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. 报名申请

1.      一旦阁下提交报名申请及/或参加本次比赛，参赛者即同意并接受比赛规则约束。如阁下不同意这些条款，请勿参加本次比赛。

2.      理大国际未来挑战赛之主办单位为香港理工大学（以下统称为「主办单位」）。 主办单位保留决定是否批准或拒绝报名申请之权利，且不对参赛者承担任何责任。

3.      报名参赛者必须声明并保证申请时提交的所有资讯及材料均为原创，并拥有提交资讯及材料所需之所有权利、授权、许可和同意，且其中的资讯准确而完整。  

4.      参赛者填写及提交之资讯及材料必须真实、合法、完整、有效。如有抄袭、盗用、诈欺等行为，参赛者须承担一切责任及后果。

5.      参赛者不得透过本次比赛发表任何涉及政治、暴力、歧视、非法、侵权、仇恨、性暗示的言论、评论或任何资讯及材料，或发布任何贬低、诽谤或有损任何本次比赛或活动贊助商或合作伙伴声誉之言论、评论或任何资讯及材料。  

6.      主申请人（PA）及队员：

• 每人最多可以参加三支队伍，但只能担任一支队伍的主申请人（PA）。
• 每支队伍必须确定一位PA，并作为主办单位的联络人。（PA）。
• 如果PA或队员有任何变动，则现任PA必须通知主办单位及获其批准。
• 所有队员均需签署一份声明表格，授权队伍之主申请人代表其提交比赛报名申请，并同意就主申请人在比赛中採取之所有行动接受约束。

7.      参赛条件：

每支队伍必须至少符合以下其中一项条件：

• 包括一名理大成員（校友 / 职员 / 学生），且其在拟成立之公司中持有至少10%股份。
• 現有理大 / 内地技术创新研究院（MTRI）的技术授权被许可机构，或承诺于获胜后会申请及获得申请理大 / MTRI 之知识产权（IP）的许可授权*
• 现有理大 MTRI 的的培育企业，或承诺在获胜后在理大同意的MTRI所在地成立初创企业*

*   必须签署承诺确认书以正式确认此承诺。

除了一般比赛准则，不同赛区可能还有其他要求，申请者应参阅各赛区的特定参赛资格及条件。

8.      计划提交：

• 每支队伍可为每个行业领域提交一个申请项目。
• 每支队伍可报名参加多个行业领域/赛区，但胜出时只能获得一个奖项。队伍必须决定是否接受该奖项，或继续报名参加其他行业领域/赛区。

 

B. 比赛时间

1.       一旦提交报名申请，参赛者即同意与主办单位分享其资料，用于与比赛及活动相关的宣传及沟通目的。 参与者应向主办单位特别指明高度机密及专有资料，以便作特殊处理。  

2.       比赛期间拍摄的照片及影片或会被主办单位用于宣传及媒体报道。根据具体情况，活动或会以线下、线上或混合形式进行。  

3.       主办单位保留因不可预见的情况更改活动日期及形式之权利，并会必要时向参赛者提供最新消息/谘询。 

4.       如报名申请，参赛者即承认并同意，主办单位有权录製比赛活动（以任何形式）并以任何方式（包括但不限于现场直播）广播、串流直播或传输比赛活动，让公众免费或付费参加、观看及/或收看比赛活动（包括决赛及/或任何预赛）。参赛者无权编辑、反对或要求删除这些录音或广播，且不得以任何形式拥有这些录音或广播的任何权利、所有权或权益。这些录音或广播的所有智慧产权均属主办单位所有，且为主办单位之财产。阁下无权索取主办单位从公众收到的任何补偿，或主办单位取自分发、广播或授权所获得的任何收入。  

5.       参赛者应自行承担因报名或参加本次比赛活动而产生的一切费用及开支。  

 

C. 颁奖流程

1.      赛区及总决赛的获胜队伍必须在结果公佈后的六个月内，在指定的城市註册或已有註册公司，才能领取现金奖。

2.      在最终评审之前，新公司或指定获奖公司之股权结构必须在披露及声明过程中获确认。

3.      比赛结束后，主办单位将对获奖队伍进行尽职审查，核实报名资讯之真实性、队伍及队员的参赛资格，并在收集文件副本时审查原件。

4.      承诺成为理大 / MTRI 授权机构者：
获奖队伍所属公司须于获奖后六个月内，与理大 / MTRI 签订授权协议，且须符合相关要求，方可向比赛筹委会申请领取奖项。

5.      承诺加入 MTRI 者：
获奖队伍须于获奖后六个月内，在理大认可的内地技术创新研究院所在地註册成立初创企业，且须符合相关要求，方可向比赛筹委会申请领取奖项。

6.      通过尽职审查后，筹委会将会颁发奖项。

7.      任何获奖队伍如未能在主办单位规定时间内完成并达到要求，将被视为放弃获奖。

 

D. 知识产权（IP）

1.      参赛者并不拥有主办单位的活动、网站或其内容（参赛者自己的内容除外）之任何权利、所有权或权益。

2.      除非机构另有规定，一般而言，僱员在受僱期间，或学生在院校学习期间所製作及创作的知识产权及资料，自製作及创作之日起，均归于僱主或院校所有。

3.      参加比赛不会赋予第三方对这些智慧产权的任何权利或主张。但参赛者在挑战过程中所产生与其相关之智慧产权归参赛者所有。


4.      参赛队伍应慎重考虑妥善保护其现有/新产生的IP。队伍及/或公司应承担所有相关保护之费用。

 

E. 其他

1.      所有参赛者必须遵守上述规则。主办单位保留取消任何不遵守比赛规则的队伍参赛资格之权利。

2.      主办单位保留比赛规则与其他条款及细则之解释权及修改权。参赛者不得就该解释或修改提出任何异议。

 

如中、英文两个版本有任何抵触或不相符之处，应以英文版本为准。