A.    Application:

1.      Upon submission of your application and/or participation in this competition, participants hereby agree to accept and be bound by the competition rules. If you disagree with these terms, please do not participate in this competition.

2.      The Organiser of the PolyU International Future Challenge is The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (hereinafter collectively referred to as the “Organiser”).  The Organiser reserves the right to decide whether to approve or reject applications, without admitting any liability for participants.

3.      By applying for the competition, participants must represent and warrant that all information and materials submitted with the application are their original work and that they have all the rights, licenses, permissions, and consents necessary for the submission, and that the information contained therein is accurate and complete. 

4.      The information and materials filled in and submitted must be true, legal, complete, and valid. In cases of plagiarism, misappropriation, or fraud, the participants shall bear all responsibilities and consequences.

5.      Participants are prohibited from making any political, violent, discriminatory, illegal, infringing, hateful, sexually suggestive statements, comments, or any information materials through the competition, or making any statements, comments, or any information materials that demean, defame, or harm the reputation of any sponsors or partners of the competition or the event. 

6.      Principal applicant (PA) and team members:

·         Each individual can participate in no more than three teams but can only serve as the principal applicant (PA) for one team.

·         A PA must be identified for each team, serving as the point of contact with the organizer.

·         If there are any changes to the PA or team members, the current PA must inform the Organizer and obtain approval.

·         All team members are required to sign a declaration that they duly authorise the principal applicant of the team to act on their behalf in relation to the Competition Application submission and agree to be bound by all actions taken by the principal applicant in relation to the Competition.

7.      Entry Requirements:

Each team must meet at least one of the following criteria:

·         Include one PolyU member (alumni/staff/student) with a minimum of 10% ownership in the proposed company.

·         Be an existing PolyU/ Mainland Translational Research Institute (MTRI) licensee or commit to licensing PolyU/MTRI’s intellectual property (IP) upon winning*

·         Be a PolyU MTRI incubatee or commit to incorporating a startup in a PolyU agreed location with a MTRI upon winning*

*   A letter of confirmation must be signed to formalize this commitment.

Applicants should refer to the specific eligibility criteria and entry requirements for each competition region, as additional requirements may apply beyond the general competition guidelines.

8.      Project Submission:

·         Each team can submit one project per industry domain.

·         Teams may apply for multiple industry domains/competition regions but will be entitled to only one award if winning. Teams must decide whether to accept the award or continue applying for other industry domains/competition regions.

B. Competition Period:

1.       Upon submission of applications, participants agree to share their data with the Organiser for promotional and communication purposes in relation to the Competition and event.  For highly confidential and proprietary data, participants should specifically indicate to the Organiser for special handling of such data. 

2.       Photographs and videos taken during the competition event may be used for promotion and media coverage by the Organiser. Depending on the circumstances, the events may be conducted in person, online, or in a hybrid format. 

3.       The Organiser reserves the right to change the event dates and formats due to unforeseen circumstances and will provide updates/consultation to the participants when necessary. 

4.       By application, participants acknowledge and agree that the Organiser has the right to record the competition event (in any format) and broadcast, stream, or transmit the competition event in any manner (including but not limited to live streaming), allowing the public to attend, view, and/or watch the competition event (including the final and/or any preliminary rounds), either free of charge or for a fee. Participants have no right to edit, object to, or request the removal of these recordings or broadcasts, and you do not possess any rights, ownership, or interests in the recordings or broadcasts, in any form. All intellectual property rights subsisting in these recordings or broadcasts are owned by the Organiser and are the property of the Organiser. You shall have no claim to any compensation received by the Organiser from the public or any income derived by the Organiser from distribution, broadcasting, or licensing. 

5.       Participants shall bear all costs and expenses incurred concerning theirr application and/or participation in this competition event. 

C. Awarding process:

1.      The winning teams from the competition regions and the Grand Final must register, or have an existing registered company, in the designated city within six months after the results are announced to receive the cash prizes

2.      Before the final assessment, the shareholding structure of the new company or the company designated to receive the prizes must be confirmed during the Disclosure and Declaration exercise.

3.      After the competition, the Organizer will conduct due diligence with the winning teams, verifying the authenticity of the registration information, the eligibility of the team and team members, and reviewing the original documents while collecting copies.

4.      For those committed to being PolyU/MTRI licensees:
The winning teams’ company must sign a licensing agreement with PolyU/MTRI within six months after winning the award and meet the relevant requirements before applying to receive the award from the Competition Organizing Committee.

5.      For those committed to joining PolyU MTRIs:
The winning teams should register a startup in a PolyU-approved location where a PolyU Mainland Translational Research Institute is situated within six months after winning the award and meet the relevant requirements before applying to receive the award from the Organiser.

6.      After passing the due diligence, the award will be distributed.

7.      For any winning team that has not incorporated and met the requirements within the specified time set by the Organiser, they shall be deemed to have waived the award.

D. Intellectual properties (IP)

1.      Participants do not have any rights, ownership, or interests in the Organiser events, the website, or the Organiser content (excluding participants’ own content). 

2.      In general, the intellectual properties (IP) and materials made and created by an employee during their employment or students during their study at the educational institutions shall be vested in the employers or the institutions upon the making and creation, unless otherwise specified by the organisations’ rules.

3.      Participation in the competition shall not give a third party any rights or claims to these intellectual properties. But IP rights attached thereto generated by the participants during the Challenge process shall be vested in the participants.

4.      The participating teams shall carefully consider properly protecting their existing/newly generated IPs. The team and/or the company shall bear all the costs for such protection.

E. Others

1.      All the participants must conform to the rules enumerated above. The Organiser reserves the right to disqualify any team that fails to abide by the Competition rules.

2.      The Organiser reserves the right to interpret and change the Competition rules and other provisions and conditions. Participants shall not raise any objections to such interpretation and changes.

A. 報名申請

1.      一旦閣下提交報名申請及/或參加本次比賽，參賽者即同意並接受比賽規則約束。如閣下不同意這些條款，請勿參加本次比賽。

2.      理大國際未來挑戰賽之主辦單位為香港理工大學（以下統稱為「主辦單位」）。  主辦單位保留決定是否批准或拒絕報名申請之權利，且不對參賽者承擔任何責任。

3.      報名參賽者必須聲明並保證申請時提交的所有資訊及材料均為原創，並擁有提交資訊及材料所需之所有權利、授權、許可和同意，且其中的資訊準確而完整。 

4.      參賽者填寫及提交之資訊及材料必須真實、合法、完整、有效。如有抄襲、盜用、詐欺等行為，參賽者須承擔一切責任及後果。

5.      參賽者不得透過本次比賽發表任何涉及政治、暴力、歧視、非法、侵權、仇恨、性暗示的言論、評論或任何資訊及材料，或發布任何貶低、誹謗或有損任何本次比賽或活動贊助商或合作夥伴聲譽之言論、評論或任何資訊及材料。 

6.      主申請人（PA）及隊員：

• 每人最多可以參加三支隊伍，但只能擔任一支隊伍的主申請人（PA）。
• 每支隊伍必須確定一位PA，並作為主辦單位的聯絡人。（PA）。
• 如果PA或隊員有任何變動，則現任PA必須通知主辦單位及獲其批准。
• 所有隊員均需簽署一份聲明表格，授權隊伍之主申請人代表其提交比賽報名申請，並同意就主申請人在比賽中採取之所有行動接受約束。

7.      參賽條件：

每支隊伍必須至少符合以下其中一項條件：

• 包括一名理大成員（校友 / 職員 / 學生），且其在擬成立之公司中持有至少10%股份。
• 現有理大 / 內地技術創新研究院（MTRI）的技術授權被許可機構，或承諾於獲勝後會申請及獲得申請理大 / MTRI 之知識產權（IP）的許可授權*
• 現有理大 MTRI 的培育企業，或承諾在獲勝後在理大同意的MTRI所在地成立初創企業*

*   必須簽署承諾確認書以正式確認此承諾。

除了一般比賽準則，不同賽區可能還有其他要求，申請者應參閱各賽區的特定參賽資格及條件。

8.      計劃提交：

• 每支隊伍可為每個行業領域提交一個申請項目。
• 每支隊伍可報名參加多個行業領域/賽區，但勝出時只能獲得一個獎項。隊伍必須決定是否接受該獎項，或繼續報名參加其他行業領域/賽區。

 

B. 比賽時間

1.       一旦提交報名申請，參賽者即同意與主辦單位分享其資料，用於與比賽及活動相關的宣傳及溝通目的。  參與者應向主辦單位特別指明高度機密及專有資料，以便作特殊處理。 

2.       比賽期間拍攝的照片及影片或會被主辦單位用於宣傳及媒體報道。根據具體情況，活動或會以線下、線上或混合形式進行。 

3.       主辦單位保留因不可預見的情況更改活動日期及形式之權利，並會必要時向參賽者提供最新消息/諮詢。 

4.       如報名申請，參賽者即承認並同意，主辦單位有權錄製比賽活動（以任何形式）並以任何方式（包括但不限於現場直播）廣播、串流直播或傳輸比賽活動，讓公眾免費或付費參加、觀看及/或收看比賽活動（包括決賽及/或任何預賽）。參賽者無權編輯、反對或要求刪除這些錄音或廣播，且不得以任何形式擁有這些錄音或廣播的任何權利、所有權或權益。這些錄音或廣播的所有智慧產權均屬主辦單位所有，且為主辦單位之財產。閣下無權索取主辦單位從公眾收到的任何補償，或主辦單位取自分發、廣播或授權所獲得的任何收入。 

5.       參賽者應自行承擔因報名或參加本次比賽活動而產生的一切費用及開支。 

 

C. 頒獎流程

1.      賽區及總決賽的獲勝隊伍必須在結果公佈後的六個月內，在指定的城市註冊或已有註冊公司，才能領取現金獎。

2.      在最終評審之前，新公司或指定獲獎公司之股權結構必須在披露及聲明過程中獲確認。

3.      比賽結束後，主辦單位將對獲獎隊伍進行盡職審查，核實報名資訊之真實性、隊伍及隊員的參賽資格，並在收集文件副本時審查原件。

4.      承諾成為理大 / MTRI 授權機構者：
獲獎隊伍所屬公司須於獲獎後六個月內，與理大 / MTRI 簽訂授權協議，且須符合相關要求，方可向比賽籌委會申請領取獎項。

5.      承諾加入 MTRI 者：
獲獎隊伍須於獲獎後六個月內，在理大認可的內地技術創新研究院所在地註冊成立初創企業，且須符合相關要求，方可向比賽籌委會申請領取獎項。

6.      通過盡職審查後，籌委會將會頒發獎項。

7.      任何獲獎隊伍如未能在主辦單位規定時間內完成並達到要求，將被視為放棄獲獎。

 

D. 智識產權（IP）

1.      參賽者並不擁有主辦單位的活動、網站或其內容（參賽者自己的內容除外）之任何權利、所有權或權益。

2.      除非機構另有規定，一般而言，僱員在受僱期間，或學生在院校學習期間所製作及創作的知識產權及資料，自製作及創作之日起，均歸於僱主或院校所有。

3.      參加比賽不會賦予第三方對這些智慧產權的任何權利或主張。但參賽者在挑戰過程中所產生與其相關之智慧產權歸參賽者所有。

4.      參賽隊伍應慎重考慮妥善保護其現有/新產生的IP。隊伍及/或公司應承擔所有相關保護之費用。

 

E. 其他

1.      所有參賽者必須遵守上述規則。主辦單位保留取消任何不遵守比賽規則的隊伍參賽資格之權利。

2.      主辦單位保留比賽規則與其他條款及細則之解釋權及修改權。參賽者不得就該解釋或修改提出任何異議。

 

如中、英文兩個版本有任何抵觸或不相符之處，應以英文版本為準。