Rules & Regulations

The New Zealand Focus On Health Challenge (The Challenge) is a competition operated by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE. All parties participating in The Challenge are deemed to accept these Rules and Regulations (the Rules).

ENTRANCE/ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Entries will be accepted from any one, or combination of, the following (Participants):

1. New Zealand businesses or not-for-profit organizations which have their headquarters and primary operations based in New Zealand. More than 50% of their shareholders/principals must be NZ citizens or permanent residents.
2. Individuals who are New Zealand citizens or permanent residents and are 18 years of age or older.
3. Collaborative teams led by a business, not-for-profit organization or individual falling within 1 or 2 above.

Collaborative teams will need to appoint a lead representative who will be the primary contact between the team and The Challenge operational team. The lead representative will be considered the prize winner and recipient of the prize. NZTE will not be involved in or liable for distribution of prize money to the multiple entities making up the collaborative team.

Participants may only submit original ideas for which they or one of their team members own or are entitled to use the intellectual property. Such ideas must not:

• infringe any domestic or foreign patents, industrial designs, trade marks, trade names, brand names, service marks, logos or copyrights, or the trade secrets, or proprietary information of any other person or entity;
• be subject to any agreement or restriction that prohibits the submission.

Any ideas submitted to The Challenge must meet at least ONE of the following criteria to be eligible for the competition:

• Novel health-related product or service.
• Technology within the healthcare sector that is utilised to develop new or improve existing products, services and processes.
• Offers a novel application of technology or service from another industry to the healthcare space
• It combines existing products or services in a way that results in new intellectual property

The following are not eligible to enter The Challenge:

• Entrants who do not meet one or more of the above entry criteria
• Employees of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise
• Employees of International Data Group, IDC, Industry Insights, and their affiliates
• Employees of Swaytech and their affiliates
• Sponsor organizations and/or their officers and employees
• Judges and mentors, and their respective organizations
• Applications received in relation to products that are publicly available in the marketplace are ineligible for entry unless they are modified or combined with other technology which results in new intellectual property.
• Any application that NZTE in its sole discretion deems to be ineligible.

All participants:

• Participants must submit an executive summary, completed registration form and signed participant agreement by 31 August 2009, 5PM New Zealand Time to be eligible to participate in The Challenge.

Up to Twenty Semi-finalists

• Participants (or at least one member of a team) are required to:
• Attend one of the pitching preparation workshops
• Pitch to the judges in Round 1.

Up to Ten Finalists

• Participants (or at least one member of a team) are required to:
• Attend at least one of the Mentor workshops
• Attend the Advanced Pitch Training workshop webinar,
• Pitch to the judges in Round 2.
• In Round 2, the finalists are expected to execute the development plan that they developed in Round 1. Variations in the execution may occur as a result of judge and Challenge network feedback.
• The finalists are required to submit a comprehensive business plan by 30 April 2010, 5PM New Zealand Time.

Any issues or scheduling concerns regarding workshop attendance should be directed to the challenge operational team via email at info@nzfocusonhealth.com or by calling +64 9 354 9000.

JUDGING

Decisions made by the judges are final and not subject to appeal.

If there are fewer submissions than anticipated and/or the quality of the submissions is poor, then The Challenge Steering Committee reserves the right to decrease the number of semi-finalists, finalists or grand-prize winners.

Judges must follow the judging process when assessing entries.

COMMUNICATION

All communication from the participants relating to The Challenge should go through The Challenge operational team via email at info@nzfocusonhealth.com or by calling +64 9 354 9000.

During the course of The Challenge, the participants may not contact the judges in relation to The Challenge without explicit permission and authorisation from The Challenge operational team. If contacted, judges should notify The Challenge Operational team.

During the course of the competition, participant interaction with judges should be limited to Challenge events unless approval is granted from The Challenge Operational team.

Participants shall not make any direct contact to solicit a particular mentor or vice-versa. The Challenge operational team will allocate mentors. If mentors or participants are solicited, they should notify The Challenge operational team via email at info@nzfocusonhealth.com or by calling +64 9 354 9000.

Any issues or grievances with the process, mentors, judges, participants or other irreconcilable differences should be directed to The Challenge operational team via email at info@nzfocusonhealth.com or by calling +64 9 354 9000.

During The Challenge, mentors should not contact the judges in relation to The Challenge without explicit permission and authorization from The Challenge operational team. If contacted, judges should notify The Challenge Operational team.

CONFIDENTIALITY AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Subject to their obligations at law, mentors, judges and participants or anybody else involved in The Challenge will not disclose to the public or any third party any information that they receive as part of their role in The Challenge, without the prior written consent of NZTE. They will not use any information they receive as part of their role in The Challenge for any purpose other than in carrying out their role in The Challenge.

POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Mentors, judges and participants or anybody else involved in The Challenge must inform The Challenge operational team if they have any direct, indirect, financial and/or personal interests that may give rise to a conflict of interest, potential conflict of interest, insider trading or potential insider training, in relation to their role in The Challenge via email at info@nzfocusonhealth.com or by calling +64 9 354 9000. The Challenge Steering Committee will then make a decision about whether the judge, mentor or participant needs to withdraw, abstain or take other action to ensure that The Challenge is not affected by the conflict. Judges, mentors and participants will comply with any and all directions of The Challenge Steering Committee in relation to the conflict or potential conflict.

Judges will not work with, invest, or otherwise take any interest in any of the participants in The Challenge until after the date winners are announced. For 6 months after the date the winners of The Challenge are announced, all judges, mentors and participants will advise NZTE if they form any business relationships between themselves (for example, without limitation, service provision, loans, purchase of shares).

PUBLISHING AND PROMOTION

All participants will cooperate in the promotion of The Challenge and their companies and ideas by allowing the use of their business and personal names and biographies, logos and a non-confidential summary of their idea.

A list of participants, including a non-confidential summary of the idea, may be published and/or supplied to The Challenge Network. This will allow potential investors, partners and buyers to potentially connect with all participants.

Once materials are submitted, NZTE may make photocopies, photographs, videotapes, DVDs and/or audiotapes of the plans including all documents, presentations, charts or materials prepared for use in The Challenge.

NZTE reserves the right to publish non-confidential information about the participants' work in publications and to release information to the media which may include radio, television, and the Internet. NZTE will inform the participants prior to the intended release.

Participants are required to provide NZTE with statistical and tracking data for up to two years following the end of The Challenge.

GENERAL

The Challenge and these rules are governed by and interpreted according to the laws of New Zealand. Each party irrevocably submits itself to the jurisdiction of the Courts of New Zealand over any proceedings arising out of or relating to the Challenge or these rules.

NZTE reserves the right to change these Rules by notice, waive any irregularities or exclude any person from participation in The Challenge.

NZTE will not be liable (in contract or in tort, including negligence or otherwise) for any direct or indirect damage, loss (including loss of profits or business) or cost (including legal and lawyer/client costs) to any person participating in the Challenge.