Terms of Use

McCrone.com (including, but not limited to, the following related forwarding domains mccroneassociates.com, mccronemicroscopes.com, hookecollege.com, mccroneatlas.com, modernmicroscopy.com, and benchtopsem.com) is an online information, reference, and knowledge Website (“Site”) owned and operated by The McCrone Group, Inc. of Westmont, Illinois (“TMG”), consisting of information services and proprietary content, links, search capabilities provided by TMG and third parties. The terms, conditions and notices below (“Terms of Use”) govern your use of this Site and any electronic services (collectively, the “Services”) provided by TMG. This Site is available for use by you conditioned on your agreement without modification to these Terms of Use. If you do not agree with these Terms of Use, please do not use this Site. TMG reserves the right to change, modify, add, or remove portions of these Terms of Use at any time. Your use of this Site following the posting of any changes constitutes your acceptance of the changes.

Intellectual Property Protection

The Site, including, without limitation, site layout, “look and feel,” functionalities, design, text, images, photographs, graphics, video and audio content (“Materials”) are the property of TMG or third parties and are protected by copyright, trademark, international treaties and/or other proprietary rights and laws of the U.S. and other countries. All individual articles, columns and other elements making up the Site are also copyrighted works. The trademarks, service marks, trade names, trade dress, logos, designs, and sounds associated with this Site are owned by TMG, or third parties who have authorized their use. You may not publish, copy, display, distribute, transmit, perform, modify, create derivative works from, frame or sell any Materials, information, products, or services obtained from this Site without prior written consent from TMG, and/or as described in these Terms of Use. TMG (or its licensors, as appropriate) retains all right, title, and interest to the Materials. You agree to abide by all applicable copyright, trademark, and other laws, as well as any additional copyright notices or restrictions contained in this Site.

Use of and Downloading Materials

Except as otherwise provided herein, you may not print or download any Materials for any commercial purpose without the written permission of TMG. Requests for permissions in connection with the Materials should be sent via our contact form. Materials may be used only for your personal, non-commercial use, provided you do not remove or alter, or cause to be removed or altered, any copyright, trademark, trade name, service mark, or any other proprietary notices or legends appearing on any of the Materials. You may not engage in systematic retrieval of data or other Materials from this Site to create or compile, directly or indirectly, a collection, compilation, database, or directory without written permission from TMG, nor may you mirror on your own site, or other publication, the home page or results pages of this Site. Use of the Materials on this Site for any purpose not expressly permitted in these Terms of Use is prohibited. If you (or a legal entity for which you are an officer, director, employee, or other agent) own and operate a Web site or engage in other Internet activity, such as electronic commerce, communication, publishing and transmission, and want to download, post, publish, or use Materials for any such Web site or Internet activity, you will need permission from TMG, even if your Web site or Internet activity is free of charge.

User Comments, Feedback, and Other Submissions

All comments, feedback, suggestions, ideas, and other submissions disclosed, submitted or offered to TMG on or by this Site or otherwise disclosed, submitted or offered in connection with your use of this Site (collectively, “Comments”) shall be become and remain the property of TMG. Such disclosure, submission or offer of any Comments shall constitute an assignment to TMG of all rights, titles and interests in all copyrights and other intellectual properties in the Comments. Thus, TMG will own exclusively all such rights, titles, and interests and shall not be limited in any way in its use, commercial or otherwise, of any Comments. TMG is and shall be under no obligation (1) to maintain any Comments in confidence; (2) to pay to user any compensation for any Comments; or (3) to respond to any user Comments. You agree that Comments submitted by you to this Site will not violate any right of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy or other personal or proprietary rights. You further agree that Comments submitted by you to this Site will not be or contain libelous or otherwise unlawful, abusive, vulgar, obscene, defamatory, harassing, threatening or obscene material. Furthermore, you will not make any bigoted, hateful, or racially offensive statements, you will not advocate illegal activity or discuss illegal activities with the intent to commit them, and you will not post or distribute any chain letters, spam or software or other materials that contain a virus or other harmful component.

Membership, Password, and Security

The use of some of the Services and Materials offered by TMG on this Site may require you to be member or register with TMG. To register you must complete the registration process by providing us with current, complete, and accurate information as prompted by the applicable registration form. When you register, you will choose a username and password. You are entirely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your username and password and are responsible for all activity under your username and password. You may not use anyone else’s username or password and you must not permit others to use your user name or password Your access to this Site is limited to one user session; concurrent sessions using an identical username and password combination are prohibited. You agree to notify TMG immediately of any unauthorized use of your username and/or password or any other breach of these Terms of Use or the security of the Site. TMG will not be liable for any loss that you may incur as a result of the misuse of a password or account, either with or without your knowledge.

No Unlawful or Prohibited Use

You agree not to use the Services or Materials for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these Terms of Use. You agree not to post or submit on this Site any material that (a) infringes on the copyrights, trade secret, trademark, or other intellectual property rights; (b) violates the privacy or publicity rights of others; (c) is obscene, defamatory, threatening, harassing, abusive, hateful, or embarrassing to another party; (d) impersonates another person; or (e) is otherwise inconsistent with TMG’s goodwill and commercial image. You further agree not to submit any materials that contain viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, cancelbots or other computer programming routines or engines that are intended to damage, detrimentally interfere with, surreptitiously intercept or expropriate any system, data or information. You may not attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Services, other accounts, computer systems or networks connected to these Sites through hacking, password mining or any other means. You agree that you will not use any robot, spider, other automatic device, or manual process to monitor or copy pages of these Sites or the content contained herein without our express prior written permission. TMG has the right, but not the obligation, to monitor, edit or remove any content from these Sites if we believe that it violates these Terms of Use.

Privacy Policy

Personal Information collected from you through use of the Site is subject to our Privacy Policy. For more information, see our Privacy Policy.

Linking to Third Party Sites from mccrone.com

This Site may contain links to other Web sites or resources (“Linked Sites”). Hyperlinks to other Internet resources are provided for your convenience. You acknowledge and agree that TMG is not responsible for the availability of such external sites or resources, does not endorse and is not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products, or other materials on or available from such Linked Sites or resources and shall not be liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused by the use or reliance on such Linked Sites. You access, use, and rely upon such Linked Sites at your own risk.

Linking to mccrone.com from Third Party Sites

Any linking to areas of this Site other than the homepage is strictly prohibited without prior written consent by TMG. At any time, even after written consent is granted, TMG reserves the right to object to or request removal or correction of any link that is determined by TMG in its sole judgment to be inappropriate or inconsistent with the Site’s image and reputation. You shall not, and shall not authorize any other person to co-brand the Site or portion thereof, or frame the Site or portion thereof (whereby the Site or portion thereof will appear on the same screen with a portion of another site). “Co-branding” means to display a name, logo, trademark, or other means of attribution or identification of any party in such a manner reasonably likely to give a user the impression that such other party has the right to display, publish, or distribute the Site or Material accessible with the Site. You agree and acknowledge that TMG must grant written consent before deep-linking, framing, co-branding, or other activity impacting the access to or the use of this Site is performed. Failure to obtain such consent may result in an infringement claim or other legal action being brought. You agree to cooperate with TMG in causing any unauthorized deep-linking, framing, co-branding, or other activity impacting the access to or the use of our Site to immediately cease.

Disclaimer of Warranties

YOU AGREE AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT NEITHER TMG, NOR ANY THIRD-PARTY CONTENT PROVIDERS, MAKES ANY WARRANTY WHATSOEVER, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION: THAT THE OPERATION OF THE SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE; THAT DEFECTS IN THE SITE WILL BE CORRECTED; THAT THIS SITE, INCLUDING THE SERVER THAT MAKES IT AVAILABLE, IS FREE OF INFECTION, VIRUSES, WORMS, TROJAN HORSES, OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS OR OTHER CODE THAT MANIFEST CONTAMINATING OR DESTRUCTIVE PROPERTIES; AS TO THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM USE OF THE MATERIALS ON THE SITE; OR AS TO THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, AVAILABILITY, SUITABILITY, QUALITY, OR OPERATION OF ANY INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, OR SERVICE PROVIDED ON OR ACCESSIBLE FROM THE SITE OR AS TO ANY INFORMATION, PRODUCTS, OR SERVICES ON THE INTERNET IN ANY WAY. IN ADDITION, TMG DOES NOT ASSUME ANY RESPONSIBILITY OR RISK FOR YOUR USE OF THE INTERNET. WE PROVIDE THIS SITE AND THE SERVICE, “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” AND WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY OR CONDITION, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE OPERATION OF THE SITE OR THE SERVICE, THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, COMPLETENESS, OR TIMELINESS OF THE CONTENT OR MATERIALS INCLUDED ON THE SITE OR THIS SERVICE, OR OTHERWISE. WE SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. YOU AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF MCCRONE.COM IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. YOU AGREE THAT TMG SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS OR DATA, ANY MATERIAL OR DATA SENT OR RECEIVED OR NOT SENT OR RECEIVED, OR ANY TRANSACTIONS ENTERED INTO THROUGH THIS SITE. YOU AGREE THAT TMG IS NOT RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY THREATENING, DEFAMATORY, OFFENSIVE OR ILLEGAL CONTENT OR CONDUCT OF ANY OTHER PARTY OR ANY INFRINGEMENT OF ANOTHER’S RIGHTS, INCLUDING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS. NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM TMG OR THROUGH OR FROM THE SERVICE SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THIS AGREEMENT.

Limitation of Liability

IN NO EVENT SHALL TMG, ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, OR OTHER AGENTS, CONSULTANTS, OR CONTENT PROVIDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL (INCLUDING LOSS OR REVENUE OR INCOME, PAIN AND SUFFERING, EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, OR SIMILAR DAMAGES), INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE USE, INABILITY TO USE, AUTHORIZED USE, PERFORMANCE, OR NONPERFORMANCE OF THIS SITE OR THE SERVICES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, EVEN IF TMG WAS PREVIOUSLY ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES AND REGARDLESS OF WHETHER SUCH DAMAGES ARISE IN CONTRACT, TORT, UNDER STATUTE, IN EQUITY, AT LAW, OR OTHERWISE. IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH ANY PORTION OF THE SITE OR ANY SERVICES, OR WITH ANY OF THIS AGREEMENT, YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY IS TO DISCONTINUE USING THE SITE AND SERVICES.

Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold TMG and its directors, officers, employees, shareholders, successors or heirs (the “Protected Entities”) harmless from any and all claims, liabilities, costs and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising in any way from your use of the Site or Services, or your breach or violation of the law or of these Terms of Use. TMG reserves the right, at its own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you, and in such case, you agree to cooperate with TMG’s defense of such claim.

Release

By using the Site and/or Service you hereby expressly release TMG and the Protected Entities from and against any and all claims, damages or related expenses or liabilities, including but not limited to indirect, incidental, consequential, special, general, exemplary or punitive damages, arising from, or directly or indirectly related to: (a) the use of, or the inability to use, the Service, your provision of information via the Service, any consequential damages, even if such Protected Entity has been advised of the possibility of such damages; (b) the purchase, receipt and/or use of any products or services obtained through the Service; (c) the activities of the Card issuer; or (d) any misprints or inaccuracies that may be found to exist on or in connection with the Service. YOU AGREE TO WAIVE YOUR RIGHTS IF ANY UNDER CALIFORNIA CIVIL CODE SECTION 1542, WHICH SAYS: “A GENERAL RELEASE DOES NOT EXTEND TO CLAIMS WHICH THE CREDITOR DOES NOT KNOW OR SUSPECT TO EXIST IN HIS FAVOR AT THE TIME OF EXECUTING THE RELEASE, WHICH IF KNOWN BY HIM MUST HAVE MATERIALLY AFFECTED HIS SETTLEMENT WITH THE DEBTOR.”

Termination

You agree that TMG, in its sole discretion and without notice, may terminate your password, account (or any part thereof) or access to or use of the Site and/or Services or any portion thereof, and remove and discard any content within the Site and/or Services, at any time and for any reason, including, without limitation, if TMG believes that you have violated or acted inconsistently with these Terms of Use. TMG reserves the right to prohibit or restrict access to the Site and/or the Services to anyone at any time, with or without cause. TMG may also in its sole discretion and at any time discontinue providing the Site and/or Services, or any part thereof, temporarily or permanently, without notice, at any time, for any reason. You agree that TMG shall not be liable to you or any third party for any termination of your access to the Site and/or Services or for any modification, suspension or discontinuation of the Site and/or Services.

Copyright Agent

If you believe that there is any content on the Sites that infringes your copyrighted work, please provide the following information to TMG’s Copyright Agent named below:
an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest;
a description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;
a description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on this Site;
your address, telephone number and email address;
a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law;
a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your Notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf.
TMG’s Copyright Agent for notice of claims of copyright infringement can be reached at: The McCrone Group, Inc. 850 Pasquinelli Drive, Westmont, IL 60559, United States, Attn: Copyright Agent. TMG’s Copyright Agent can also be reached by telephone at 630-887-7100, by facsimile at 630-887-7417, or via our contact form (Attn: Copyright Agent).

General

These Terms of Use are governed by the laws of the United States and the State of Illinois, without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of laws. You hereby irrevocably consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of courts in DuPage or Cook County, Illinois, U.S.A in all disputes arising out of or relating to the use this Site. You agree to indemnify and hold TMG, its executives, staff, consultants and content providers harmless from and against all losses, expenses, damages, and costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, resulting from your violation of these Terms of Use, including, without limitation, any use of Materials other than as expressly authorized by these Terms of Use.

Trademarks

All trademarks and/or service marks that appear throughout this Site are owned by TMG, its affiliates, or third-party trademark owners. Except as permitted by applicable laws, you are prohibited from using any of the marks appearing on this Site without express written consent from the respective trademark owners.

Acceptance of Terms of Use

By using this Site, you signify your agreement to the terms of these Terms of Use. If you do not agree to the terms, you must not use this Site. TMG may change the Terms of Use at any time, and your use of the Site after such changes are posted will mean that you accept them.

These Terms of Use were last modified on April 1, 2018.
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