Article 1. Organiser
From 15 September 2007, Hermès International, a partnership limited by shares with capital of € 54,506,155.14, which is registered at the Paris Commercial and Companies Registry under No. 572 076 396 and whose registered office is at 24 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 75008 Paris, is organising a European competition for the creation of innovative objects with the theme: “La légèreté au quotidien” (Everyday lightness), applied to objects for travel and for the home. This competition is taking place under the aegis of Émile Hermès, and will be known as the “Prix Émile Hermès”.

Article 2. Conditions of entry
The competition is open to any person (and not to any legal entity) of less than 40 years of age on the registration closing date, who falls into any of the following categories:
• professional designers, graduates from a design, architecture, plastic arts or applied arts school,
• professional designers without a degree, who can prove a minimum of 3 years experience in the world of design,
• students in their final year at a design, architecture, plastic arts or applied arts school. On the date on which they send in their entries, entrants must be effectively resident in one of the European countries in which Hermès has a commercial base:, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom. Entrants can compete individually or as a team (with a maximum of 5 members resident in the same geographical area). Entries shall be limited to one per entrant, and entrants are not allowed to combine individual entries with team entries. Entrants must confirm that they are the sole authors of their project, which will be presented for the first time in the context of the Prix Émile Hermès. As far as entrants are aware, projects must be original contributions which have not previously existed on the market or in the history of design. Persons employed by Hermès or involved in any way in the performance of a contract entered into with Hermès are not allowed to compete.

Article 3. Terms and conditions of registration
Entrants can register for the competition exclusively via the Internet, at the following address: www.prixemilehermes.com Each entry will immediately be allocated a registration number, which will be sent to the entrant’s e-mail address. This number will be used to identify the entry throughout the competition, while preserving the entrant’s anonymity. Since this number is required to participate in the competition, it must be retrieved from the organiser in the event of its loss. In the case of any entry involving a number of entrants, a team leader must be appointed. A unique registration number will be allocated to the whole team. In the case of a prize-winning project, the names of the various entrants on the same team will be included in the list of winners. The prize money will be given to the team leader who will be responsible for sharing it among the various entrants. The organiser shall not incur any liability in the event of any disputes arising in connection with the distribution of the prize money.

Article 4. Definition of geographical areas for the purposes of the competition
Countries will be grouped together in 8 geographical areas during the first selection stage:
• Germany/Austria/Czech Republic,
• Benelux,
• Denmark/Sweden,
• Spain/Portugal,
• France/Greece,
• Ireland/United Kingdom,
• Italy,
• Switzerland.

Article 5. Conduct of the competition 1- Entrants must send Hermès International, by post, an entry pack containing:
• 2 boards in A3 format presenting the project, and including the following elements:
- drawings or images of the project;
- the general dimensions of the project;
- explanatory text on the project.
• 1 CD containing a PDF presentation of the project.
• A sealed A4 envelope containing:
- for each entrant in respect of each entry:
- 1 photocopy of their identity card or of their passport;
- 1 completed identity form;
- 1 proof of address;
- 1 resume in English;
- 1 photocopy of their student identity card in the case of students in their last year of school.
- for each entry: 3 boards in A4 format describing 3 projects previously completed by the entrants. In the case of professional designers, these projects must have been exhibited or have gone into production. In the case of team entries, these projects must have been completed collectively by all team members. Any text included in the entry pack must be drafted in English and in the official language of at least one of the countries of residence of the entrants.

2- Area selection committees will meet to examine entries belonging to their geographical area. When they have concluded this examination, they will each select 3 entries.

3- Selected entrants will be informed of their nomination by way of publication on the Émile Hermès website and by an e-mail sent to them directly. Hermès undertakes to pay the cost of making two prototypes of each selected entry’s project, upon presentation of supporting documents and up to a maximum of €5,000. All expenses incurred in excess of this amount in the making of such prototypes will remain payable exclusively by the entrants concerned. In accordance with the timetable, the two prototypes made must be sent to Hermès International, identified only by the entry’s registration number. Hermès International will not be responsible for financing the prototypes of entrants that fail to send it such prototypes in accordance with the terms of these regulations.

4- The final jury will meet to select the 3 European winners of the Prix Émile Hermès, based on its examination of these prototypes.

5- The prizes will be awarded to the winners at an award ceremony, and a travelling exhibition of the prototypes will be launched throughout Europe. The travelling and accommodation expenses of the 3 European prize-winners in connection with the award ceremony will be paid for and organised by Hermès International. Subsistence costs will be payable by prize-winners.

Article 6. Timetable
Registration: from 15 September 2007 to 30 November 2007.
Filing of entries: from 1 December 2007 to 31 January 2008 (as shown conclusively by the Post Office date stamp).
Selection by geographical area: March 2008.
Making of prototypes by selected entrants: April and May 2008.
Sending of prototypes: before 15 June 2008 (as shown conclusively by the carrier’s date stamp).
Meeting of the final jury and selection of European prize-winners: end of June 2008.
Award of prizes and launch of the exhibition in Paris: September 2008.
The dates of the meetings of the juries and of the award of prizes may be changed, without this having the effect of postponing or bringing forward the timetable for the filing of entries or sending or prototypes.

Article 7. Selection committee and final jury
The selection committees for the first stage will be appointed specially for each geographical area. By way of derogation from the foregoing, selection in respect of the Denmark/Sweden area will be made by the Benelux selection committee. The role of the selection committees will be to choose 3 projects from among all those presented by entrants from their geographical area. They will be formed on the following basis:
• 1 jury chairman, who will be a well-known name in the area of design or architecture,
• 1 member representing the local institution partnering Hermès for the purposes of the competition,
• 1 design journalist,
• Hermès’ artistic directors,
• 1 teacher,
• Experts in design from various countries in the area. The role of the final jury will be to select the 3 European winners of the Prix Émile Hermès. It will be European in composition and will have 8 members:
• 1 jury chairman, who will be a well-known name in the area of design or architecture (in the event of a tied vote, the Chairman will have a casting vote),
• 2 international design journalists,
• 1 representative of the decorative arts,
• 1 representative of Hermès’ artistic department,
• 1 member of the Émile Hermès company’s Management Board,
• 1 teacher,
• 1 representative of the world of culture. The final jury and the selection committees will make their decisions in their sole discretion. They will not be obliged to justify their decisions and they will be entitled, if necessary, not to select the anticipated number of entrants or not to allocate all the prizes. Their decisions will not be subject to appeal. The jury also reserves the right to award a prize or special recognition to any project that it may select for this purpose.

Article 8. Prize funds
First phase Hermès International will finance the creation by each selected entry of 2 prototypes of its project, under the conditions contained in Article 5, and will receive an Hermès object symbolising the timeless nature of Hermès creations, and with strong links to the history of Émile Hermès. Second phase The 3 European prize-winners will receive prize funds of €90,000, divided as follows:
• 1st prize: €50,000
• 2nd prize: €25,000
• 3rd prize: €15,000 The prizes will be officially awarded to the prize-winners at a ceremony organised in Paris during September 2008.

Article 9. Selection criteria
Entries which do not comply with the competition’s conditions of entry will not be considered. The area selection committees will examine the entries and will assess their projects in accordance with the following criteria:
• quality of presentation (clarity and rigour),
• understanding of Hermès values,
• fidelity to the proposed theme,
• creativity,
• originality,
• innovation,
• aesthetic appearance. In addition to these criteria, the final jury will take into account for the purposes of the final selection the quality of execution of prototypes.

Article 10. Exhibition
The Prix Émile Hermès will be followed by a travelling exhibition of the selected project prototypes throughout Europe, which will take place without entrants being asked to make any contribution to the costs of the exhibition. The presented projects will be incorporated in a single stage design set, built around the competition theme and the personality of Émile Hermès. An exhibition catalogue will be published.

Article 11. Preservation of anonymity
The jury and the selection committees will only be aware of anonymous entries. The administrative files will be handled by persons other than those sitting on the jury and selection committees, who will be responsible for opening the sealed envelopes and checking the validity of entries. Any distinctive mark appearing in the presentation of a project to the juries is liable to cause that entry to be disqualified. These conditions shall apply both to the presentation of the project in the entry at the first stage and to the sending of prototypes at the second stage.

Article 12. Liability
The organising company cannot be held responsible for any postponement, alteration or cancellation of the competition taking place for reasons outside its control. It cannot be held responsible for any event or case of force majeure that might make it difficult or impossible to access the www.prixemilehermes.com website. Despite the care taken in the transportation and presentation of prototypes, the organiser disclaims any liability for damage that may occur to prototypes during the exhibition. Nevertheless, the organiser will take out insurance to cover any damage caused to the prototypes during the exhibition. Any compensation paid shall not in any circumstances exceed the sums reimbursed by Hermès International by way of financing the costs of making the prototypes.

Article 13. Property rights
Entrants’ projects will be subject to the French legislation relating to intellectual and industrial property rights, and in particular to the provisions of the Intellectual Property Code. Each entrant will remain the owner of its project and thus, of the rights relating thereto. It will be the entrant’s responsibility to provide the best protection for its creation, particularly by means of proving the date thereof and, if necessary, by making an application for any industrial property right such as a patent or design right. In this respect, the organiser disclaims any liability in the event of loss caused to the entrant due to insufficient, irregular or invalid protection. Any entry selected at the end of the first stage will, by virtue of its participation in the Prix Émile Hermès:
o agrees to its two prototypes being retained and exhibited by Hermès for the purposes of a Europe-wide exhibition presenting the best projects from the Prix Émile Hermès, even if that event should continue beyond 31 December 2009;
o agrees to grant the Hermès group a right of first refusal in respect of the commercial exploitation of the project presented, for a period of three years from the date of the award of prizes; during this period, and in the event that an entry receives a proposal from a third party to market its project, the party concerned undertakes to inform Hermès of this as soon as possible by registered letter with proof of receipt requested, indicating the terms of the offer. Within thirty days of receipt of this letter, Hermès undertakes either to make an equivalent proposal, which the interested party must accept, or to give the interested party its consent to the marketing of the project by the third party concerned.

Article 14. Broadcasting authorisation
By virtue of its participation in the Prix Émile Hermès, every entrant accepts that its project may be the subject of a communication concerning the competition, the theme of the design and/or the theme of the competition whether internally within the Hermès Group, or externally. Entrants thus authorise the organiser to refer to the selected projects in press releases, articles, promotional material or brochures, and to exhibit them and transmit them to specific third parties in the context of communication initiatives on behalf of Hermès, subject to mentioning their names, and to do these things without limitation of time and without them conferring any right to any remuneration or benefit other than the prize awarded to the entrant concerned. These conditions shall particularly apply to the catalogue published for the purposes of the travelling exhibition. For these purposes, the organiser may make any copy, graphical representation or photograph of the prize-winning and selected projects, and of their authors’ image, subject to mentioning their name and qualifications.

Article 15. Information technology and civil liberties
Personally identifiable information gathered in the context of this competition will be processed in accordance with the Law dated 6 January 1978 relating to information technology, files and civil liberties, as amended (and in particular by the Law dated 6 August 2004). Pursuant to this Law, all entrants to the competition have a right to object to the processing of their personal data, and to access, rectify and delete data relating to them. Any objection, or request for access, rectification, or deletion, must be sent by post to the following address: Hermès International, Prix Émile Hermès, 24 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 75008 Paris.

Article 16. Settlement of disputes
Entrants to the competition are deemed to accept these regulations unreservedly and without exception. Any dispute of any nature relating to these regulations or to the competition will be resolved by the organiser in the spirit of these regulations, its sole discretion and in the final resort. Entrants certify the authenticity and truth of any information provided to the organiser pursuant o these regulations. The organiser reserves the right to eliminate any entry which includes any misleading or inaccurate statements. The Prix Émile Hermès is subject to French law. These regulations have been filed with: Mr Haugel, SCP Haugel Louail, 14 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 75008 Paris.