Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Patencial is operated by Futurist IP and provides automated patent due diligence services at patencial.com. By creating an account, you consent to the collection and use of information as described in this Privacy Policy.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Account Information

• Email address, first name, last name, company name, and job title (required)
• Phone number and referral source (optional)

2.2 Patent and Inventor Data

• Patent numbers you submit for analysis
• Patent metadata, assignment records, maintenance fee data, prosecution history, and PTAB data retrieved from public sources
• Inventor names, publicly available professional profile information, employment history, and education history retrieved from public sources
• Our servers fetch this data from third-party APIs on your behalf for report generation

2.3 AI Analysis Data

• Chain-of-title deficiency analyses, risk scores, inventor profiles, remediation checklists, and all content generated by the Service

2.4 Payment Information

Payments are processed by a PCI-compliant third-party payment processor. We do not store your full card number. We retain transaction records, including the amount, date, and last four digits of your card, for accounting and tax purposes.

2.5 Usage Data

• Standard server-side event logs: pages visited, features used, actions taken, browser type, user agent, referring URL, and timestamps
• All usage data is stored in our own database, linked to your user account

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

• Operate the Service and generate due diligence reports
• Process payments and manage report credits
• Administer account approval and access control
• Send transactional emails (account approval, report completion)
• Respond to support requests
• Monitor security and prevent abuse
• Improve the Service through usage analysis

We do not sell your personal information or share it with third parties for their marketing purposes. Non-essential communications (e.g., product updates) require your express consent and you may opt out at any time.

4. Third-Party Service Providers

We use the following categories of third-party service providers to operate the Service:

Each provider processes data only as necessary to deliver its service and is bound by its own privacy and security commitments.

5. AI Data Processing

Patent data, inventor names, and publicly available professional profile information are sent to AI service providers to assist with:

• Matching inventors to professional profiles (confidence scoring)
• Disambiguating individuals with similar names

AI-generated output may contain errors, including incorrect profile matches, inaccurate employment data, or misidentified individuals. All AI-assisted results are supplementary and should be independently verified.

6. Cookies

We use cookies solely for authentication and session management. We do not use advertising cookies, tracking pixels, third-party analytics cookies, session replay tools, or cross-site tracking technologies.

Your light/dark theme preference is stored in your browser's local storage and is not transmitted to our servers.

7. Data Security

We implement the following security measures:

• HTTPS/TLS encryption for all data in transit
• Infrastructure-level encryption of data at rest
• Row-level security policies preventing cross-user data access
• Role-based access controls and authentication
• Webhook signature verification for payment processing

No method of electronic storage or transmission is 100% secure. While we take reasonable steps to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

8. International Data Transfers

Our Service is operated from Canada. Your data may be processed and stored outside of Canada, including in the United States, by our service providers. We take reasonable steps to ensure that our service providers protect your data in accordance with standards comparable to those required under Canadian law, including the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

9. Data Breach Notification

In the event of a data breach affecting your personal information, we will notify you in a timely manner, describing the nature of the incident and the measures we are taking in response.

10. Business Transfers

In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of Futurist IP's assets, your data may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you by email or prominent notice on the Service before your data becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

11. Data Retention and Deletion

Your data is retained while your account is active. Specific retention periods:

Transaction records retained for compliance purposes do not include your uploaded patent data or analysis results.

You may delete individual reports at any time from your dashboard. Deleting a report permanently removes all associated data, including patent analysis, inventor records, professional profile data, risk assessments, and remediation items. To request full account deletion, contact contact@patencial.com.

12. Confidentiality

All data you upload to the Service is treated as confidential. Access is restricted to what is necessary for service provision or user-initiated support. We will not disclose your data to third parties except:

• To service providers as described in Section 4
• With your explicit consent
• As required by law or valid legal process

13. Your Rights

You may access, correct, or delete your personal information through the Service or by contacting us at contact@patencial.com. Depending on your jurisdiction, additional rights may apply, including:

• The right to object to processing based on legitimate interest
• The right to restrict processing in certain circumstances
• The right to withdraw consent for consent-based processing
• The right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority

For Canadian residents, complaints may be directed to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (www.priv.gc.ca).

We will respond to rights requests within 30 days.

14. Canadian Privacy Compliance

We comply with Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and applicable provincial privacy laws. We collect personal information only for identified purposes, obtain meaningful consent, and provide access to personal information upon request.

We comply with Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). We send transactional emails necessary for Service operation (account approval, report completion, password reset) without separate consent, as permitted by CASL. Commercial electronic messages require your express consent and include an unsubscribe mechanism.

15. Children's Privacy

The Service is intended for users aged 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from individuals under 18. If we learn that we have collected information from a minor, we will promptly delete it. If you believe a minor has provided us with personal information, contact us at contact@patencial.com.

16. Policy Changes

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will provide at least 30 days' notice of material changes by email or prominent notice on the Service. Continued use of the Service after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

17. Contact

Questions about this Privacy Policy should be directed to:

Futurist IP
Email: contact@patencial.com