17. ARBITRATION AGREEMENT
PLEASE READ THIS SECTION 17 CAREFULLY PLEASE BE AWARE
THAT THIS SECTION CONTAINS PROVISIONS
GOVERNING HOW DISPUTES BETWEEN YOU AND US WILL BE RESOLVED. AMONG OTHER THINGS, THIS SECTION 17 INCLUDES AN AGREEMENT TO
ARBITRATE, WHICH REQUIRES, WITH LIMITED EXCEPTIONS, THAT ALL DISPUTES BETWEEN YOU AND US BE RESOLVED BY BINDING AND FINAL
ARBITRATION. THIS SECTION 17 ALSO CONTAINS A CLASS ACTION AND JURY TRIAL WAIVER. IN SOME COUNTRIES YOU MAY HAVE ADDITIONAL RIGHTS AND/OR ELEMENTS OF THIS ARBITRATION AGREEMENT MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU AS REQUIRED BY LAW.
Applicability of Arbitration Agreement.
Subject to the terms of this Arbitration Agreement, you and we agree that any dispute, claim, or disagreement arising out of or relating in any way to your access to or use of the Services, any communications you receive, any products sold or distributed through the Services, or the Terms, including claims and disputes that arose between us before the effective date of the Terms (each, a
"Dispute") will be resolved by binding arbitration, using the English language, rather than in court, except that: (1) you and we may assert claims or seek relief in small claims court if such claims qualify and remain in small claims court; and (2) you or we may seek equitable relief in court for infringement or other misuse of intellectual property rights (such as trademarks, trade dress, domain names, trade secrets, copyrights, and patents). For purposes of this Arbitration Agreement, "Dispute" will also disputes that arose or involve facts occurring k the existence of this or any prior versions of the Terms as well as claims that may arise after the termination of the Terms.
Informal Dispute Resolution. There may be instances when a Dispute arises between you and us.
If that occurs, we are committed to working with you to reach a reasonable resolution. You and we agree that good faith informal efforts to resolve Disputes can result in a prompt, low-cost and mutually beneficial outcome. You and we therefore agree that before either party commences arbitration against the other (or initiates an action in small claims court if a party so elects), we will personally meet and confer telephonically or via videoconference, in a good faith effort to resolve informally any Dispute covered by this Arbitration Agreement ("Informal Dispute Resolution Conference"). If you are represented by counsel, your counsel may participate in the conference, but you also agree to participate in the conference. The party initiating a Dispute must give notice to the other party in writing of its intent to initiate an Informal Dispute Resolution Conference ('Notice"), which shall occur within forty-five days after the other party receives such Notice. unless an extension is mutually agreed upon by the parties in writing. Notice to us that you intend to initiate an Informal Dispute Resolution Conference should be sent by email to dispute.tomeetshop@.com, or by regular mail to the applicable address set forth in Section.
The Notice must include: (1) your name, telephone number, mailing address, email address associated with your Account (if you have one); (2) the name, telephone number, mailing address and e-mail address of your counsel, if any; and (3) a description of your Dispute. The notice must specify a proposed date and time when you are available for an Informal Dispute Resolution Conference; however, you agree to cooperate with Tomeet.shop in scheduling a mutually agreeable date and time if your proposed date and time is not convenient for Tomeet.shop.
The Informal Dispute Resolution Conference shall be individualized such that a separate conference must be held each time either party initiates a Dispute,
even if the same law firm or group of law firms represents multiple users in similar cases, unless all parties agree; multiple individuals initiating a Dispute cannot participate in the same Informal Dispute Resolution Conference unless all parties agree. In the time between a party receiving the Notice and the Informal Dispute Resolution Conference, nothing in this Arbitration Agreement shall prohibit the parties from engaging in informal communications to resolve the initiating party's Dispute. Engaging in the Informal Dispute Resolution Conference is a condition precedent and requirement that must be fulfilled before commencing arbitration. The statute of limitations and any filing fee deadlines shall be tolled while the parties engage in the Informal Dispute Resolution Conference process required by this section. Failure to appear for the Informal Disk
Resolution Conference without prior notice or extenuating circumstances will be deemed a failure to participate in good faith.
Waiver of Jury Trial. YOU AND WE HEREBY WAIVE ANY CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY RIGHTS TO SUE IN COURT AND HAVE A TRIAL IN FRONT OF A JUDGE OR A JURY. You and we are instead electing that all Disputes shall be resolved by arbitration under this Arbitration Agreement, except as specified in Section above. There is no judge or jury in arbitration, and court review of an arbit. "an award is subject to very limited review.
Waiver of Class and Other Non-Individualized Relief. YOU AND WE AGREE THAT, EACH OF US MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY ON AN
INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT ON A CLASS,
REPRESENTATIVE, OR COLLECTIVE BASIS, AND THE PARTIES HEREBY WAIVE ALL RIGHTS TO HAVE ANY DISPUTE BE BROUGHT, HEARD, ADMINISTERED, RESOLVED, OR ARBITRATED ON A CLASS, COLLECTIVE, REPRESENTATIVE, OR MASS ACTION BASIS. ONLY INDIVIDUAL RELIEF IS AVAILABLE, AND DISPUTES OF MORE THAN ONE CUSTOMER OR USER CANNOT BE ARBITRATED
OR CONSOLIDATED WITH THOSE OF ANY OTHER CUSTOMER OR USER. Subject to this Arbitration Agreement, the arbitrator may award declaratory or injunctive relief only in favor of the individual party seeking relief and only to the extent necessary to provide relief warranted by the party's individu claim. Nothing in this paragraph is intended to. shall it, affect the terms and conditions under Section
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Arbitration Agreement, if a final decision, not subject to any further appeal or recourse, determines that the limitations of this Section are invalid or unenforceable as to a particular claim or request for relief shall be severed from the arbitration and may be litigated only
in the courts provided. All other Disputes shall be arbitrated or litigated in small claims court. This subsection does not prevent you or us from participating in a class-wide settlement of claims
Rules and Forum. The Terms evidence a transaction involving interstate commerce; and notwithstanding any other provision herein with respect to the applicable substantive law, the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. § 1 et seq., Will govern the interpretation and enforcement of this Arbitration Agreement and any arbitration proceedings. If the informal dispute resolution process described above does not resolve satisfactorily within sixty (60) days after receipt of Notice, you and we agree that either party shall have the right to finally resolve the Dispute through binding arbitration. The arbitration will be conducted by American Arbitration Association (the
"AAA"), an established alternative dispute resolution provider, under its rules, including Consumer Arbitration Rules (the "AAA Rules"), then in effect, unless otherwise required by law. AAA's rules are also available at https://adr.org/consumer. For all acti under the AAA Rules, the proceedings may be where your residence is, or in New York, New Yu.. and any in-person hearings will be conducted at a location which is reasonably convenient to both parties taking into account their ability to travel and other pertinent circumstances. If AAA is not available to arbitrate, the parties will select an alternative arbitral forum. Your responsibility to pay any AAA fees and costs will be solely as set forth in the applicable AAA rules.
If the Parties are not able to resolve the Dispute through the mandatory informal dispute resolution process referenced above, either party may initiate an arbitration proceeding by sending a demand to the other party that describes the nature and basis for the claim and includes all of the information required in the arbitration notice ("Arbitration Notice"). The Party initiating arbitration must include as part of the demand a personally signed certification of compliance with the informal dispute resolution process. The Arbitration Notice must include: (1) the name, telephone number, mailing address, e-mail address of the party seeking arbitration and the account username (if applicable) as well as the email address associated with any applicable account; (2) a statement of the legal claims being asserted and the factual bases of those claims; (3) a description remedy sought and an accurate, good-faith calculation of the amount in controversy in United States Dollars; (4) a statement certifying completion of the informal dispute resolution process as described above; and (5) evidence that the requesting party has paid any necessary filing fees in connection with such arbitration. If the party requesting arbitration If the party requesting arbitration is represented by counsel, the Arbitration Notice shall also include counsel's name, telephone number, mailing address, and email address. Such counsel must also sign the Arbitration Notice. By signing the Arbitration Notice, counsel certifies to the best of counsel's knowledge, information, and belief, formed after an inquiry reasonable under the circumstances, that: (1) the Arbitration Notice is not being presented for any improper purpose, such as to harass, cause unnecessary delay, or needlessly increase the cost of dispute resolution; (2) the claims, defenses and other legal contentions are warranted by existing law or by a nonfrivolous argument for extending, modifyin reversing existing law or for establishing new le
(3) the factual and damages contentions have evidentiary support or, if specifically so identified, will likely have evidentiary support after a reasonable opportunity for further investigation or discovery.
Unless you and we otherwise agree, or the Batch Arbitration process discussed is triggered, the arbitration will be conducted in the county where you reside. Subject to the applicable AAA rules, the arbitrator may direct a limited and reasonable exchange of information between the parties, consistent with the expedited nature of * arbitration. If the AAA is not available to arbitri
parties will select an alternative arbitral forum. * responsibility to pay any AAA fees and costs will be solely as set forth in the applicable AAA Rules. You and we agree that all materials and documents exchanged during the arbitration proceedings shall be kept confidential and shall not be shared with anyone except the parties' attorneys, accountants, or business advisors, and then subject to the condition that they agree to keep all materials and docum exchanged during the arbitration proceedings confidential. During the arbitration, the amount settlement offer made by you or us must not be disclosed to the arbitrator until after the arbitrator makes a final decision and award, if any.
Arbitrator. The arbitrator will be either a retired judge or an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of New York, and will be selected by the parties from the AAA roster of consumer dispute arbitrators.
If the parties are unable to agree upon an arbitrator within thirty-five (35) days of delivery of the Arbitration Notice, then AAA will appoint the arbitrator in accordance with the applicable AAA rules, provided that if the Batch Arbitration processis triggered, AAA will appoint the arbitrator for each batch.
Attorneys' Fees and Costs. The parties shall bear their own attorneys' fees and costs in arbitration unless the arbitrator finds that either the substance of the Dispute or the relief sought in the Arbitration Notice was frivolous or was brought for an improper purpose (as measured by the standards set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(b)). If you or we need to invoke the authority of a court of competent jurisdiction to compel arbitration, then the party that obtains an order compelling arbitration in such action shall have the right to collect from the other party its reasonable costs, necessary disbursements, and reasonable attorneys' fees incurred in securing an order compelling arbitration. The prevailing party in any court action relating to whether either par'
satisfied any condition precedent to arbitratior. including the informal dispute resolution process, is entitled to recover their reasonable costs, necessary
disbursements, and reasonable attorneys' fees and costs.
Batch Arbitration. To increase the efficiency of administration and resolution of arbitrations, you and we agree that in the event that there are twenty-five
(25) or more individual Arbitration Notices of a substantially similar nature filed against us by or with the assistance of the same law firm, group of law firms, or organizations, within a thirty (30) day period, AAA shall (1) administer the arbitration demands in batches of 100 Arbitration Notices per batch (plus, to the extent there are less than 100 Arbitration Notices left over after the batching described above, a final batch consisting of the remaining Arbitration Notices), or in a single batch if there are fewer than 100 Arbitration Notices in total; (2) appoint one arbitrator for each batch; (3) administer the batches concurrently; (4) provide for the resolution of each batch as a single consolidated arbitration with one set of filing and administrative fees due per side pe batch, one procedural calendar, one hearing ( a place to be determined by the arbitrator, and o... final award ("Batch Arbitration"). Arbitration awards in one batch of arbitration demands shall have no precedential effect on subsequently administered batches.
All parties agree that Arbitration Notices are of a
"substantially similar nature" if they arise out of or relate to the same event or factual scenario and raise the same or similar legal issues and seek the same or similar relief. To the extent the parties disagree on the application of the Batch Arbitration process, the disagreeing party shall advise AAA, and AAA shall appoint a sole standing arbitrator to determine the applicability of the Batch Arbitration process
"Administrative Arbitrator"). In an effort to expedite resolution of any such dispute by the Administrative Arbitrator, the parties agree the Administrative Arbitrator may set forth such procedures as are necessary to resolve any disputes promptly. The Administrative Arbitrator's fees shall be paid by us.
You and we agree to cooperate in good faith with AAA to implement the Batch Arbitration process inclu-the payment of single filing and administrative batches of Arbitration Notices, as well as any sir. minimize the time and costs of arbitration, which may include: (1) the appointment of a discovery special master to assist the arbitrator in the resolution of discovery disputes; and (2) the adoption of an expedited calendar of the arbitration proceedings.
This Batch Arbitration provision shall in no way be interpreted as authorizing a class, collective and/or mass arbitration or a titemu.com kind, or arbitration
involving inint ar concolidated daime under any circumstances, except as expressly set forth in this provision.
30-Day Right to Opt Out. You have the right to opt out of the provisions of this Arbitration Agreement by sending written notice of your decision to opt out to the applicable address set forth within thirty (30) days after first becoming subject to this Arbitration Agreement. Your notice must include your name and address, the email address you used to set up your Account (if you have one), and an unequivocal statement that you want to opt out of this Arbitration Agreement. If you opt out of this Arbitration Agreement, all other parts of these Terms will continue to apply to you. Opting out of this Arbitration Agreement has no effect on any other arbitration agreements that you may currently have, or may enter in the future, with us.
Invalidity, Expiration. if any part or parts of this Arbitration Agreement are found under the law to be invalid or unenforceable, then such specific part or parts shall be of no force and effect and shall be severed and the remainder of the Arbitration Agreement shall continue in full force and effect. For the avoidance of doubt, this means that,then you
agree that the entire Arbitration Agreement shall be of no force and effect. You further agree that any Dispute that you have with us as detailed in this Arbitration Agreement must be initiated via arbitration within the applicable statute of limitation for that claim or controversy, or it will be forever time l Likewise, you agree that all applicable statutes. limitation will apply to such arbitration in the same manner as those statutes of limitation would apply in the applicable court of competent jurisdiction.
Moditication. Notwithstanding any provision in the Terms to the contrary, we agree that if we make any future material change to this Arbitration Agreement, we will notify you. Unless you reject the change within thirty (30) days of such change becoming effective by writing to us at the applicable address set forth your continued use of the Services, including the acceptance of products and services offered on or through the Services, following the posting of changes to this Arbitration Agreement constitutes your acceptance of any such changes. Changes to this Arbitration Agreement do not provide you with a new opportunity to opt out of the Arbitration Agreement if you have previously agreed to a version of the Terms and did not validly opt out of arbitration. If you reject any change or update to this Arbitration Agreement, and you were bound by an existing agreement to arbitrate Disputes arising out of or relating in any way to your access to or use of the Services, any communications you receive, any products sold or distributed throu Services or the Terms, the provisions of this Arbitration Agreement as of the date you first accepted the Terms (or accepted any subsequent changes to the Terms) remain in full force and effect.
We will continue to honor any valid opt outs of the Arbitration Agreement that you made to a prior version of the Terms.