Terms and Conditions

1. Preamble

We, the Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Engineering gGmbH based in Potsdam (hereinafter referred to as "we" or "the Provider"), are a non-profit research institution and make the OpenBPT modeling platform available to third parties (hereinafter referred to as "Users") and the project members designated by them on the basis of these Terms of Use. OpenBPT is a web-based platform that enables users to create, store, and share data (e.g., process models, process data) in the field of business process management. The platform is intended to promote research and teaching in the field of business process management and facilitate the transfer of theoretical knowledge into practice through its versatile functions. The platform is not intended for use in the context of profit-oriented activities or internal company projects unless they are purely academic and non-commercial in nature.

2. Subject Matter and Scope of the Terms of Use

2.1. The OpenBPT platform is provided free of charge exclusively for non-commercial purposes in the context of academic teaching, research, or private learning. Any commercial use of the platform or its outputs, including internal use for commercial product development or business operations, is strictly prohibited.

2.2. The following services are offered to users:

• Creating, editing, and managing models in the context of business process management (e.g., BPMN process diagrams)
• Creation and management of process data in the context of business process management (e.g., event logs)
• Analysis of models and process data using provided services
• Upload and download of models and process data

IT security and user data sovereignty are taken into account in all services.

2.3. We are entitled to change the services offered by OpenBPT (content, structure, etc.). We will inform the user of any such changes.

2.4. We reserve the right to amend these Terms of Use, in particular due to changes in the law or to enable better functionality of our service. Amendments to these Terms of Use will be sent to the e-mail address provided by the user, together with the new version. You shall be deemed to have accepted the amendments unless you object to them within a period of four weeks after receipt of the notification of amendment. An e-mail to us is sufficient for this purpose.

2.5. Terms and conditions of the user are not valid, even if we do not expressly object to them.

2.6. The OpenBPT platform does not support the development of models or components used exclusively within a single company or for commercial internal optimization. This ensures that the platform does not serve as a substitute for commercial process modeling tools and thereby avoids entering into competition with such services. Access is provided solely in alignment with our non-profit mission to promote academic teaching and research.

3. Availability, Possibility of Use

3.1. OpenBPT is accessible at all times, as long as no unavailability is announced or technical failures restrict availability. We operate OpenBPT in the best possible way according to the state of the art for university research institutions, but do not guarantee availability.

4. Updating, Further Development

4.1. We will update and further develop OpenBPT within an appropriate design framework. We are free in the content and scope of these updates and further developments.

5. Access and Registration

5.1. We only allow access to users who can authenticate themselves to the HPI Keycloak or AuthO identity providers. The user is obliged to protect the access data assigned to him/her from access by third parties.

6. Technical Requirements

6.1. The user must observe the technical requirements for access to OpenBPT in order to enable uninterrupted access. The user shall be responsible for the procurement and maintenance of the hardware and connections to public telecommunications networks required by him/her.

6.2. The user shall bear the costs of setting up his/her online connection and maintaining it on the user's side. We are not liable for the security and continuity of data communication conducted via third-party communication networks. We are also not liable for disruptions in data transmission caused by technical errors or configuration problems on the user side.

6.3. The user is responsible for the hardware and software he/she uses and for the communication channels he/she uses.

6.4. The user must take suitable measures that correspond to the state of the art (anti-virus software, security updates, etc.) in order to prevent damage to the hardware and software of the platform.

7. Old Rights

7.1. Inventions that were registered before the user agreement was signed (§ 5 ArbnErfG), intellectual property rights and know-how created before the user agreement was signed (hereinafter referred to as "old rights") shall remain with the respective owner(s).

7.2. The user is responsible for the data and its entry in OpenBPT. You grant the Provider a non-exclusive right to process data solely for the provision of OpenBPT and as set out in this Agreement. We recommend using synthetic test data in OpenBPT, but not production data.

7.3. If the user decides to use production data, he/she is obliged to pseudonymize or anonymize the data used in the application. In the case of pseudonymized data, it must be ensured that we do not become aware of the key. Should personal data nevertheless be disclosed to third parties because anonymization or pseudonymization has been omitted, the user shall be liable.

8. New Rights

8.1. The following results, among others, can be generated through the use of OpenBPT: Models, synthetic data sets, and research results. If the user reports inventions to his/her employer after signing the user agreement (Section 5 ArbnErfG) or publishes them, applies for or is granted intellectual property rights to them, or if know-how is created by the user after signing the user agreement (hereinafter referred to as "new rights"), these shall generally remain with the user.

8.2. The user undertakes to inform us immediately of any new rights, including information as to whether they will be transferred to his/her employer (e.g. in accordance with the provisions of the German Employee Inventions Act).

8.3. In the event that and to the extent that neither the user nor his/her employer applies for new rights or drops such new rights again (also in individual countries), the user shall offer us these new rights in writing immediately or, if dropped, in good time before they are dropped, for takeover at reasonable and customary market conditions. We may declare this takeover by written declaration to the user within a period of one (1) month after the corresponding notification by the user, and the contracting parties shall then negotiate a transfer agreement at reasonable and customary market conditions, taking into account the principles of good faith.

8.4. The user undertakes that he/she will not allow third parties to work on the subject matter of the contract until they have assumed the obligations under this contract mutatis mutandis and, in particular, the direct transfer of their rights to the results to the user is ensured.

8.5. The User grants the Provider a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use the Model Collection and Process Data strictly for non-commercial academic research and teaching purposes, e.g., to evaluate the Recipient's algorithms or other academic research artifacts using the Model Collection or Process Data.

8.6. All rights not expressly granted herein are reserved by the Provider. For the avoidance of doubt, no right is granted to create derivative works of the Model Collection or Process Data, and the license granted herein is for non-commercial academic purposes only.

9. Remuneration

9.1. The use of the services listed in section 1.2. is generally free of charge.

9.2. The user is responsible for the administrative maintenance/maintenance of his/her own software layers (e.g. operating system, browser) and bears the necessary expenses for this.

10. Processing of User Data

10.1. We collect and store the user data required for authentication. Details can be found in the data protection information available online. Users can obtain information about the personal data stored about them at any time.

10.2. Our data protection information is available at the following link: https://openbpt.org//privacy-policy

11. Liability

11.1. Claims of the user for damages are excluded. Excluded from this are claims for damages by the user arising from injury to life, limb, or health or from the breach of essential contractual obligations (cardinal obligations) as well as liability for other damages based on an intentional or grossly negligent breach of duty by the provider, its legal representatives, or vicarious agents. Material contractual obligations are those whose fulfillment is necessary to achieve the objective of the contract.

11.2. In the event of a breach of essential contractual obligations, we shall only be liable for the foreseeable damage typical for the contract if this was caused by simple negligence, unless the user's claims for damages are based on injury to life, limb, or health.

11.3. The restrictions of paragraphs 10.1 and 10.2 shall also apply in favor of our legal representatives and vicarious agents if claims are asserted directly against them.

11.4. The limitations of liability resulting from paragraphs 10.1 and 10.2 shall not apply if we have fraudulently concealed the defect or have assumed a guarantee for the quality of the item. The same applies if we and the user(s) have reached an agreement on the quality of the item. The provisions of the Product Liability Act remain unaffected.

12. Termination

12.1. The contract may be terminated at any time by either party without giving reasons with a notice period of six (6) weeks. The termination must be in text form. The provisions in sections 6 and 7 remain unaffected by such termination.

12.2. In the event of misuse of OpenBPT, in particular by knowingly or unintentionally violating applicable law or these Terms of Use, we are entitled to terminate the user contract extraordinarily and without notice. In this case, we expressly reserve the right to assert further legal claims, in particular claims for damages.

13. Final Provisions

13.1. No verbal collateral agreements have been made. Additions and amendments to these Terms of Use must be made in writing to be effective. This also applies to the amendment of this written form clause. In particular, supplementary cooperation agreements may be concluded.

13.2. Should any provision of these Terms of Use be or become invalid or void, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. The parties shall replace such provisions with new valid provisions that most closely correspond to the purpose of the agreement.

13.3. This agreement and its interpretation shall be governed exclusively by German law.

13.4. The place of fulfillment and jurisdiction is – as far as permissible – Potsdam.

13.5. "Model Collection" means any model content such as business process diagrams or other diagrams (in JSON, XML, SVG, or any other representation of business process models or other models) created or uploaded by you under this Agreement.

13.6. "Process Data" means any data such as event logs, performance metrics, or other process-related data (in JSON, XML, or any other representation of Process Data) created or uploaded by you under this Agreement.

13.7. "Recipient" means any natural person who receives the Model Collection or Process Data.