These Brand Partner Terms (the "Brand Terms") govern applications to, and participation in, The Hale League and the listing of products on the e-commerce platform operated by The 2nd Hale Company, Inc. ("Hale"). "Brand," "you," and "your" mean the company applying to or participating in the League. By submitting an application or participating in the League, you agree to these Brand Terms on behalf of the Brand, and you represent that you are authorized to do so.
If the Brand and Hale have signed a Brand Partnership Agreement (a "BPA"), the BPA governs the commercial relationship; in the event of a conflict between the BPA and these Brand Terms, the BPA controls. These Brand Terms govern (a) the application and evaluation period before a BPA is signed, and (b) use of the Hale platform to the extent not addressed in the BPA.
1.The League; Applications
Membership in the League is free; access is reviewed. Hale evaluates applications at its discretion and does not guarantee acceptance, listing, placement, or any level of sales. Hale may decline or remove any brand or product that it reasonably determines does not meet its standards or poses legal, safety, or reputational risk.
You agree that all information submitted in your application and onboarding - including company details, product information, ingredient lists, claims, certifications, pricing, and assets (collectively, "Brand Materials") - is accurate, complete, and kept up to date, and that you have all rights necessary to submit it.
2.Confidentiality of Applications
Hale will treat non-public information in your application (including unreleased products, pricing, and commercial information) as confidential, will use it only to evaluate and administer your participation in the League, and will not disclose it to third parties except to Hale's service providers and advisors under confidentiality obligations, or as required by law. This obligation applies whether or not your application is accepted. Likewise, you agree to keep confidential any non-public information Hale shares with you during evaluation and onboarding.
3.Your Intellectual Property Stays Yours
As between you and Hale, the Brand retains all right, title, and interest in and to its trademarks, trade dress, logos, product designs, formulations, copy, images, and all other Brand intellectual property, including all Brand Materials. Nothing in these Brand Terms transfers ownership of any intellectual property. Hale will not register, or assist others in registering, any trademark or domain confusingly similar to your marks, and will follow your reasonable, written brand guidelines provided to Hale.
4.License You Grant Hale
To operate the platform, you grant Hale a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license during your participation in the League to use, reproduce, display, distribute, format, and create derivative works of the Brand Materials (such as resizing images or reformatting copy) solely for the purposes of:
(a) evaluating your application and onboarding your products; (b) listing, promoting, marketing, and selling your products on and off the platform (including Hale's site, emails, social media, advertising, events, and PR); (c) operating platform features, including search, personalization, the Haley assistant, and the product scanner, so that customers can find, understand, and buy your products; and (d) guiding your brand through the League journey, including creating internal analyses and previews using Brand Materials.
This license ends when your participation ends, except that Hale may (i) retain archival copies, (ii) complete in-flight orders and honor returns, and (iii) leave historical marketing materials already published in the ordinary course (e.g., past social posts) in place unless you request removal.
5.AI Features and Product Information
Grounding. Hale's AI features (including Haley and the product scanner) are designed so that statements about your specific products - descriptions, ingredients, usage, and claims - draw on the Brand Materials you supply and other verified catalog data, rather than being invented by the model.
Your responsibility. You are responsible for ensuring the Brand Materials you supply are accurate, substantiated, and compliant with applicable law (including FTC and FDA requirements for claims). Hale is entitled to rely on them.
Correction process. If you believe an AI feature has generated inaccurate or non-compliant output about your products, notify Hale at partners@thehale.co. Hale will review and, where the output is inaccurate against the Brand Materials or non-compliant, correct, suppress, or constrain the relevant output within 72 hours of notice. Hale does not provide pre-publication approval of individual AI outputs, which are generated dynamically in response to customer queries.
No foundation-model training on your content. Hale will not use your Brand Materials or your confidential information to train general-purpose AI models for third parties, and will not permit its AI service providers to use them to train their own models. Hale may use Brand Materials and platform data to operate and improve Hale's own platform features, including in aggregated or de-identified form.
6.Customer Data and Reporting
Customer relationship. Hale is the merchant of record, and customer accounts and customer personal information belong to Hale's relationship with the customer, handled under Hale's Privacy Policy.
Fulfillment data. If you fulfill orders, Hale will share the customer information needed to fulfill them (name, shipping address, items ordered). You may use it only to fulfill the order and comply with law - not for marketing or enrichment - and you must protect it with reasonable security measures and delete it when no longer needed for those purposes.
Reporting to you. Hale will provide participating brands with aggregated, de-identified reporting on their products' performance on the platform - such as sales volumes, subscription rates, return rates, and return reasons - at the cadence set out in your BPA or as otherwise communicated. Reporting does not include customer personal information.
7.Pricing
Hale sets the retail prices displayed to customers. If you maintain a Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) policy and provide it to Hale in writing in your application or BPA, Hale will price your products consistent with it. Coordination and notice obligations for price changes on your products (including subscription repricing) are set out in the BPA.
8.Fulfillment, Returns, and Service Standards
Order routing (brand-fulfilled via Shopify Collective, 3PL, or Hale-fulfilled) is established during onboarding and in your BPA. You agree to meet the shipping lead times, return processing timelines, and customer-service standards communicated during onboarding, and to maintain accurate inventory availability. Hale serves as the customer-facing contact for support and returns.
9.Compliance and Conduct
You will comply with all applicable laws, including product safety, labeling, FTC endorsement and claims rules, and platform policies Hale communicates to you. Neither party will publicly disparage the other. You will maintain commercially reasonable liability insurance covering your products.
10.Disclaimers; Liability
The platform is provided "as is." Hale does not guarantee sales volumes, traffic, placement, or uninterrupted operation. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, NEITHER PARTY WILL BE LIABLE TO THE OTHER FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, AND EACH PARTY'S TOTAL LIABILITY UNDER THESE BRAND TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNTS PAID OR PAYABLE BETWEEN THE PARTIES IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM. These limits do not apply to breaches of Section 2 (Confidentiality), infringement of the other party's intellectual property, or a party's indemnification obligations under a signed BPA.
11.Term; Ending Participation
These Brand Terms apply from the date you submit an application and continue while you participate in the League. Either party may end participation as provided in the BPA or, if no BPA is signed, on 14 days' written notice. Sections 2, 3, 5 (last paragraph), 6, 10, and 12 survive.
12.General
These Brand Terms are governed by Delaware law, with exclusive jurisdiction in the state and federal courts located in Delaware. Hale may update these Brand Terms by posting an updated version and providing notice to participating brands at least 30 days before material changes take effect; continued participation after the effective date constitutes acceptance. If a signed BPA exists, changes to these Brand Terms do not override the BPA.
13.Contact
Brand partner questions and AI-output correction requests: partners@thehale.co. Legal notices: help@thehale.co.