Terms of Use

Rev.:  November 2023

This Website (this “Site”) is owned and operated by Cree Lighting and its corporate affiliates (collectively, “Cree Lighting,” “we,” “our,” or “us”). We welcome you and encourage you to use our Site to learn gather information and take advantage of features and services offered on the Site. Our agreement to allow you to use our Site is governed by and subject to these Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. To that, using this site, you are considered to have understood and accept and agree to be bound by these terms of use and our Privacy Policy.

IMPORTANT NOTE: These Terms of Use contain provisions that limit our liability to you and require you to resolve any dispute with us through final and binding arbitration on an individual basis and not as part of any class or representative action. Please see the “Disclaimer of Warranties,” “Limitation of Liability” and “Arbitration Agreement” sections below for more information. 

Purchase of Products

This Site may include an online store area that enables you to purchase certain products directly from this Site. Your use of such area, including any purchase, will be subject to specific guidelines and additional terms and policies posted therein, such as our terms of sale, product warranty, shipping, and return policies (“Specific Terms”). Please carefully review all such Specific Terms prior to making a purchase on this Site. If there is a conflict between these Terms of Use and Specific Terms for the sale of products or services, the Specific Terms control. These Terms of Use do not alter the terms or conditions of any agreement you may have with us to the extent that the other agreement governs issues other than your use of our website.

Electronic Communications

If you contact us on this Site or via email, you agree to communicate with us electronically, and you acknowledge and agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications that we provide to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.

Changes to These Terms of Use

We may change and update these Terms of Use from time to time. We will inform you of any material changes to these Terms of Use by posting a notice on this Site. An update will be effective for any website use after the date of the update. If you are on our emailing list, we may also notify you of such material changes via email. We encourage you to review our Terms of Use from time-to-time for possible changes. By continuing to use this Site after such notice, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use as modified.

Intellectual Property

Cree Lighting retains sole and exclusive ownership of this Site and all content and material made available on this Site (except for User Content, which is defined below), including, without limitation, text, publications, graphics, artworks, photos, images, product information, audiovisual material, layout and user interface designs, software applications, databases, directories, and listings (collectively, “Site Content”). Except as expressly permitted by these Terms of Use or applicable law, you may not copy, reproduce, download, modify, translate, or otherwise create derivative works from, republish or redistribute any portion of this Site or any Site Content, for any purpose or in any medium.

Cree Lighting also retains its sole and exclusive ownership of all of its trademarks, service marks, logos, slogans, and other business/product/service identifiers appearing on this Site (collectively, “Cree Lighting Marks”). Except as expressly permitted by these Terms of Use or applicable law, Cree Lighting Marks may not be used or reproduced for any purpose or in any medium. All trademarks, product and company names mentioned in our Site that are not owned by us are the property of their respective owners, who may not be affiliated with, connected to, or sponsored by us and these items do not imply specific product or vendor endorsement, sponsorship, or association.

Except as expressly otherwise stated herein, nothing in these Terms of Use grants you any right or license under any copyright, trademark, patent, or other intellectual property of Cree Lighting. Unauthorized use of Cree Lighting’s intellectual property is strictly prohibited and may subject the violator to civil and/or criminal penalties.

Permitted and Prohibited Uses

Subject to your compliance with these Terms of Use and all applicable laws, we hereby grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-sublicensable, non-transferable license to use this Site and Site Content solely for your own informational purposes and for purposes of your business dealings with Cree Lighting. This license is personal to you and is not transferable or assignable to others, and may be revoked and terminated by us at any time and for any reason (including, without limitation, if you violate these Terms of Use or any applicable law). We reserve all rights not expressly granted herein.

We do not permit or tolerate any illegal, abusive, harmful, or improper use of this Site or any Site Content. Without limitation to the generality of the foregoing, you may not:

• remove any Cree Lighting copyright, trademark, or other proprietary rights or legal notices contained in any Site Content;
• interfere in any way with the operation of this Site or any server, network or system associated with this Site, including, without limitation: using viruses, programs or technology designed to disrupt or damage software or hardware or to gain unauthorized access to information; hacking, mail-bombing, flooding, overloading, or making “denial of service” attacks; probing, scanning or testing the vulnerability of this Site or any server, network or system associated with this Site; breaching or circumventing firewall, encryption, security or authentication routines; accessing data not intended for you, or accessing another’s account that you are not expressly authorized to access;
• use any automated program, tool, or process (including, without limitation, web crawlers, robots, bots, spiders, and automated scripts) to access this Site or any server, network or system associated with this Site, or to extract, collect, harvest, or gather content or information from this Site;
• create links to any page of this Site;
• frame or otherwise create a browser or border environment around any page of this Site or any Site Content, or deep-link to any internal page or area of this Site;
• use any Site Content or any Cree Lighting Marks to confuse or mislead the public or to falsely suggest an affiliation or association between you or your business, product, or service, on one hand, and Cree Lighting, on the other hand;
• impersonate another, or provide us with false information, or make unauthorized use of another’s information;
• upload, post or otherwise transmit any information that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically, or otherwise objectionable;
• harm anyone, including minors, in any way;
• market or sell products or services, except as may be agreed with Cree Lighting in writing;
• employ a robot, spider or other process or device to harvest email addresses or other visitor information or to monitor activity on the Site;
• impersonate another person or entity or forge any electronic communication or message;
• transmit or post information in violation of confidentiality agreements or the intellectual property or personal representation rights of any other person; or
• violate any applicable local, national, or international laws.

User Content

As used herein, “User Content” means any content originated by users on this Site, such as user-submitted messages, comments, ideas, suggestions, photos, images, videos, etc., but excluding content that contains or is derived from Cree Lighting’s intellectual property. By posting on this Site or submitting User Content to Cree Lighting using this Site, you represent and warrant that:

• you own or otherwise control all of the rights to the User Content that you post or submit and the information is entirely your work and is not copied from any other source;
• the submitted information is accurate and a true statement of facts;
• use of the User Content complies with these Terms of Use;
• the submitted User Content will not cause injury to any person or organization; and
• the submitted User Content does not contain any malware or other devices intended to interfere with the operation of the Site through the use of viruses, programs or technology designed to disrupt or damage software or hardware or to gain unauthorized access to information.

To the extent User Content submitted by you includes any element of your identity (name, voice, photograph, likeness, biographical information, etc.), you acknowledge and agree that such element of your identity will be treated as part of your User Content.

Certain features of this Site may allow visitors to post and/or submit User Content that can be viewed by others in the general public. We will review the posts from time to time but the person or organization making a post is entirely responsible for the post. Cree Lighting accepts no responsibility and assumes no liability in connection with the posts. You are responsible for ensuring that any post made using your email address complies with these Terms of Use.

By submitting User Content to Cree Lighting (whether your submission is solicited or unsolicited), you: 

• irrevocably grant to Cree Lighting and its licensees anon-exclusive, perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, transferable and sublicensable license to use, reproduce, adapt, display, distribute, translate, perform, publish, create derivative works from, and distribute your User Content (including any element of your identity, if included in your User Content) in any format or medium, including on this Site and/or any other website (including social media) as Cree Lighting deems desirable, for advertising, marketing, promotional, educational, or other lawful (commercial and noncommercial) purposes of Cree Lighting;
  • represent and warrant that: (1) you are the sole author and owner of your User Content; (2) your User Content does not violate any third-party right (including, without limitation, any third-party copyright, trademark, right of privacy or right of publicity), or violate any applicable law; and (3) your submission is voluntary and consensual and is made without any condition of compensation (whether monetary or otherwise), attribution, anonymity, secrecy or confidentiality;
  • grant Cree Lighting and its sublicensees the right to use the name that you submit in connection with any content you post or submit;
  • agree to cooperate with Cree Lighting as may be reasonably necessary to evidence or effectuate these rights and obligations; and

To the extent that your User Content may include or you provide a testimonial regarding use of our products or services, whether solicited or unsolicited, you authorize us to post that testimonial on our Site in areas accessible to the public and to release your name or otherwise publicize the fact that you submitted information to us. We have the right to edit your submitted testimonial, including text as well as pictures and video, as we think appropriate for presentation on our website. In addition, you authorize us to use all or portions of your testimonial for other purposes. You also represent and warrant that you have the authority to provide the testimonial to us for the purposes described in this paragraph, and that you have written approvals from anyone whose work, name or image appears in the testimonial. While we welcome all testimonials, inclusion of any particular testimonial on our website is entirely at our discretion.

You agree that you will not submit any information that you may consider confidential or proprietary. Any information submitted to Cree Lighting through email, posts to this website, or otherwise, will not be considered confidential unless we have specifically agreed otherwise in a written agreement specifically for the purpose for sharing confidential information with Cree Lighting. Without this type of an agreement, you agree that there are no restrictions on our ability to use or distribute the information, and that we are free to use any ideas, concepts, know-how or techniques that you send us for any purpose and to modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, and display throughout the world in any media information that you provide us.

By submitting User Content to Cree Lighting using this Site, you waive any rights that you may have with respect to such User Content. To the extent that you nevertheless retain the rights, you agree not to enforce them against Cree Lighting.

By submitting User Content to Cree Lighting using this Site, you agree to indemnify and hold Cree Lighting harmless from and against any loss, cost or liability, including but not limited to reasonable attorneys’ fees, that we may incur as a result of any claim, suit or proceeding arising from any information that you supply through this Site, your violation of the rights of third parties, or your failure to comply with these Terms of Use.

Cree Lighting’s DMCA Policy

If you believe that any information contained in this Site infringes your copyright, you should notify Cree Lighting of your copyright infringement claim in accordance with the following. Cree Lighting will process notices of alleged infringement that it receives and will take appropriate action as required by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (Title 17, United States Code) (DMCA) and other applicable intellectual property laws. To comply with the DMCA, Cree Lighting will respond to proper notifications of claimed copyright infringement with respect to User Content on this Site and will take appropriate action including expediently removing and disabling access to the allegedly infringing User Content. Cree Lighting also has a policy of terminating, in appropriate circumstances, the account of any registered user on this Site who is determined by Cree Lighting to be a repeat infringer.
 

Designated Agent: In compliance with the DMCA, the following is Cree Lighting’s Designated Agent to receive notifications of claimed copyright infringement by User Content on this Site: 

By mail:

Cree Lighting USA LLC
Attn.: Legal Department
9201 Washington Ave.

Racine, WI 53406

By Telephone: (800) 236-6800

By Email: CreeLightingLegal@CreeLighting.com

Notice of Claimed Copyright Infringement: If you believe that your copyright has been infringed or violated by any User Content found on this Site, please notify the Designated Agent listed above in writing and provide the following requisite information: 

(i)     a physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;

(ii)    identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or if multiple copyrighted works are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works;

(iii)   identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material;

(iv)   information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted;

(v)    a statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and

(vi)   a statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Counter-Notification to Claimed Copyright Infringement: Under the DMCA, if a notice of copyright infringement has been filed against User Content submitted by you on this Site, you may make a counter-notification with the Designated Agent listed above, which counter-notification must be in writing and contain the following requisite information: 

(i)     your physical or electronic signature;

(ii)    identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or access to it was disabled;

(iii)   a statement by you under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification; and

(iv)   your name, address, and telephone number, and a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of Federal District Court for the judicial district in which you are located (or in the State of Wisconsin, USA, if you reside outside of the United States), and that you will accept service of process from the person who filed the notice of copyright infringement or an agent of such person.

If Cree Lighting receives a valid counter-notification, it may reinstate the removed or disabled User Content in accordance with the DMCA. Please note that, under the DMCA, any person who knowingly makes material misrepresentations in a notification of claimed infringement or any counter-notification may be liable for damages.

You may be liable for damages (including costs and attorneys' fees) if you materially misrepresent that an activity is infringing your copyright.

Links to Third Parties

This Site may include links (including through advertisements displayed) to third-party websites, products and services not owned, controlled, or operated by Cree Lighting (each, a “Linked Third-Party Site/Product/Service”). Such links do not constitute or imply Cree Lighting’s approval, sponsorship, or endorsement of any Linked Third-Party Site/Product/Service. Cree Lighting is not responsible for and makes no representations or warranties, express or implied, regarding any Linked Third-Party Site/Product/Service. You access and use a Linked Third-Party Site/Product/Service solely at your own risk. When you access and use a Linked Third-Party Site/Product/Service, you are subject to that third party’s terms and policies, and not these Terms of Use. Any right or claim you may have concerning a Linked Third-Party Site/Product/Service can only be asserted directly against the third party that operates or provides that Linked Third-Party Site/Product/Service.

Product Information and Availability

We aim to display our product information on this Site as accurately as possible. However, we do not warrant that product descriptions or other content on this Site is accurate, complete, reliable, current, or error-free. Because actual colors you see depend on your monitor or device, we cannot guarantee your monitor's or device’s display of any color will accurately reflect actual product color or finish. Also, product information displayed on this Site may contain typographical or other human errors and may not be 100% complete or current despite our efforts. Accordingly, we do not guarantee or warrant that all product information and images displayed on this Site will be accurate in all respects.

We do not guarantee the availability of any product displayed on this Site, and we reserve the right at any time to change or discontinue any product without notice or liability to you.

Reference designs and other information presented on this Site are provided for informational and educational purposes only. No representation or warranty is made in connection with the information, including but not limited to the effectiveness, economy, safety, or utility of designs based on the information, which is provided AS IS. The inclusion of information on this website does not imply any license under patent or other intellectual property rights held by Cree Lighting or any other individual or organization. 

Sweepstakes, Contests, etc.

To the extent we may from time to time conduct prize promotions (sweepstakes, contests, etc.) on this Site, your participation in such prize promotions will be subject to our published official rules.

Disclaimer of Warranties

EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY OTHERWISE SPECIFIED BY Cree Lighting AND EXCEPT WHERE PROHIBITED BY APPLICABLE LAW: 

• Cree Lighting MAKES NO WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION REGARDING THIS SITE OR ANY SITE CONTENT.
• THIS SITE AND ALL SITE CONTENT ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED.
• TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE LAW, Cree Lighting DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND WARRANTY OF NON-INFRINGEMENT, WITH RESPECT TO THIS SITE AND ALL SITE CONTENT.
• WITHOUT LIMITING THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING, Cree Lighting DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THIS SITE AND ALL SITE CONTENT WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE; OR THAT ANY DEFECT OR ERROR WILL BE CORRECTED; OR THAT THIS SITE AND ALL SITE CONTENT ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. YOU USE THIS SITE AND ALL SITE CONTENT ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. 

SOME STATES MAY NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. BUT, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, WE EXCLUDE ALL WARRANTIES. 

Limitation of Liability

YOU EXPRESSLY ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT IN NO EVENT SHALL Cree Lighting AND THEIR SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS BE LIABLE TO YOU UNDER CONTRACT, TORT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY OR ANY OTHER LEGAL OR EQUITABLE THEORY, FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, EXEMPLARY, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOSS OF USE, LOST PROFITS, LOSS OF DATA OR INFORMATION OF ANY KIND, OR LOSS OF BUSINESS GOODWILL OR OPPORTUNITY) ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS SITE OR ANY SITE CONTENT, EVEN IF THEY HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH LOSS OR DAMAGES.

BECAUSE SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES OR TOTAL LIABILITY, THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

If you are dissatisfied with this Site, its contents, these Terms of Use, or the Privacy Policy, you agree that your sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue using this Site.

User Indemnity

YOU AGREE TO INDEMNIFY AND HOLD HARMLESS Cree Lighting AND THEIR SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS AND REPRESENTATIVES, FOR AND FROM ANY AND ALL CLAIMS, ACTIONS, CAUSES OF ACTION, SUITS, DAMAGES, LIABILITIES, LOSSES, COSTS AND EXPENSES (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, REASONABLE ATTORNEYS' FEES AND LEGAL COSTS) ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO (I) YOUR USE OF THIS SITE OR ANY SITE CONTENT OR (II) ANY USER CONTENT SUBMITTED BY YOU.

Governing Law

These Terms of Use shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Wisconsin, U.S.A. (without regard to the conflict of laws provisions thereof). You and Cree Lighting agree that the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods shall NOT apply to these Terms of Use or your use of this Site (including any purchase you make on this Site).

Arbitration Agreement

You and Cree Lighting agree that any dispute or claim relating to your use of this Site will be resolved by binding arbitration, rather than in court, except that (i) you may assert claims in small claims court if your claims qualify and (ii) Cree Lighting may bring actions in court to enforce intellectual property rights. The United States Federal Arbitration Act and federal arbitration law apply to these Terms.

There is no judge or jury in arbitration, and court review of an arbitration award is limited. However, an arbitrator can award on an individual basis the same damages and relief as a court (including injunctive and declaratory relief or statutory damages) and must follow the provisions of these Terms as a court would.

To begin an arbitration proceeding, you must send a letter requesting arbitration and describing your claim, to:

Cree Lighting USA LLC
9201 Washington Ave
Racine, WI 53406 USA
Attn: Legal / Arbitration Notice

The arbitration will be conducted by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) under its rules. The AAA's rules are available at www.adr.org or by calling 1-800-778-7879. Payment of all filing, administration and arbitrator fees will be governed by the AAA’s rules. Cree Lighting will reimburse those fees for claims totaling less than $10,000 unless the arbitrator determines the claims are frivolous. Cree Lighting will not seek attorneys' fees and costs in arbitration unless the arbitrator determines the claims are frivolous. You may choose to have the arbitration conducted by telephone, based on written submissions, or in person in the county where you live or at another mutually agreed location.

YOU AND CREE LIGHTING EACH AGREE THAT ANY DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCEEDINGS WILL BE CONDUCTED ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT IN A CLASS, CONSOLIDATED OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION. IF FOR ANY REASON A CLAIM PROCEEDS IN COURT RATHER THAN IN ARBITRATION, YOU AND CREE LIGHTING EACH WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL.

Enforcement

Any unauthorized use of the Site terminates your permission to access and use the Site and may subject you to prosecution. If any provision in these Terms of Use is found invalid or unenforceable for any reason, that provision shall be considered severable from the other provisions and shall not affect the validity or enforceability of the remaining provisions.

Your Responsibility to Protect against Viruses

We have no intention of distributing any electronic materials designed to deliberately cause errors in or disrupt use of any computer systems. It is your responsibility to take precautions to ensure that whatever you may download from our Site is free of viruses and other destructive items. We have no liability for any virus or other malware introduced to your computer system through access to or download from our Site.

English Language

You agree that there is no requirement to translate all or any portion of the Site or the information provided through the Site into any other language than the ones in which it appears. You further agree that all contractual and transactional communications between you and us shall be in the English language, and that there is no requirement to translate any communication into any other language.

Privacy and Cookies

Please review our Privacy Policy, which also governs your visit to our Site and describes our practices concerning collection and use of information about visitors, including our use of cookies.

Export of Information

The United States export control laws prohibit the export of certain technical data and software to certain territories. No content from this Site may be downloaded or otherwise exported in violation of United States law.

Miscellaneous

• We reserve the right at any time, in our sole discretion, with or without notice, and without liability to you or other users, to: (i) modify, suspend, remove or terminate this Site or any portion thereof; (ii) monitor any user’s activities on this Site to verify and ensure that user’s compliance with these Terms of Use and any applicable law; and (iii) investigate any suspected or alleged violation of these Terms of Use or any applicable law and cooperate with authorities in such investigation.
• This Site is not intended for or directed to anyone under the age of eighteen. By using this Site, you warrant that you are at least 18 years of age.
• You acknowledge and agree that Cree Lighting may at any time, without notice or your consent, transfer this Site, including all Site Content and all user information associated with this Site, to an affiliate of Cree Lighting or to a third party that merges with Cree Lighting or acquires Cree Lighting’s business or assets.
• A failure by Cree Lighting to exercise or enforce any right or provision under these Terms of Use will not constitute a waiver of the right or provision. Any waiver of any provision under these Terms of Use will only be effective if it is in writing and signed by Cree Lighting.
• The Site is controlled and operated within the United States of America and is designed for use by businesses worldwide and by consumers within the United States. CREE LIGHTING MAKES NO REPRESENTATION THAT THE SITE IS APPROPRIATE FOR USE BY CONSUMERS OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES.