Legal

Terms of use

The rules that govern the site, candidate accounts, examination seats, credentials, and use of the Foundation name and marks.

1. Who these terms apply to

These terms govern your use of the RUO Foundation website, any candidate account you create, any examination seat you purchase, and any credential issued to you.
By creating an account, purchasing an examination seat, or continuing to use the site, you agree to these terms and to the Candidate Code of Conduct.

You must be at least 18 years old to create a candidate account, sit an examination, or hold a credential.
You must provide accurate registration information, including your full legal name as it will appear on a credential record.
One account per person. Accounts may not be shared, sold, or transferred.

RUO Foundation publishes education, voluntary guidance, and a voluntary educational credential. It does not sell, broker, supply, or recommend research materials.
Nothing on this site is medical advice, legal advice, or a determination that a particular activity is lawful. It is not government recognition or approval.
A credential is evidence that a person completed an educational standard and passed an examination. It is not medical or clinical training, not authorization to administer anything to a person or an animal, not FDA approval, not a license, and not protection from regulatory or civil action.

An examination seat is USD 50 and entitles you to one scheduled sitting.
Sitting limits, waiting periods after a failed attempt, and the reschedule allowance are stated on the certification pages and form part of these terms.
A seat may be rescheduled once, at no charge, up to 48 hours before the scheduled sitting. A missed sitting, or a cancellation inside 48 hours, consumes the seat.
Fees are otherwise non-refundable once a sitting has begun. If the Foundation cancels a sitting for a reason within its control, the seat is reinstated or refunded.

Examination items, answer keys, and scoring logic are confidential. Copying, recording, republishing, or distributing examination content is prohibited.
Impersonation, unauthorized assistance, use of prohibited materials, or interference with proctoring may void a sitting and any resulting credential.
Integrity decisions may be appealed in writing through the contact page.

A credential is licensed to you personally for the period it remains active. It is not transferable.
You may state accurately that you hold the named credential, its level, and the date it was issued. You may not describe yourself as licensed, accredited, government-approved, or authorized to administer any material.
The names RUO Foundation and RUO Foundation Certification, and any Foundation logo, seal, badge, or certification mark, remain the property of the Foundation. Any use of a badge or mark is subject to a separate written usage policy issued with the credential. No badge or mark may be used by a seller, laboratory, or other organization to imply certification, verification, audit, sponsorship, or endorsement.
Credentials may be suspended or revoked for falsified identity or eligibility information, examination misconduct, misrepresentation of what the credential means, or misuse of the Foundation name or marks.

There is no public credential registry and no public lookup by certificate number. Verification is holder-controlled: you generate a private share link and may revoke it at any time.
You are responsible for who you share a verification link with. A revoked or expired link stops resolving.

Do not attempt to access accounts, records, or examination material that are not yours; do not scrape, overload, probe, or interfere with the service.
Do not submit identity documents, health information, or details of human use through public forms.
Do not use Foundation content to imply that any research-use-only material is safe, approved, or suitable for human or veterinary use.

Site content is published for educational use. You may read, quote with attribution, and link to it. You may not republish substantial portions as your own material, and you may not present Foundation content as an endorsement of a product or seller.
Content is versioned and may change. Where a page is marked as draft or pending review, treat it as such.

The site, the education, the examination, and any credential are provided on an as-is and as-available basis, without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, or non-infringement.
The Foundation does not warrant that information about any material, supplier, laboratory, or legal requirement is complete, current, or applicable to your circumstances.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Foundation and its officers, contributors, and service providers are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost data, personal injury, property damage, regulatory penalties, or losses arising from your handling, purchase, sale, or use of any material.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, total aggregate liability arising from these terms is limited to the amount you paid to the Foundation in the twelve months before the claim, or USD 50 if you paid nothing.
Some jurisdictions do not allow certain exclusions, so parts of this section may not apply to you.

You agree to indemnify the Foundation against claims arising from your misuse of the site, your misrepresentation of a credential, or your handling, distribution, or use of any research material.

You may close your account at any time through the contact page. Closing an account ends any active credential, which then cannot be verified.
The Foundation may suspend or terminate an account for breach of these terms, examination misconduct, or misuse of the Foundation name or marks, with notice where practical.
Records that must be retained for credential integrity are kept as described in the privacy notice.

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of New York, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules.
Disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in New York, and both parties agree to attempt good-faith resolution in writing for 30 days before filing.
Nothing here prevents either party from seeking injunctive relief for misuse of confidential examination content or of the Foundation name and marks.

Material changes are posted here with a revision date and, once accounts exist, emailed to account holders. Continuing to use the site after a change means you accept the revised terms.