Terms of Use Notice

Welcome to benefits.cat.com.  Unless specified otherwise by Caterpillar these Terms of Use (these "Terms of Use") contain the terms and conditions that govern your access to and use of this website (the "Site" and all data, text, graphics, user interfaces, visual interfaces, photographs, trademarks, logos, sounds, music, artwork and computer code made available by or through the Site ("Content")).  This is an agreement between you or the entity you represent ("you") and Caterpillar Inc., a Delaware corporation with corporate headquarters located at 510 Lake Cook Road, Suite 100, Deerfield, IL 60015 (together with our subsidiaries or affiliated companies that may make the Site available to you, "Caterpillar," "we," "us," or "our").  Caterpillar is willing to grant access to and use of the Site to you solely upon your acceptance of all of the terms and conditions of these Terms of Use without modification.

BY ACCESSING OR USING THE SITE, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY ALL OF THESE TERMS OF USE AND ARE REPRESENTING THAT YOU ARE AUTHORIZED TO ACCESS AND USE THE SITE AND ARE LAWFULLY ABLE TO ENTER INTO THESE TERMS OF USE AND HAVE THE LEGAL AUTHORITY TO BIND ANY ENTITY YOU REPRESENT. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS OF USE OR ANY SUBSEQUENT MODIFICATION, DO NOT ACCESS, BROWSE OR OTHERWISE USE THIS SITE.

We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to update or modify these Terms of Use at any time.  Your continued access to and use of the Site following the posting of any changes to these Terms of Use constitutes acceptance of those changes.  Please review the most current version of these Terms of Use at any time at benefits.cat.com.

Use of Site

You may access and use the Site solely in accordance with these Terms of Use.  You will strictly adhere to all laws, rules, regulations and Caterpillar policies applicable to the access and use of the Site, including those laws, rules and regulations that apply to online conduct, online content, and the export of data to and from the United States and your country of residence.  In addition, you will not:

  • Access, acquire, copy or monitor any portion of the Site, or in any way reproduce or circumvent the navigational structure or presentation of the Site, to obtain or attempt to obtain any materials, documents or information through any means not purposely made available through the Site, including through the use of any "deep-link", "page-scrape", "robot", "spider" or other automatic device, program, algorithm or methodology, or any similar or equivalent manual process.
  • Attempt to gain unauthorized access to any portion or feature of the Site, or any other systems or networks connected to the Site or to any server, including by hacking, password "mining" or any other illegitimate means.
  • Probe, scan or test the vulnerability of the Site or any network connected to the Site, nor breach the security or authentication measures on the Site or any network connected to the Site.
  • Reverse look-up, trace or seek to trace any information on any other user of or visitor to the Site, or any customer of Caterpillar, benefit plan participant or beneficiary, including but not limited to personal identification or information.
  • Take any action that imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on the infrastructure of the Site or Caterpillar's systems or networks, or any systems or networks connected to the Site or to Caterpillar.  
  • Use any device, software or routine to interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Site, any transaction being conducted on the Site, or with any other person's use of the Site.
  • Distribute viruses or any other technologies that may harm Caterpillar or the interests of property any other person or entity, including any other user of the Site. 
  • Forge or manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of any message or transmittal you send to Caterpillar on or through the Site.
  • Pretend that you are, or that you represent, someone else, or impersonate any other individual or entity.
  • Use the Site for any purpose that is unlawful, prohibited by these Terms of Use, or to solicit the performance of any illegal activity or other activity which infringes the rights of Caterpillar or others.

Intellectual Property Rights

Except to the extent expressly provided in these Terms of Use under the heading "Grant of License", you agree and acknowledge:

  • That Caterpillar owns or licenses any and all rights under patent law, copyright law, trade secret law, trademark law, and any and all other proprietary or moral rights, and any and all applications, renewals, extensions and restorations thereof, now or hereafter in force and effect worldwide ("Intellectual Property Rights") in connection with or relating to the Site and Content, including but not limited to the design, structure, selection, coordination, expression, "look and feel" and arrangement of such Content or contained on the Site ("Caterpillar IP").
  • That you have no right, license, or interest in any Intellectual Property Rights in connection with or relating to the Site or Content.
  • Caterpillar owns all right, title and interest in and to any replacements, improvements, updates, enhancements, derivative works and other modifications (including, without limitation, the incorporation of any ideas, methods or processes provided by or through you) to Caterpillar IP made by any person, even if paid for by you and regardless of whether or not they are similar to any of your Intellectual Property Rights.  You will undertake any and all action necessary to vest such ownership in Caterpillar, including without limitation assigning (and you hereby assign) to Caterpillar all rights in and to such Intellectual Property Rights, including, without limitation, patent applications, patents, moral rights and copyrights arising from or relating to the Site or Content.
  • No part of the Site or Content may be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, publicly displayed, encoded, translated, transmitted or distributed in any way (including "mirroring") to any other computer, server, website or other medium for publication or distribution or for any commercial enterprise, without Caterpillar's express prior written consent.
  • That all marks that appear throughout the Site and Content belong to Caterpillar, or the respective owners of such marks, and are protected by U.S. and international trademark and copyright laws.  Any use of any of such marks without the express written consent of Caterpillar or the owner of the mark, as appropriate, is strictly prohibited.
  • Caterpillar may, at its sole discretion, disable and terminate access to the Site and Content by any persons or entity that may be infringing the Intellectual Property Rights of Caterpillar or others.

Grant of License

Caterpillar grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-assignable license (without the right to sublicense) to access and use the Site solely in a reasonable manner for your legitimate purposes and purposes otherwise consistent with these Terms of Use.  You may not:

  • Reproduce, modify, publish, distribute, publicly display, adapt, alter, translate, or create derivative works from the Site or Content.
  • Sublicense, lease, sell, rent, loan, or otherwise transfer the Site or Content to any third party.
  • Reverse engineer, de‑compile, disassemble, or otherwise attempt to derive the source code for the Site or Content.
  • Otherwise use or copy the Site or Content except as expressly allowed under this Grant of License and the terms of these Terms of Use.
  • Use the Site or Content in a "service bureau" or similar structure whereby third parties obtain use of the Site or Content through you.
  • Remove, obscure, or alter any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary notices embedded in, affixed to or accessed in conjunction with the Site or Content.

Copyright Agent

Caterpillar respects the rights of all copyright holders and in this regard, Caterpillar has adopted and implemented a policy that provides for the removal from its Sites of materials that infringe the rights of copyright holders.  If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide Caterpillar's Copyright Agent all of the following information required by the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 512:

  • A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
  • Identification of the copyright work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single on-line site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site.
  • Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material.
  • Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact the complaining party.
  • A statement that the complaining party has a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
  • A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Caterpillar's Copyright Agent for notice of claims of copyright infringement on or regarding this site can be reached as follows:

Copyright Agent
100 N.E. Adams St.
Peoria, IL 61629-9620
Email: CopyrightAgent@cat.com

Submissions

The Site may, from time to time, permit you to submit information to Caterpillar or its benefit plans.  Do not use this Site as a means of submitting information you consider to be proprietary. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this Terms of Use, the terms of use for your transactions with a networked website operated by Caterpillar or one of its subsidiaries (“Networked Site”) or in a written agreement with Caterpillar applicable to your particular use of a Networked Site, any submission of materials by you will be considered a contribution to Caterpillar for further use in its sole discretion, regardless of any proprietary claims or reservation of rights noted in the submission. Accordingly, you agree that any materials, including but not limited to questions, comments, suggestions, ideas, plans, notes, drawings, original or creative materials or other information, provided by you in the form of e-mail or submissions to Caterpillar, or postings on this Site, are non-confidential (subject to Caterpillar's Privacy Policy) and shall become the sole property of Caterpillar. Caterpillar shall own exclusive rights, including all Intellectual Property Rights, and shall be entitled to the unrestricted use of these materials for any purpose, commercial or otherwise, without acknowledgment or compensation to you.  The submission of any materials to Caterpillar, including the posting of materials to any forum or interactive area, irrevocably waives any and all "moral rights" in such materials, including the rights of paternity and integrity.

Privacy

By accessing or using the Site, you confirm that you have received a copy of the specific Privacy Notice applicable to such Site (available from the Site) and Caterpillar’s Global Data Privacy Statement and that you understand and agree that your personal information will be collected, shared, and otherwise processed in accordance with the Privacy Notice and Privacy Statement.

Interactive Forums and User Materials

The Site may, from time to time, include discussion forums and interactive areas.  Without limiting any other provisions of these Terms of Use, by using the forums or interactive areas, you agree not to do any of the following:

  • Upload to, distribute or otherwise publish through the Site any message, data, information, text or other material ("User Materials") that is unlawful, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, indecent, lewd, harassing, threatening, harmful, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, abusive, inflammatory or otherwise objectionable.
  • Upload or transmit any User Materials that would constitute or encourage a criminal offense, violate the rights of any party, or that would otherwise create liability or violate any local, state, national, or international law.
  • Upload or transmit any User Materials that may infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other intellectual or proprietary right of any party.  By posting any User Content, you represent and warrant that you have the lawful right to distribute and reproduce such User Materials.
  • Without Caterpillar's written permission, distribute or publish unsolicited promotions, advertising or solicitations for funds, goods or services, including junk mail and spam.
  • Caterpillar takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for any User Materials posted or uploaded by you or any third party, or for any mistakes, defamation, slander, libel, omissions, falsehoods, obscenity, pornography or profanity you may encounter.  As a provider of interactive services, if any, Caterpillar is only a forum and is not liable for any statements, representations, or User Materials provided by its users.

Caterpillar has the right, but not the obligation, to monitor any activity and User Materials associated with its forums and interactive areas. Caterpillar may investigate any reported violation of its policies or complaints and take any appropriate action that it deems appropriate.  Such action may include, but is not limited to, issuing warnings, suspension or termination of service, and/or removal of posted User Materials. Caterpillar reserves the right and has absolute discretion, to remove, screen or edit any User Materials that violate these provisions or is otherwise objectionable. 

You shall remain solely liable for of any messages or other User Materials you upload or transmit to the Site, including the discussion forums or interactive areas of the Site.

No Warranties

CATERPILLAR, ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, SUPPLIERS, DEALERS, AFFILIATES, LICENSORS, EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS, EMPLOYEE BENEFIT TRUSTS, FIDUCIAIRIES, ADMINISTRATORS AND AGENTS (THE "CATERPILLAR PARTIES") DISCLAIM ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY HARM RESULTING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SITE OR CONTENT.  YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT: (a) THE SITE AND CONTENT ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS", "WITH ALL FAULTS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS AND THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO SATISFACTORY QUALITY, PERFORMANCE, ACCURACY AND EFFORT IS WITH YOU; (b) TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, CATERPILLAR PARTIES MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, (1) WARRANTIES OF TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WORKMANLIKE EFFORT, ACCURACY, QUIET ENJOYMENT, NO ENCUMBRANCES, NO LIENS AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, (2) WARRANTIES ARISING THROUGH COURSE OF DEALINGS OR USAGE OF TRADE, (3) WARRANTIES REGARDING THE SECURITY, RELIABILITY, TIMELINESS, AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SITE AND CONTENT, AND (4) WARRANTIES THAT ACCESS TO OR USE OF THE SITE OR CONTENT WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE; AND (c) THAT YOU WILL ACCESS OR USE THE SITE AND CONTENT OFFERINGS AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK AND THAT YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGES TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM SUCH ACCESS OR USE.  NOTWITHSTANDING YOUR USE OF THE SITE AND CONTENT AND REGARDLESS OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED THROUGH THEM (WHETHER ACCURATE OR INACCURATE) REGARDING THE OPERATION, MAINTENANCE OR PERFORMANCE STATUS OF THE MACHINES, YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR, ASSUME ALL RISK RELATED TO, THE PROPER OPERATION, SUPPORT AND MAINTENANCE OF THE MACHINES.  THERE ARE NO WARRANTIES THAT EXTEND BEYOND THOSE EXPRESSLY GRANTED IN THESE TERMS OF USE.

Limitation of Liability; Remedy

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE, SHALL THE CATERPILLAR PARTIES BE LIABLE TO YOU OR A THIRD PARTY (INCLUDING ANY CUSTOMER) FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE, THIRD PARTY OR CONSEQUENTIAL (INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION, VIRUS INFECTIONS, SYSTEM OUTAGES AND THE LIKE) ARISING OUT OF, BASED ON OR RESULTING FROM THESE TERMS OF USE OR YOUR ACCESS TO, USE OF, MISUSE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SITE OR CONTENT, EVEN IF CATERPILLAR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES INCURRED BY THIRD PARTIES).  THE EXCLUSION OF DAMAGES UNDER THIS SECTION IS INDEPENDENT OF ANY REMEDY PROVIDED UNDER THESE TERMS OF USE AND SURVIVES IN THE EVENT SUCH REMEDY FAILS OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OR IS OTHERWISE DEEMED UNENFORCEABLE.  THESE LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS APPLY WITHOUT REGARD TO WHETHER DAMAGES ARISE FROM BREACH OF CONTRACT OR WARRANTY, NEGLIGENCE OR ANY OTHER CAUSE OF ACTION, TO THE EXTENT THAT APPLICABLE LAW DOES NOT PROHIBIT SUCH EXCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS.  IN NO EVENT SHALL CATERPILLAR'S TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL DAMAGES, LOSSES AND CAUSES OF ACTION, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE) OR OTHERWISE, EXCEED THE AMOUNT THAT YOU HAVE PAID TO CATERPILLAR WITHIN THE MOST RECENTLY TERMINATED MONTH FOR YOUR ACCESS OR USE OF THE RELEVANT SITE AND CONTENT.

Certain laws do not allow limitations on implied warranties, or the exclusion or limitation of certain damages.  If these laws apply, some or all of the above disclaimers, exclusions, or limitations, may not apply to you, and you may have additional rights to those contained herein.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless each of the Caterpillar Parties from and against any and all claims, lawsuits, demands, actions or other proceedings brought against it by any third party due to, arising out of or related to your (a) use of the Site (including any messages or other User Materials you may post or upload to any interactive forum), (b) violation of these Terms of Use, or (c) violation of any law, regulation or third party rights.  You shall pay any and all costs, damages and expenses, including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys' fees and costs awarded against or otherwise incurred by the Caterpillar Parties in connection with or arising from any such claim, lawsuit, action, demand or other proceeding.

Termination

Caterpillar, in its sole discretion, may terminate your right to access or use the Site and Content at any time for any reason.  The license granted herein will automatically terminate without further action of Caterpillar if you breach these Terms of Use or you fail to comply with any of the restrictions as recited herein.  Upon the termination of these Terms of Use for any reason, you will cease all use of the Site and Content   The provisions under the headings No Warranties, Limitation of Liability; Remedy, Indemnification, Import and Export Compliance, Contractual Statute of Limitations, Dispute Resolution and Mandatory Arbitration, and Choice of Law; Severability shall survive the termination of these Terms of Use.

Updating Sites

We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to change any and all Sites and Content at any time without notice, including the removal of the Sites and Content.  As new or enhanced versions of the Site are made available, we may require that you update your current version of any related software.  Unless otherwise explicitly stated by Caterpillar, any new or enhanced versions of the Site, Content and Services are subject to the terms of these Terms of Use.

Linked Sites

The Site contains links to other independent third-party Web sites or resources ("Linked Sites"). These Linked Sites are provided solely as a convenience to you. Such Linked Sites are not under Caterpillar's control, and Caterpillar is not responsible for and does not endorse the content of such Linked Sites, including any information or materials contained on such Linked Sites. Caterpillar makes no claim or representation regarding, and accepts no responsibility for, the quality, content, nature or reliability of third-party sites accessible by link from the Site or third-party sites linking to the Site.  You will need to make your own independent judgment regarding your interaction with these Linked Sites.

Import and Export Compliance

You may not use or otherwise export or re-export the Site or Content except as authorized by United States law and the laws of the jurisdiction in which Site, Content and Service Offerings was obtained. In particular, but without limitation, the Site and Content may not be exported or re-exported (a) into any U.S. embargoed countries or (b) to anyone on the U.S. Treasury Department's list of Specially Designated Nationals or the U.S. Department of Commerce Denied Person's List or Entity List. You represent and warrant that your access and use of the Site and Content will not violate any such laws and that you are not located in any such country or on any such list. You also agree that you will not use the Site or Content for any purposes prohibited by United States law, including, without limitation, the development, design, manufacture or production of nuclear, missiles, or chemical or biological weapons.

U.S. Government Rights

The Site and Content are "Commercial Items", as that term is defined at 48 C.F.R. §2.101, consisting of "Commercial Computer Software" and "Commercial Computer Software Documentation", as such terms are used in 48 C.F.R. §12.212 or 48 C.F.R. §227.7202, as applicable. Consistent with 48 C.F.R. §12.212 or 48 C.F.R. §227.7202-1 through 227.7202-4, as applicable, the Commercial Computer Software and Commercial Computer Software Documentation are being licensed to U.S. Government end users (a) only as Commercial Items and (b) with only those rights as are granted to all other end users pursuant to the terms and conditions herein.

Contractual Statute of Limitations

You agree that you will not assert against any Caterpillar Party any claim or make a demand for dispute resolution arising directly or indirectly under or in connection with these Terms of Use that relates to, or assert as a cause for action, any event which occurred more than 12 months after the earliest date on which the facts are based were or could, with the exercise of reasonable diligence, have been known to you.

Dispute Resolution and Mandatory Arbitration

All disputes, claims and controversies relating in any way to your use of the Site or Content or otherwise arising out of or relating to these Terms of Use will be resolved by binding arbitration, rather than in court, except that you may assert claims in small claims court if your claims qualify.  The Federal Arbitration Act and federal arbitration law apply to these Terms of Use.

To begin an arbitration proceeding, you must send a letter requesting arbitration and describing your claim to:  Chief Legal Officer, Caterpillar Inc., 510 Lake Cook Road, Suite 100, Deerfield, IL 60015.  The arbitration will take place in Chicago, Illinois in accordance with the American Arbitration Association (AAA) Commercial Arbitration Rules and Mediation Procedures.  Your request for arbitration must be post marked within the time period specified above under "Contractual Statute of Limitations."  In no event shall demand for arbitration be made or permitted after the date when the institution of legal or equitable proceedings based on such Dispute would be barred by the applicable statute of limitations.

We each agree that any dispute resolution proceedings will be conducted only on an individual basis and not in a class, consolidated or representative action.  If for any reason a claim proceeds in court rather than in arbitration we each waive any right to a jury trial.  We also both agree that you or we may bring suit in court to enjoin infringement or other misuse of intellectual property rights.

The arbitration panel shall consist of one individual appointed by Caterpillar and you.  Such individual shall (i) have been selected from the AAA's list of potential arbitrators, (ii) have at least 10 years of experience in the discipline which is the subject of the Dispute, and (iii) be an attorney whose 10 years of experience has been in the realm of litigating and arbitrating issues which are of the subject of the Dispute.  If Caterpillar and you fail to mutually agree upon an arbitrator within 15 business days after receipt of the request to arbitrate, then the arbitration panel shall be selected by the administrative office of the AAA.  Such office shall, within five days after notice by any party to these Terms of Use, select a single arbitrator who complies with the requirements otherwise set forth in this paragraph.  The arbitrator shall render its decision as soon as reasonably possible after its appointment and must follow the terms of these Conditions of Use.

This agreement to arbitrate shall be specifically enforceable in any court having jurisdiction thereof.  Any decision rendered by the arbitrator pursuant to any arbitration shall be final and binding upon the parties, and judgment may be entered upon in in accordance with applicable law in any court of competent jurisdiction.

The prevailing party in any arbitration or court proceedings shall be reimbursed by the other party for all costs, expenses and charges, including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys' fees, incurred by the prevailing party.

Choice of Law; Severability

These Terms of Use shall be governed by the laws of the State of Illinois, U.S.A. (regardless of the laws that might be applicable under its principles of conflict of laws).  Each party submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of that place.  If any provision of these Terms of Use, or the application thereof, is determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unenforceable, such invalidity or unenforceability will not affect the other provisions of these Terms of Use, all of which shall remain in full force and effect, and such other provisions will be interpreted so as best to reasonably effect the intent of the parties.  The parties further agree to replace any such invalid or unenforceable provision with a valid and enforceable provision designed to achieve, to the extent possible under applicable law, the business purpose and intent of such invalid or unenforceable provision.  The laws of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods shall not apply.

We recognize that it is possible for you to obtain access to this site from any jurisdiction in the world, but we have no practical ability to prevent such access.  This site has been designed to comply with the laws of the State of Illinois and of the United States. If any Content or User Materials on the Site, or your use of the Site, is contrary to the laws of the place where you are when you access it, the site is not intended for you, and we ask you not to use the site. You are responsible for informing yourself of the laws of your jurisdiction and complying with them.

Entire Agreement

These Terms of Use constitute the entire agreement between you and us with respect to the Site and Content and supersedes and replaces all prior agreements.  The section titles in the Agreement are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect.  The terms and conditions of any quotation, offer, acknowledgement, invoice, or similar document, however designated, directly or indirectly made or issued by you shall not apply.

Inquiries

Should you have any questions concerning these Terms of Use, write to Caterpillar Inc., 510 Lake Cook Road, Suite 100, Deerfield, IL 60015, Attn:  Benefits Counsel, Legal Services, Law, Security & Public Policy.