Terms of Use

Last updated: January 31, 2023

‍Welcome to BranchLabs LLC (“BranchLabs” or “we” or “us”) website hosted at simplecerts.co (“Website” or “site”), the application (hereinafter “App” or “application”), and any other affiliate websites or apps related to BranchLabs (together, collectively the “Service”).

Please review the following Terms and Conditions concerning your use of and access to the Service. By accessing and/or using the Service, you agree to follow and be bound by these Terms and Conditions (these “Terms”). If you do not agree with these Terms, you may not use the Service. 

Notice of Arbitration Agreement and Class Action Waiver

This agreement includes a binding arbitration clause and a class action waiver, set forth below, which affect your rights about resolving any dispute with the company. Please read them carefully.

General Provisions

By using the Service, users (hereafter “You”, “Your”, “User” or “Users”) understand and agree that BranchLabs may share information about you with other companies for the purpose of providing, maintaining, protecting, and improving the Service.

Content and Accuracy of Information: We attempt to ensure that information on this Service is complete, accurate, and current. Despite our efforts, the information on this Service may be inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date. We make no representation as to the completeness, accuracy, or currentness of any information on this Service. 

Use of Service Content: All materials provided by the Service, including, but not limited to, information, images, graphics, logos, sounds, compilations, content, and services ("Materials" or “Content”) are protected by and subject to copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, and other laws and are owned or controlled by BranchLabs, or their respective partners, vendors, licensors, agents, and/or representatives (whether or not such persons are credited as the provider of the Content). BranchLabs reserves all rights in and to the Content not expressly granted to you hereunder. You shall have no rights to the Materials and you shall abide by all additional copyright notices, information, or restrictions contained in any Content accessed through the Service.

None of the Content may be modified, copied, stored, printed, reproduced, distributed, republished, hosted, performed, downloaded, displayed, posted, reposted, transmitted, and/or otherwise used in any form or by any means, including but not limited to electronic, mechanical, recording, or other means, without the prior express written permission of BranchLabs. Also, you may not "mirror" or “archive” any Content contained on the Service on any other server without BranchLabs’s prior express written permission.

User Content: All user content is the sole responsibility of the user posting the information, whether the information is shared publicly or privately transmitted. BranchLabs reserves the right to review and delete any user content that BranchLabs, in its sole discretion, determines to violate the terms of use or is illegal, offensive, or violates and/or harms any third party rights.

Software in our Service: When our Service includes or requires downloadable software, this software may be updated automatically on your device when a new version or feature becomes available. You may adjust your automatic update settings on your device. BranchLabs provides you with a personal, worldwide, royalty-free, non-assignable, and non-exclusive license to use the software provided by BranchLabs. The license is only for your use of the Service as provided by BranchLabs in accordance with these Terms. You may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, lease, or reverse engineer the software, device, or Service. You may not attempt to extract the source code of the software, unless you have our written permission or laws in your jurisdiction prohibit these restrictions.

Except where expressly provided otherwise by BranchLabs, nothing on the Service shall be construed to confer any license or ownership right in or to the Materials, under any of BranchLabs’s intellectual property rights, whether by estoppel, implication, or otherwise. You acknowledge sole responsibility for obtaining any such licenses. Materials provided by Third Party Providers have not been independently reviewed, tested, certified, or authenticated in whole or in part by BranchLabs. BranchLabs does not provide, sell, license, or lease any of the Materials other than those specifically identified as being provided by BranchLabs.

Any unauthorized use of any Materials contained on the Service may violate copyright laws, trademark laws, the laws of privacy and publicity, and/or communications regulations and statutes. It is the Users’ obligation to comply with all applicable state, federal, and international laws. Users are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of their account information and password and for restricting access to such information and to their computer. Users agree to accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account or password.

Termination: You or we may suspend or terminate your account or your use of this Service at any time, for any reason, or for no reason. We reserve the right to change, suspend, or discontinue all or any aspect of this Service at any time without notice. 

Information for Users

Account Registration:  In order to use the Service, you must first complete the registration process via the App. You agree (a) to provide accurate, current, and complete information about you as part of the registration process ("Registration Data"); (b) to maintain the security of your password(s); (c) to maintain and promptly update your Registration Data, and any other information you provide to us, and to keep it accurate, current, and complete; (d) to accept all risks of unauthorized access to your Registration Data and any other information you provide to us, via your account(s) or password(s); and (e) that you will be fully responsible for any activities or transactions that take place using your account(s) or password(s), even if you were not aware of them.

To the extent prohibited by applicable law, BranchLabs does not allow use of our Service and Website by anyone younger than 16 years old. You are ineligible to use the Service if you have been suspended by BranchLabs or you are under the age of 16. 

By becoming a user of the Service, you represent and warrant that you have the right, authority, and capacity to use the Service and to abide by the Terms of Use. Your registration with the Service is for your sole use. You may not authorize others to use your account and you may not assign or otherwise transfer your account to any other person or entity. Any submission of false or materially inaccurate information by users in creating an account shall constitute a basis for BranchLabs to terminate the account and bar such users from making further access or use of the Service.

Free plan: After you register with BranchLabs, we will make the Service available to you immediately via a free plan. There are no fees associated with the free plan, and you will remain on this plan until the start date of any paid plan.

Communications from BranchLabs

By creating an account on our Service, you agree to subscribe to newsletters or marketing materials and other promotional information we may send. However, you may opt out of receiving any, or all, of these marketing communications from us by following the unsubscribe link or instructions provided in any email we send. Please note that we may still send you transactional or administrative messages related to the Service even after you have opted out of receiving marketing communications.

Submissions

Except where expressly provided otherwise by BranchLabs, all comments, feedback, information, and data submitted to BranchLabs through, in association with, or in regard to the Service ("Submissions") shall be considered non-confidential and BranchLabs’s property. This may not include copyright ownership of images which you may upload, but does include an express license to use said images in any method BranchLabs sees fit and make compilations and derivative works thereof in all media now known or hereafter devised. Except as expressly stated in the preceding sentence, by providing such Submissions to BranchLabs, you agree to assign to BranchLabs, as consideration in exchange for the use of the Service, all worldwide rights, title, and interest in copyrights and other intellectual property rights to the Submissions. You represent that you have the right to grant BranchLabs these rights. BranchLabs shall be free to use and/or disseminate such Submissions on an unrestricted basis for any purpose. You acknowledge that you are responsible for the Submissions that you provide, and that you, not BranchLabs, have full responsibility for the Submissions, including their legality, reliability, appropriateness, originality, and copyright.

You agree that you will not submit Personal Information of third parties to BranchLabs. You are responsible for any Personal Information of any third party that you submit to BranchLabs, and BranchLabs disclaims any and all responsibility regarding any such submission (including, but not limited to, compliance obligations under any applicable law, or security obligations in the event of a data security incident). BranchLabs does not monitor submissions.

Subscription Plans, Taxes, and Payment Terms

Subscription plans: After the registration process, you will have the option to select a package to access the Service (each, a "Plan"), which includes: (a) the period during which you can access the Service ("Contract Period"); and (b) the fee you must pay to BranchLabs in exchange for your right to access the Service ("Fees"). All such information is incorporated into these Terms by reference. We have several different types of paid Plans, as well as a free Plan, for which there are no Fees.

Taxes: The Fees do not include taxes. You will be responsible for, and will promptly pay, all taxes associated with your use of the Site and the Service, other than taxes based on our net income. 

Payment terms: BranchLabs will charge you the Fees for the Service in advance for each billing period on or after the first day of such billing period. All Fees are non-refundable and non-creditable. This means that: (i) if you have a monthly Contract Period, you will owe us each month’s payment in advance, before you are allowed to use the Service for that month; (ii) if you have an annual Contract Period with up-front payment terms, you will owe us the entire year’s payment in advance, before you are allowed to use the Service for that year; and (iii) if you have an annual Contract Period with monthly payment terms, you will owe us each month’s payment in advance throughout the Contract Period, before you are allowed to use the Service during each month of the Contract Period. Each Contract Period will automatically renew (and we will automatically invoice you) for additional Contract Periods of equivalent length, unless you downgrade or cancel your subscription before the end of your Contract Period.

All payments must be made by credit card. As such, you agree to the following: (a) You hereby irrevocably authorize BranchLabs to charge the credit card or other payment method provided for any such amounts when due, (b) amounts due will be automatically charged, (c) if your credit card is declined, BranchLabs will attempt to reach out to you for a new payment method, and (d) if your credit card expires, you hereby give BranchLabs permission to submit the credit card charge with a later expiration date. If BranchLabs fails to resolve an issue with you resulting from a credit card decline or expiration, BranchLabs may terminate the account due to non-payment. 

Plan upgrades and downgrades: If you upgrade from the free Plan to any paid Plan, we will immediately bill you for the applicable Fees. There will be no refunds or credits for partial months of service, refunds for upgrades or downgrades, or refunds for unused months with an open account. Downgrading your account(s) may cause the loss of Content, features, or capacity of your account(s). We do not accept any liability for such loss.

Cancellations

For users on a free Plan: If you no longer want to use the Service, you may sign out of your account.

For users on a paid Plan: You may cancel your subscription by clicking "Manage subscription" on the Billing page of your organization settings. By clicking "Manage subscription", you will be taken to a page where you can manage your subscription settings, including an option for cancellation. Cancellations take effect at the end of your then-current Contract Period, and you will continue to owe all Fees for the duration of your then-current Contract Period. Pro-rata refunds will not be provided.

Pricing Changes

We reserve the right to modify the Fees for the Service at any time upon thirty (30) days’ prior notice to you, provided that the modified Fees will not apply until the next Contract Period.

Privacy

We maintain a privacy policy, available here. 

Links to Third Party Sites

The Service contains links to third party websites, including social networking websites.  The fact that we link to a website is not an endorsement or representation of an affiliation with that website. We do not control third party websites or their privacy practices, and BranchLabs disclaims any responsibility for the policies or practices of third party websites. These other websites may place their own cookies or other files on your computer, collect data, or solicit Personal Information from you. Other sites follow different rules regarding the use or disclosure of the Personal Information you submit to them. We encourage you to read the privacy policies or statements of the other websites you visit.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

IN NO EVENT SHALL BRANCHLABS OR ANY THIRD PARTY PROVIDERS BE LIABLE TO ANYONE FOR ANY INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY DAMAGES TO YOUR COMPUTER, TELECOMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT, OR OTHER PROPERTY AND/OR FOR LOSS OF DATA, CONTENT, IMAGES, REVENUE, PROFITS, USE OR OTHER ECONOMIC ADVANTAGE, ARISING OUT OF, OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THESE TERMS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE ACCESSING OR USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE WEBSITE AND THE SERVICES ASSOCIATED THEREWITH INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE DOWNLOADING OF ANY MATERIALS, REGARDLESS OF CAUSE, WHETHER IN AN ACTION IN CONTRACT OR NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, EVEN IF THE PARTY FROM WHICH DAMAGES ARE BEING SOUGHT OR THE THIRD PARTY PROVIDER HAVE BEEN PREVIOUSLY ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY SET FORTH IN THIS SECTION SHALL NOT APPLY IN THE EVENT OF CUSTOMER'S BREACH, OR RELATED TO ITS INDEMNITY OBLIGATIONS. THIS PARAGRAPH SHALL NOT AFFECT THE RIGHTS LISTED BELOW IN THE SECTION TITLED “INDEMNITIES.”

Licenses from BranchLabs

Users are being solely granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access the Service and view the Content through the Service. Except for the limited license, no right, title, or interest shall be transferred to you. 

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES

EXCEPT WHERE EXPRESSLY PROVIDED OTHERWISE BY BRANCHLABS, THE MATERIALS ON THE WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS," AND ARE FOR USE AS CONTRACTED HEREIN. EXCEPT FOR THE EXPRESS WARRANTIES SET FORTH HEREIN, BRANCHLABS AND ITS THIRD PARTY PROVIDERS HEREBY DISCLAIM ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES, GUARANTIES, AND CONDITIONS WITH REGARD TO THE WEBSITE, THE MATERIALS, AND THE GOODS AND SERVICES ASSOCIATED THEREWITH INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES, GUARANTIES, AND CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND QUALITY OF GOODS AND SERVICES EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT THAT SUCH DISCLAIMERS ARE HELD TO BE LEGALLY INVALID. BRANCHLABS AND ITS THIRD PARTY PROVIDERS MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS, GUARANTIES OR WARRANTIES REGARDING THE RELIABILITY, AVAILABILITY, TIMELINESS, QUALITY, SUITABILITY, TRUTH, ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE WEBSITE, SERVICES AND/OR MATERIALS ASSOCIATED WITH THE WEBSITE, OR THE RESULTS YOU MAY OBTAIN BY ACCESSING OR USING THE WEBSITE, THE SERVICES, AND/OR MATERIALS ASSOCIATED THEREWITH. WITHOUT LIMITING THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING, BRANCHLABS AND ITS THIRD PARTY PROVIDERS DO NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT (A) THE OPERATION OR USE OF THE WEBSITE OR MATERIALS WILL BE TIMELY, SECURE, UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE; (B) THE QUALITY OF ANY SERVICES, INFORMATION, OR OTHER MATERIAL YOU PURCHASE OR OBTAIN THROUGH THE WEBSITE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS; OR (C) THE SERVICES, MATERIALS, OR THE SYSTEMS THAT MAKE THE SERVICES AND WEBSITE AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT NEITHER BRANCHLABS NOR ITS THIRD PARTY PROVIDERS CONTROL THE TRANSFER OF DATA OVER COMMUNICATIONS FACILITIES, INCLUDING THE INTERNET, AND THAT THE WEBSITE AND SERVICES AND/OR MATERIALS ASSOCIATED THEREWITH MAY BE SUBJECT TO LIMITATIONS, DELAYS, AND OTHER PROBLEMS INHERENT IN THE USE OF SUCH COMMUNICATIONS FACILITIES. BRANCHLABS IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DELAYS, DELIVERY FAILURES, OR OTHER DAMAGE RESULTING FROM SUCH PROBLEMS. EXCEPT WHERE EXPRESSLY PROVIDED OTHERWISE BY BRANCHLABS, THE WEBSITE AND THE SERVICES AND/OR MATERIALS ASSOCIATED THEREWITH ARE PROVIDED TO YOU ON AN "AS IS" BASIS. BRANCHLABS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTY RELATED TO THE QUALITY OF GOODS AND/OR SERVICES AND THE PERSONS OR BUSINESSES REFERENCED ON THE WEBSITE. YOU USE THIRD PARTY PROVIDERS AND AFFILIATED SERVICES AT YOUR PERIL AND ASSUME ALL RISKS RELATED TO USE OF SAID THIRD PARTY PROVIDERS AND SERVICES.

Your Responsibilities

Users will comply with all applicable local, state, national, and foreign laws, treaties, regulations, and conventions in connection with your use of the Service, including without limitation those related to data privacy, international communications, manufacturing, retail, marketing, consumer safety, and the exportation of technical or personal data from locations other than the location from which BranchLabs controls and operates the Service associated therewith. 

Updates to These Terms

We may update these Terms in the future. If we make non-material changes, we will notify you via one of the following methods: providing notice on our website, sending you an email, providing notice to your account, or as otherwise required by applicable law. If we make material changes to this Policy, we will provide the notice as described above, and will also request consent as required by applicable law. The “last updated” date at the top of this policy indicates when these Terms were last revised.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act

If you believe that any materials in the Service infringe your copyright, you or your agent may send us notice requesting that such materials be removed. Notice must be provided in writing and must include the following information:

1. A signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest;
2. Identification of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;
3. The location of the work you claim is infringing (e.g. URL) or enough detail that we may find it;
4. Your name, address, telephone number, and email address;
5. 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; and
6. A statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf.

Any notices given pursuant to the DMCA shall be given to the BranchLabs designated agent via email at [email protected].

RESOLUTION OF DISPUTES – MANDATORY ARBITRATION AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER

We offer the following process to help you resolve a complaint or Dispute (as defined below) that you may have with BranchLabs or its Third Party Providers in connection with the use of this Service. Please read this section carefully. Our support team can help you resolve most of your concerns. If our support team is unable to resolve your complaint or Dispute, you agree to take the following steps to resolve any Dispute you may have with us.

Step 1. Notice of Dispute

You must first try to resolve any complaint or Dispute with us through our Notice of Dispute process. You begin by submitting a “Notice of Dispute” with any supporting documents or other information by email to: [email protected].

A “Notice of Dispute” is a written form in which you provide your name, address, contact information, email address, the facts regarding your Dispute, and the relief you are requesting from us. Once we receive your Notice of Dispute, you and we will attempt to resolve any Dispute through informal negotiation within forty-five (45) days from the date the Notice of Dispute is received by us. If an agreement cannot be reached within forty-five (45) days of receipt of the Notice of Dispute, you or we may initiate an arbitration proceeding or small claims action as described below.

You agree that the term “Dispute” in these Terms of Use will have the broadest meaning possible. It applies to any dispute, action, or other controversy between you and us relating to the Website, the Service, the Terms of Use (or any breach thereof), whether in contract, warranty, tort, laws, or regulation. The term also applies to any dispute over the validity, enforceability, or scope of this arbitration provision.

Step 2: Arbitration

If your Dispute is not resolved to your satisfaction within 45 days from when we received your Notice of Dispute, you and we agree to arbitrate all Disputes between us. As explained below, you and we may also have the right to bring an individual action before a Small Claims Court for certain claims. You agree that arbitration or a small claims action will be your sole and exclusive remedy to resolve any dispute with us. The Federal Arbitration Act applies to this Agreement. 

By agreeing to arbitrate, you are giving up the right to litigate (or participate in as a party or class member) any and all Disputes in a court before a judge or jury (except Small Claims Court). Instead, a neutral arbitrator will resolve all Disputes. 

To read more about arbitration, visit www.adr.org. The American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) will conduct any arbitration under its Consumer Arbitration Rules in effect at that time. You can review the Consumer Arbitration Rules here. You may begin an arbitration with us by completing a Demand for Arbitration form, available by clicking here. The completed form(s) should be returned directly to the AAA. The AAA will assign someone to manage your case. You will be contacted with instructions for continuing the arbitration process. Be sure to keep a copy of everything you send to the administrator of your arbitration or us. If, for any reason, the AAA is unavailable, the parties shall mutually select another arbitration forum which will be governed by the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules. The AAA rules will determine whether the arbitration will take place through written submissions by you and us, by telephone, or in person.

Class Action Waiver

Any proceedings to resolve or litigate any Dispute in any forum will be conducted solely on an individual basis. Class arbitrations, class actions, private attorney general actions, consolidation of your Dispute with other arbitrations, or any other proceeding in which either party acts or proposes to act in a representative capacity or as a private attorney general are not permitted and are waived by you, and an arbitrator will have no jurisdiction to hear such claims. If a court or arbitrator finds that the class action waiver in this section is unenforceable as to all or some parts of a Dispute, then the class action waiver will not apply to those parts. Instead, those parts will be severed and proceed in a court of law, with the remaining parts proceeding in arbitration. If any other provision of this Dispute resolution section is found to be illegal or unenforceable, that provision will be severed with the remainder of this section remaining in full force and effect.

Costs

If you initiate an arbitration proceeding with the AAA, we will promptly reimburse you for any standard filing fee you may have been required to pay by the AAA, once you have notified us in writing and provided a copy of the arbitration demand. However, if we are the prevailing party in the arbitration, we will be entitled to seek and recover our attorneys’ fees and costs, subject to the arbitrator’s determination and applicable law. 

Small Claims Option

You may also litigate any Dispute in Small Claims Court in the County of Santa Barbara, California, if the Dispute meets all requirements to be heard in the small claims court. You can learn more about the Small Claims Court in the County of Santa Barbara by clicking here. However, if you initiate a Small Claims case, you are responsible for all your court costs.

Choice of Law and Forum Selection

You agree that the laws of the State of California govern this agreement and any claim or Dispute or issues arising from it, without regard to California’s conflict of laws rules. Unless you and we agree otherwise, in the event that the Agreement to arbitrate above is found not to apply to you or to a particular claim or Dispute as a result of a decision by the arbitrator or a court order, you agree that any Disputes or claims that you may have against us reside in and will be resolved by a state or federal court located in the County of Santa Barbara in the State of California and you agree and submit to the exercise of personal jurisdiction of such courts for the purpose of litigating any such claim or action.

Governing Law and Executive Venue

Use of the Service and any claim relating to BranchLabs shall be governed by the laws of the State of California and litigated in the State of California. Any disputes, actions, claims, or causes of action arising out of or in connection with these Terms of Use or the Service shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in California. The choice of law and exclusive venue in California apply to you regardless of where you are accessing the Website, even if you are accessing the Website from outside of the United States of America. 

The Terms of Use represent the parties' entire understanding relating to the use of the Website and supersedes any prior or contemporaneous, conflicting, or additional communications. BranchLabs reserves the right to change these Terms of Use or policies relating to the Service at any time and from time to time, and such changes will be effective upon being posted herein. You should visit this page from time to time to review the then current Terms of Use because they are binding on you. Certain provisions of these Terms of Use may be superseded by expressly designated legal notices or terms located on particular pages of the Website, which may be posted from time to time. Your continued use of the Service after any such changes and/or postings shall constitute your consent to such changes. If any provision of these Terms of Use is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unenforceable, then such provision(s) shall be construed to reflect the intentions of the invalid or unenforceable provision(s), with all other provisions remaining in full force and effect. 

You may not assign these Terms of Use without the prior written approval of BranchLabs. Any purported assignment in violation of this section shall be void. BranchLabs reserves the right to use third party providers in the provision of the Service and/or Materials associated therewith. In the event of any litigation of any controversy or dispute arising out of or in connection with these Terms of Use, its interpretation, its performance, or the like, the prevailing party shall be awarded reasonable attorneys' fees and expenses, court costs, and reasonable costs for expert and other witnesses attributable to the prosecution or defense of that controversy or dispute. Any and all rights not expressly granted herein are reserved by BranchLabs. 

Contact Us

If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us at [email protected].