Terms and Conditions

Silent Griffin Godo Kaisha
4-21-5 Katakasu, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka 812-0043

1. Introduction

These Terms and Conditions form a binding agreement between Silent Griffin Godo Kaisha ("the Company") and any party engaging its services described on this site. By proceeding with an engagement, you agree to these terms.

2. User obligations

• Provide accurate information necessary for the Company to carry out agreed work.
• Ensure you hold the necessary rights to share any documents provided to the Company.
• Comply with applicable laws and regulations in your use of any delivered system.

3. Liability and warranties

• Services are provided on the basis of the scope agreed in writing before work begins.
• The Company does not warrant that any system will be free of all errors, though reasonable care is taken in its construction.
• To the extent permitted by law, the Company's liability is limited to the value of the specific service engaged.
• Neither party is liable for delays or failures caused by circumstances beyond reasonable control.

4. Legal information

• Governing law: these terms are governed by the laws of Japan.
• Dispute resolution: parties will first seek to resolve disputes through direct discussion in good faith.
• Severability: if any clause is found unenforceable, the remaining terms continue to apply.
• Modification: these terms may be updated from time to time, with the current version always available on this page.

5. Scope and change

Each engagement begins with a written scope listing the document sets included, the systems the result will connect to, the deliverables and the fee. Work outside that list is not started without a written change to the scope. If a document set turns out to be much larger or in a different format than described, we will stop and propose an adjustment rather than continue on assumptions.

6. Deliverables and acceptance

For a knowledge base, the deliverable is a working search that returns an answer together with the source document and location for each result, a list of the exceptions it cannot answer, and a short guide for the people who will maintain it. For a classification step, it is the routing rules, the review queue for unclear cases, and the measured accuracy on a test set agreed with the client.

The client has ten working days after handover to report anything that does not match the scope. Reported gaps are corrected without charge; the deliverable is treated as accepted when that period ends.

7. Client documents and rights

The client confirms that it may lawfully share the documents it provides and that any personal data in them has been collected in a way that allows this use. Documents remain the client's property throughout. The structures, rules and configuration built for the client may be used by the client without restriction after the fee is paid.

8. Fees and cancellation

Fees are invoiced in two parts: half when the scope is signed and half on acceptance, unless the written scope states otherwise. If the client cancels after work has started, the first half is not refunded and any work completed beyond it is charged pro rata. A readiness assessment is invoiced in full on delivery of its report.

9. Jurisdiction

Disputes that cannot be settled by discussion will be brought before the Fukuoka District Court, which has exclusive jurisdiction at first instance.

10. Maintenance after handover

A knowledge base changes as a company changes. After acceptance, the client is responsible for adding new documents and retiring outdated ones, using the maintenance guide delivered with the system. We can be engaged separately for periodic reviews, but no ongoing maintenance is included unless the written scope says so, and we will not access a client's systems after handover without a new written request.

11. Communication during an engagement

Each engagement has one named contact on each side. Decisions that change the scope, the handling of documents or the delivery date are confirmed in writing between those contacts; verbal agreements in working sessions are recorded in the session notes and are not binding until confirmed.

We send a short written progress note at the end of each week of active work, listing what was done, what was found and anything we need from the client. If a week passes without the documents or answers we asked for, the delivery date moves by the same amount, and we will say so in the note.

12. Ending an engagement early

Either side may end an engagement with ten working days' written notice. On ending, we hand over whatever has been built so far with a note on its state, delete working copies of client documents as described in the Privacy Policy, and invoice only for the work completed.