1. What ExoConnect Is
ExoConnect, operated by [Company Legal Name] ("ExoConnect," "we," "us"), is an online marketplace that connects dental professionals ("Buyers") with independent digital design providers ("Sellers"). We provide the platform, messaging and payment tools only. ExoConnect does not operate as a dental lab, does not manufacture medical devices, and does not provide healthcare services of any kind.
2. Patient Privacy and Protected Health Information (Important)
You may not upload, send or share any information that could identify a patient anywhere on ExoConnect.
Your obligation as a Buyer: Before uploading any case file (such as STL, PLY, OBJ or DICOM files), you must remove all names, dates of birth, chart numbers, embedded metadata and any other Protected Health Information (PHI). You confirm that every upload is fully de-identified and complies with HIPAA and any other privacy law that applies to you.
Our role: ExoConnect is not a HIPAA covered entity. We are not responsible for any user's failure to de-identify patient data, and any such failure is the uploading user's sole responsibility.
3. Clinical Responsibility
Every design, surgical guide, crown or other digital file delivered through ExoConnect is provided as a design and manufacturing aid only, not as clinical advice.
The licensed practitioner who orders the work is solely responsible for checking each CAD design for accuracy and fit for the specific patient before it is manufactured or used clinically. By approving a delivery, the Buyer accepts full clinical responsibility for its use.
4. Licensed Software Only
Seller warranty: By listing services, each Seller confirms that every program used to fulfill an order is properly licensed for commercial use. This includes, without limitation, Exocad, 3Shape, BlueSkyPlan and Blender-based dental tools.
No pirated software: Cracked, pirated or otherwise unlicensed software may never be used on ExoConnect work. Sellers are fully responsible, legally and financially, for any licensing or copyright claim tied to their tools. We may suspend any account we reasonably suspect of using unlicensed software, and we accept no liability for the software Sellers choose to use.
5. Payments, Fees and Payouts
In short: Buyers pay up front, ExoConnect holds the funds, and Sellers are paid after delivery is complete.
How Buyers pay: Full payment is collected when an order is placed. We accept major credit cards and digital wallets, processed securely by Stripe.
Held funds: Payment stays on hold until the Seller delivers and the Buyer approves the work, or until the order completes automatically.
Fees: Buyers may pay a platform service fee, which is always displayed before checkout. Sellers who choose optional promotion or visibility features pay an extra commission on the boosted orders those features apply to.
Seller payouts: Seller earnings become available to withdraw once the applicable holding period has passed.
6. Messaging, Files and Staff Review
Staff access: When you use ExoConnect messaging, file sharing, verification or support features, you agree that authorized ExoConnect personnel may view the related messages, files, tickets and verification documents. We do this only as reasonably needed to provide support, prevent fraud or abuse, settle disputes, enforce our policies or meet legal and compliance requirements.
Before an order is paid: Users may not use messages or support channels to share outside contact details, ask for payment, or send any patient information that has not been de-identified.
After an order is active: Once an order is paid and underway, the Buyer and Seller may share reasonable contact details needed to coordinate that order. Even so, all payments, invoices, approvals, revision requests, disputes and delivery records must stay on ExoConnect.
Off-platform payments: Asking for or accepting payment outside ExoConnect is never allowed. If these rules are broken, we may delete messages, issue warnings, ask for more information, reject uploads or suspend accounts.
7. Sellers Are Independent
Sellers work as independent contractors, not as employees, agents, partners or joint venturers of [Company Legal Name]. Nothing in these Terms creates any of those relationships.
8. Indemnification
You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless [Company Legal Name], its affiliates and its officers against every claim, loss, liability, cost and expense, including reasonable attorneys' fees, that arises from:
- your use of ExoConnect;
- your breach of these Terms;
- your infringement of anyone else's intellectual property; or
- any malpractice or clinical claim connected to designs obtained through ExoConnect.