Terms of Service
These Terms govern use of the Trellis™ website and platform operated by Hortiki Plants LLC d/b/a Trellis Compliance (“Hortiki,” “Trellis,” “we,” “us”). By using the site, creating an account, submitting a quote, or starting an engagement, you agree to these Terms and our Privacy Policy below. Paid Services are also governed by the Client Master Services Agreement (v2 draft for counsel review); if that Agreement and these website Terms conflict for a paid order, the Client MSA controls for that order.
Nature of services
Trellis provides data preparation, statutory structuring, secure automated document extraction support, and independent expert scientific peer review for regulatory compliance pathways (including FDA, EPA, USDA, and state agricultural routes). Deliverables are fixed-scope professional services, not open-ended retainers.
No guarantee of agency or commercial outcomes. Trellis does not guarantee statutory clearance, permit issuance, retailer acceptance, listing, or approval by any government agency or other third party, and does not guarantee the absence of Requests for Information (RFIs). Delivery timelines are good-faith commitments under Client MSA §2.5 (subject to complete intake and clock-pause rules) — not a guarantee of any regulatory outcome. ResponseShield™ and other quality commitments are not a warranty of scientific or legal sufficiency for any particular filing strategy.
Services not provided. Unless an Order Form expressly says otherwise, Trellis and its Network Experts do not provide legal advice, act as your counsel of record, perform laboratory testing, certify products, or file materials with an agency or retailer on your behalf. You remain responsible for your product, certificates, filings, and regulatory decisions.
Not legal advice
Website content and platform outputs are informational and operational. Nothing here creates an attorney–client relationship. You remain responsible for your regulatory strategy, submissions to agencies, and any counsel you retain.
Accounts and acceptable use
You must provide accurate account information and keep access to your email secure. Use the site and portal only for lawful purposes related to Trellis products. Do not attempt to disrupt, scrape abusively, reverse engineer, or bypass access controls on the platform or vault.
Client materials and confidentiality
You represent that you have the right to upload materials you submit and that they are complete, genuine, and unaltered copies of what they purport to be. Engagement files are treated as confidential and accessed by Trellis Operations and assigned Network Experts as needed to deliver the project. Client Materials are held in private, encrypted file storage and processed on Cloudflare Workers AI (Cloudflare states it does not train on customer content). External AI export is prohibited by contract and enforced by the expert agreement, watermark, access log, and network removal. See the data storage summary and Client MSA §9.
Materials-supplied review. Expert review is based on the materials you supply. Incomplete, inaccurate, or altered inputs can produce incomplete or unreliable outputs; Trellis is not responsible for conclusions that depend on those defects.
Experts
Network Experts are independent contractors of Trellis, not your employees or agents. Trellis selects, assigns, and may replace experts. Reviewer identities are confidential; you may see an anonymized ID and credentials, and may request an access summary as described in the Client MSA. Expert access is limited to assigned engagements on the platform.
Fees, invoices, and refunds
Prices are the fixed Trellis catalog amounts published on the site (or a written Order Form / quote). Institutional buyers use the same catalog rates and may purchase multiples on one invoice. Payment may be by card (Stripe), ACH/invoice, or another method stated on the quote. Card checkout uses an authorization hold (typically up to 48 business hours) while Trellis confirms expert capacity; if Trellis cannot staff the project, the authorization is released and you owe nothing.
Refunds. You may cancel before Project Kickoff for a full refund of amounts paid (less any non-refundable card processing costs, if applicable). After Project Kickoff, fees are non-refundable except for Trellis-side failures and remedies expressly stated in the Client MSA (including the Fix-It re-issue remedy). Unfavorable agency outcomes, additional lab testing required by an agency, or differences of professional opinion are not refund grounds.
Intellectual property
The Trellis name, site design, software, statutory template shells, and Hortiki frameworks (including Trellis DataLattice, Trellis Statutory Core, Trellis Global Expert Network, Trellis 360° Executive Decision Suite, and Trellis ResponseShield) are owned by Hortiki Plants LLC. Your science remains yours. On payment in full for a project, Trellis assigns its rights in the final Deliverables for that project as stated in the Client MSA (subject to Trellis’s platform IP and templates).
Verified package, editable working copies, and share links
When an engagement is released, Trellis archives an official Trellis-verified package in the client portal and may provide a read-only share link to that verified view. Clients may also download editable working copies (for example Word or Markdown files) after acknowledging the working-copy terms in the portal.
Editable files are provided as a convenience so you can adapt formatting or branding. Working copy for client revisions — the official Trellis-verified deliverable is archived at the share link / client portal. If you edit a working copy, you are solely responsible for those edits. Trellis is not liable for inaccuracies, omissions, or outcomes arising from client-modified files. Trellis ResponseShield™ and complimentary revision rounds apply only to the Trellis-verified release produced from the materials you supplied for the engagement—not to client-edited working copies. Restoring Trellis attestation after material edits may require a new paid engagement.
Post-delivery clarification Q&A
Unless a catalog SKU or written quote states otherwise, each delivered project includes up to two (2) structured science clarification rounds with the assigned expert within thirty (30) days of deliverable release. Clarification questions must relate to data already delivered in the report, are section-anchored, and are subject to reasonable length limits stated in the portal. Requests involving new laboratory files, formula changes, new claims, or expanded scope require a new engagement (or an applicable add-on). Admin, invoice, and portal/formatting support remains available separately and is not counted against the science clarification rounds. Additional science rounds may be purchased as extension packs when offered.
Disclaimer of warranties
THE SITE AND SERVICES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” TO THE FULLEST EXTENT ALLOWED BY LAW. WE DISCLAIM IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.
Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent allowed by law, Hortiki Plants LLC is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost revenue, lost business opportunities, recall costs, product liability or regulatory penalties, lost data, or agency delays/denials, arising from your use of Trellis.
Maximum financial liability. Hortiki’s total liability for claims related to these Terms or a Trellis engagement will not exceed the fees you paid Hortiki for that engagement (or, for subscriptions, the twelve (12) months of subscription fees that gave rise to the claim; for website-only claims, the fees you paid in the twelve (12) months before the event giving rise to the claim).
Exceptions. The cap and damage exclusions do not apply to fraud or willful misconduct; intentional breach of confidentiality; intentional infringement or misappropriation of intellectual property; your obligation to pay fees; or liability that cannot be limited by law. Accidental or negligent breaches remain subject to the limits above. Details are in Client MSA §14.
Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Hortiki Plants LLC and its founders, employees, contractors, and Network Experts from claims arising from your misuse of the platform, your violation of these Terms or the Client MSA, your violation of third-party rights, materials you upload, or your product and marketing, as further detailed in Client MSA §13.
Governing law
Paid Services under the Client MSA are governed by the laws of the District of Columbia, with venue in the federal or local courts located in Washington, D.C., unless mandatory law requires otherwise. For website-only use not covered by a paid Order Form, the same DC governing law and venue apply unless a signed agreement says otherwise. Hortiki Plants LLC is registered in the District of Columbia and the State of Maryland.
Privacy Policy
Procurement-style detail also lives in the Buyer center security summary.
Who we are
Trellis™ is a Hortiki Innovations initiative owned and operated by Hortiki Plants LLC (Washington, DC / Maryland, USA). Privacy questions: [email protected].
Information we collect and how we use it
We collect only what we need to run Trellis safely and deliver fixed-scope compliance engagements.
Website inquiries and quotes
When you contact us or use a quote flow, we collect details such as your name, work email, company, billing address (if provided), purchase intent, and project context. We use this to respond, prepare invoices or engagements, and send operational updates.
Accounts and sessions
If you create or use a client, expert, or admin account, we collect your email, name, role, login session details, and profile fields you provide. Sign-in uses a magic-link email and an HttpOnly session cookie.
Engagement materials
For an active project we may store intake answers, laboratory files (Certificates of Analysis, chemical identity files, sequence files), structured extraction results, draft and final dossiers, slide decks, Q&A messages, and expert audio briefings. These are confidential client engagement data.
Payments
Card purchases are processed by Stripe when configured. We do not store your full card number. ACH / invoice purchases may be handled through our quote tool and Hortiki’s books.
Expert payouts
Expert compensation is paid via Wise under the Expert Independent Contractor Agreement. Fixed fees are payable within two (2) business days after Trellis Operations approves and releases a deliverable that passes the Quality Gates (subject to that agreement, including tax-form and sanctions requirements). We store only the Wise email or tag the expert provides — not bank account numbers.
Who can see engagement files
- You (the client account on the engagement)
- The assigned expert for that project (independent contractor)
- Trellis admin for assignment, quality release, and support
We do not sell your personal information or your laboratory files.
Vendors (sub-processors)
- Cloudflare (hosting, D1, R2, KV, Functions, optional Workers AI)
- Stripe (payments, when enabled)
- Email delivery provider for magic links and operational mail (when configured)
- Wise (expert payouts; expert’s Wise identifier only)
International transfers and security
Primary infrastructure runs on Cloudflare and related cloud services, with Hortiki operations connected to the United States. We use HTTPS in transit; Cloudflare documents AES-256 encryption at rest for D1. No internet transmission is 100% secure.
Retention
Account and engagement records are kept while your engagement is active and for a reasonable period afterward for delivery, revisions, support, and legal/accounting retention. Under the Client MSA draft, Client Materials and Deliverables are retained in the client portal for about 24 months after delivery (or longer while a subscription is active), subject to counsel-finalized retention placeholders and deletion requests as stated in that Agreement.
Breach notice
If we confirm a security incident that affects your personal data or confidential engagement files, we will notify your named contact without undue delay and within 72 hours of confirmation.
Your rights
You can ask to access, correct, or delete your personal data. Write to [email protected]. We typically respond within 30 days.
Children
Trellis is a B2B professional service. It is not directed to children under 16.
Data privacy & AI processing
Data Privacy & AI Processing Clause:
Trellis processes customer data using secure automated data extraction scripts and private API inference hosted on enterprise cloud edge infrastructure (including Cloudflare Workers AI). Customer uploads, lab reports, and generated outputs are encrypted in transit and at rest, processed in isolated server environments, and never used to train public or foundational third-party AI models.
Automated output can be incomplete or incorrect. Low-confidence fields are flagged for human review. Experts and clients must review flagged and material fields before relying on a deliverable.
Optional third-party AI usage
Trellis provides resources for your personal use of third-party AI tools—such as suggested prompts and educational materials—solely as a convenience. Trellis does not advocate, endorse, or mandate the use of third-party AI tools. Public AI models may store, log, or train on submitted text depending on your third-party account settings. Trellis advocates caution when sharing your information with third-party AI tools (such as, but not limited to, ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, and other large language models), and strongly recommends that you do not share proprietary or confidential information with these tools. If you choose to use these tools, you do so entirely at your own risk, and agree not to hold Trellis liable for any third-party AI data privacy breaches, IP leakage, output inaccuracies, or other harms that may occur.