RECARO Holding GmbH, Jahnstraße 1, 70597 Stuttgart, Germany, is the owner of the trademark "RECARO". RECARO Automotive GmbH, Stuttgarter Strasse 73, 73230 Kirchheim/Teck, Germany, and its affiliated companies pursuant to Art. 15 et seq. of the German Stock Corporation Act (AktG) (short "RECARO Automotive" and hereinafter "RECARO") use the trademark "RECARO" and its logo according to the very detailed rules of a License Agreement. Such License Agreement entitles RECARO to use the trademark "RECARO" worldwide, unlimited in terms of time, and exclusively for the automotive sector (passenger cars and commercial vehicles). All of RECARO’s business partners (importers, service partners, dealers or other license partners; hereinafter "RECARO Partners") are also subject to these rules we have listed for you in this Marketing Policy. The most important requirements for RECARO Partners are stated below.
Insofar, we refer to the Marketing Policy’s following detailed information, which are to be applied as a basis for all marketing activities:
Marketing Services / Equipment:
The RECARO logo is legally protected and may only be used by RECARO Partners in accordance with the following rules. Generally, when using his own communication media (business papers, etc.), the RECARO Partner must not give the impression that he directly represents the RECARO company or that he is a subsidiary of RECARO.
2.1 Own means of communication and office equipment
Only the use of the provided logo "Authorized Dealer" or "Authorized Service Partner" (hereinafter referred to as "Partner-Logo") is permitted. Such Partner-Logo is to be used as a decorative element. The Partner-Logo is available in the colors black and white; other colors are not permitted. Partner's own means of communication and its office equipment must be created in its own corporate design. The use or reproduction of the RECARO Corporate Design for the RECARO Partner’s activities is not permitted.
2.2 Use of RECARO communication tools
The RECARO Partner has a variety of marketing documents and marketing tools at his disposal (see Sections 4 et seq. below). These materials and tools must be used for a professional appearance as official "Authorized Dealer" or "Authorized Service Partner" of RECARO and the use of the RECARO brand strength for its marketing activities.
2.3 Spelling of "RECARO"
As a word mark, the trademark "RECARO" must always be written in capital letters.
a) Example - CORRECT: ... the RECARO Ergomed’s product advantages.
b) Example - WRONG: ... the Recaro Ergomed’s product advantages.
2.4 Third-party products
Only RECARO is entitled to offer third-party products, such as seating products, merchandising articles, accessories and services as RECARO products on the market.
2.5 Presentation / communication in the Partner’s own name
The RECARO Partner must integrate its own company name and address in all presentations and in all communication media used. A presentation in the name of RECARO is not permitted. It must rather be clear that the RECARO Partner communicates in its own name and distributes in its own name and on its own account. Other applications, in particular the sole use of the trademark "RECARO", are prohibited. If, in exceptional cases, a more detailed presentation should be necessary, the specific case must be coordinated in advance with RECARO Automotive’s Marketing Manager.
The RECARO Partner will be provided with advertisement templates in the RECARO Partner Portal. The RECARO Partner sends a specimen copy to the RECARO Automotive Marketing Department after printing. Changes to the advertisement templates are not permitted.
The RECARO Partner can purchase merchandising and promotional items from RECARO Automotive at Partner conditions. The production and distribution of own promotional items by the RECARO Partner under the trademark "RECARO" is prohibited.
5.1 For trade fair presentations and events which are conducted by the RECARO Partner and where RECARO products are presented, the use of the trademark “RECARO” must be agreed upon with RECARO in advance. This also applies if RECARO is not the trade fair or event presentation’s main component.
5.2 The RECARO marketing department will support the RECARO Partner in designing RECARO specific layouts (e.g., for exhibition walls or the like). Examples can be found in the Partner Portal.
5.3 The design of all marketing instruments (trade fair stand, invitation flyer, etc.) must clearly show to third parties that the RECARO Partner bears the legal responsibility for the trade fair presentations and events and that RECARO is not the originator or organizer of the trade fair presentation or event.
5.4 For a professional appearance, RECARO Automotive provides the RECARO Partner with its mobile trade fair stand, subject to availability (for further details, see Marketing Services in the Partner Portal). This requires the conclusion of a separate agreement between RECARO and the RECARO Partner, according to which in particular RECARO’s responsibility and liability shall be excluded.
6.1 Showroom use via DVD
The use of videos provided by RECARO on DVD is only permitted in the Partner's own showroom. The films on the DVD are not intended for the internet and as such may not be extracted from the DVD and made available on the internet for viewing or download.
6.2 Website use
If the RECARO Partner wishes to show videos of or in connection with RECARO on his website, only the videos of the RECARO Automotive Youtube channel can be used and embedded. It is not permitted to make changes to these videos. Instructions can be found in the Partner Portal.
Flyers and prospectuses
The RECARO Partner can purchase flyers and prospectuses from RECARO Automotive. In order to transfer the RECARO print media (flyers, brochures) into the Importer’s national language, RECARO provides the tool "Web2Print". The Importer uses such tool for a direct translation. The costs for a one-month license for use are covered by RECARO. If the translation period is exceeded, RECARO can invoice the license costs to the Importer.
8.1 Product images
The RECARO Partner will be provided with product images for integration into the Partner’s own advertising material in the Partner Portal. High-resolution images for print media and low-resolution images for digital use are available for download.
8.2 Image pictures
The use of so-called image pictures is only permitted in RECARO's own advertising material (such as prospectuses). The RECARO Partner is therefore not provided with image pictures for free design.
For a professional showroom design, the details specified by RECARO must be applied and used.
The Partner Portal contains some equipment to choose from as well as design layouts (walls, banners, etc.) that can be used for the showroom. The RECARO marketing department will be happy to create specific layouts to match the respective Partner showroom.
10.1 Product texts
The texts defined by RECARO must be used from the communication media. Deviations are only permitted with the RECARO marketing department’s written (including email) permission and therefore require prior consultation.
10.2 Company texts
Text excerpts about the company must be agreed upon with the RECARO marketing department and require prior written (including email) approval.
The RECARO Partner is not permitted to pass on the training documents made available to him to third parties. They are for internal use only.
The operation of websites or social media accounts by the RECARO Partner, which give the impression to be an official RECARO representation, is prohibited. The official RECARO Automotive websites and social media channels are exclusively operated by RECARO.
12.1 Website in the dealer, service partner, importer’s corporate design
Domains
The RECARO Partner must not register or use domains under the name of or by using the trademark "RECARO". All denominations before the country code are deemed to be domain-relevant.
a) Examples - WRONG:
www.recaro-partner.de
www.recaro-sportcenter.de
b) Examples - CORRECT:
www.partnermustermann.de/recaro
www.firma-mustermann.de/recaro
12.2 Official Importer website
a) RECARO Importers serving regions where the operation of a foreign language version might be advisable can create a foreign language version of the RECARO website at their own expense in cooperation with the RECARO marketing department. RECARO grants the RECARO Importer the use of a RECARO-specific domain / URL for this type of website. The Content Management System for this will exclusively be operated by RECARO.
b) The RECARO website’s central contents (RECARO brand, history, products, etc.) will be literally transferred into the respective foreign language.
c) The RECARO Importer may make country-specific extensions to the Importer’s website: Dealer search (listing of authorized partners), news (country-specific news), introduction of the Importer and country-specific brochures, flyers or price lists based upon RECARO print media (using the Web2Print tool).
d) In return, the RECARO Importer undertakes to maintain and update the website regularly at its own expense. News should not be older than 3 months, product changes must be implemented within 3 months.
12.3 Web banner
For the operation of a website in the RECARO Partner’s corporate design, RECARO provides web banners, which can also be downloaded via the Partner Portal. The Partner Logo according to Section 2.1 and the Partner’s actual logo can still be integrated – however, no further changes will be permitted.
12.4 Social media
a) Names of social media channels
The RECARO Partner may not register or use any social media channels under the name or trademark "RECARO". This includes all mentions in the name of the social media channel:
Examples - WRONG:
www.facebook.com/recaro-sportcenter
www.facebook.com/recaro-partner
b) Templates for social media posts
The Partner Portal contains some templates the RECARO Partners can use on their own social media channels. The Partner-Logo according to Section 2.1 and the RECARO Partner’s actual logo can be integrated here – however, no further changes will be permitted.
