to
Chembio, to:
Chembio
Diagnostic Systems, Inc.
0000
Xxxxxxxxxx Xxxx
Xxxxxxx,
Xxx Xxxx 00000
Attention:
Xxxxxxxx X. Xxxxxxx, President
Telecopier
No.: (000) 000-0000
with
a
copy to:
Ruskin
Moscou Faltischek, P.C.
0000
Xxxxxxx Xxxxx
00xx
Xxxxx,
Xxxx Xxxxx
Xxxxxxxxx,
Xxx Xxxx 00000
Attention:
Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxxxxxx, Esq.,
Telecopier
No.: (000) 000-0000
(b)
if to
Inverness, to:
Inverness
Medical Innovations, Inc.
00
Xxxxxx
Xxxx,
Xxxxxxx
XX 00000
Attention:
General Counsel’s office
Telecopier:
(000) 000 0000
or
at
such other address for a Party as shall be specified by like
notice.
15.7.
Governing
Law
.
This
Agreement shall be governed by, and construed and enforced in accordance
with,
the substantive laws of the State of
New York , without giving
effect to its
conflicts of laws rules.
27
15.8.
Dispute
Resolution
.
In
the
event of any dispute or disagreement between or among any of the
Parties as to
the interpretation of any provision of this Agreement or the performance
of any
obligations hereunder, the matter, upon written request of any
Party, shall be
referred to mediation and arbitration in accordance with the procedures
set
forth in Schedule H to this Agreement.
15.9.
Waiver
of Jury Trial
.
The
Parties each hereby irrevocably and unconditionally waives all
rights to trial
by jury in any legal action, proceeding or counterclaim with respect
to any
matter whatsoever arising out of or in connection with or related
to this
Agreement or the enforcement thereof.
15.10.
Counterparts
.
This
Agreement may be executed in two or more counterparts, all of which
shall be
considered one and the same agreement and shall become effective
when two or
more counterparts have been signed by each of the Parties and delivered
to the
other Parties, it being understood that all Parties need not sign
the same
counterpart. Facsimile execution and delivery of this Agreement
by any of the
Parties shall be legal, valid and binding execution and delivery
of such
document for all purposes.
15.11.
Assignment
.
This
Agreement is personal to each of the Parties, and no Party shall
assign any of
its rights or delegate any of its obligations hereunder, including
without
limitation by operation of law, Change of Control or otherwise,
without the
prior written consent of the other Party, which consent shall not
be
unreasonably withheld or delayed, provided,
however, that without
the consent of Chembio, Inverness may (i) assign its rights under
this Agreement
and delegate its obligations hereunder, in whole or in part, to
any Person that
shall acquire the business of Inverness to which this Agreement
relates, or to
any Affiliate of such Party, if the assignee shall assume Inverness’ obligations
hereunder in writing, and (ii) assign this Agreement in connection
with a sale
or transfer of substantially all of the assets of, or a majority
interest in the
voting shares of, Inverness or its corporate parent to, or the
merger or
consolidation of Inverness or its corporate parent with or into,
any other
Person. In this paragraph, “Change of Control” means any sale of the equity
securities of a Party following which the equity holders of such
Party
immediately prior to such sale own, directly or indirectly, less
than 50% of the
combined voting power of the outstanding voting securities of such
Party, other
than in a transaction involving a sale of equity securities for
the purpose of
raising capital to a group of financial investors in which not
less than 50% of
such equity securities are purchased by a recognized venture capital
or private
equity fund or funds and where the management of the selling Party
before the
financing is substantially the same as the management of such Party
after the
financing.
15.12.
Force
Majeure
.
No
Party shall be liable for failure to perform any of its obligations
under this
Agreement when such failure is due to fire, flood, strikes, labor
troubles or
other industrial disturbances, legal restriction, riot, insurrection,
or any
other cause beyond the reasonable ability of the Party affected
thereby to
foresee and avoid, and without such party’s fault or negligence (“Force
Majeure”), provided that any Party claiming the existence of Force Majeure
shall
give notice to the other parties not more than seven (7) days after
the
commencement of the event of Force Majeure, and shall use prompt
and diligent
efforts to mitigate the effects of Force Majeure. In the event
that any event of
Force Majeure prevents performance for sixty (60) days or more,
any other party
may terminate this Agreement on written notice to all parties.
28
15.13.
Further
Assurances
.
Each
Party hereto will, upon the request of the other Party and without
further
consideration, execute and deliver such other instruments, and
take such other
actions, as such other Party may reasonably request, and at the
other Party’s
expense, to more effectively and efficiently carry out the covenants,
licenses
and agreements of the Parties set forth in this Agreement and consummate
the
transactions contemplated by this Agreement. Without limitation
of the
foregoing, each exclusive licensee of rights granted hereunder
shall have the
right, at its sole cost and expense, to register, record and otherwise
document
such exclusive license in any country where there are any pending
or issued
Patent Rights. Such licensee may require that the other Party execute
a “short
form” license in order to effect the foregoing registration, recordal
or other
documentation in any such country, and may record such short form
license, but
no short form license shall in any way alter or otherwise affect
the rights and
obligations of the Parties hereunder.
[remainder
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29
*
*
*
IN
WITNESS WHEREOF, the Parties have executed, or caused their duly
authorized
representatives to execute, this Agreement under seal as of the
date first
written above.
Chembio
Diagnostic Systems, Inc.
By:
Title:
Inverness
Medical Innovations, Inc.
By:
Title:
[Signature
page to HIV Cassette License, Marketing and
Distribution Agreement]