1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using Patencial at patencial.com (“Service”), you agree to these Terms of Service (“Terms”). If you are using the Service on behalf of an organization, you represent that you have authority to bind that organization to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

2. Service Description

Patencial is an automated patent due diligence platform operated by Futurist IP. The Service analyzes publicly available patent records to generate source-cited chain-of-title deficiency reports and inventor retention risk assessments. Features include:

Chain-of-title verification and deficiency identification from USPTO assignment records
Patent maintenance fee, prosecution, and PTAB status analysis
Inventor employment status analysis using publicly available professional profiles
Risk scoring and retention probability assessment
Remediation checklists with recommended corrective actions
Source-cited reports with USPTO reel/frame record links
PDF and CSV report exports

The Service is provided on an “as available” basis without uptime guarantees.

3. Not Legal Advice

Patencial's output is preliminary automated analysis intended solely to assist qualified patent and legal professionals. It is not legal advice, legal opinion, or attorney work product. Patencial is not a law firm and use of the Service does not establish an attorney-client relationship.

All reports, risk scores, and recommendations are based on publicly available records and should not be relied upon without independent verification by qualified intellectual property counsel. We do not guarantee that use of the Service will result in any particular outcome in IP transactions or legal proceedings.

4. Account Responsibility

4.1 Registration

To use the Service, you must register for an account by providing your name, email address, company name, and job title. You agree to provide accurate information and keep it current.

4.2 Account Approval

New accounts require administrative approval before gaining access to the Service. We review registrations to ensure they meet our acceptable use requirements and reserve the right to decline any registration at our sole discretion. You will be notified by email once your account has been approved.

4.3 Security

You are responsible for safeguarding your credentials and for all activity under your account. Notify us promptly at contact@patencial.com if you suspect unauthorized access.

5. Credits and Payment

5.1 Trial Credit

New accounts receive one complimentary report credit (up to 5 patents) upon approval. Trial credits expire 30 days from account approval.

5.2 Purchased Credits

Paid report credits are available as one-time purchases:

Standard Report: Up to 25 patents
Large Deal Report: Up to 100 patents

All pricing is displayed in USD on the Service at the time of purchase. Purchased credits expire 12 months from the date of purchase.

5.3 Payment Processing

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

5.4 Refunds

All purchases are final. Due to the nature of digital report delivery, refunds are not provided once a report has been generated. If Futurist IP terminates your account without cause, a pro-rata refund of unused purchased credits may be issued at our discretion.

5.5 Price Changes

We will provide at least 30 days' notice before changing credit pricing. Price changes do not affect previously purchased, unused credits.

6. Data Ownership

You retain full ownership of all patent numbers, portfolio data, and other content you upload to the Service. By uploading content, you grant Futurist IP a limited, non-exclusive license to process it solely for the purpose of delivering the Service to you. This license terminates when you delete the data or your account.

7. Confidentiality

All data you upload to the Service is treated as confidential. We restrict access to your data 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 our Privacy Policy
With your explicit consent
As required by law or valid legal process

We implement encryption in transit, encryption at rest, and row-level access controls to protect your data.

8. Automated Analysis and Third-Party Data

8.1 Automated Processing

The Service uses automated methods to analyze publicly available patent records, assignment data, and professional profile information. Automated analysis is integral to the platform's functionality.

8.2 Third-Party Data Sources

The Service retrieves data from third-party sources through third-party API services. When you submit patent numbers, those numbers and derived inventor names are transmitted to third-party providers to query the USPTO and publicly available professional profile sources. We do not control the data retention practices of third-party API providers.

8.3 AI-Assisted Processing

Certain features use artificial intelligence models to assist with data matching and confidence scoring (for example, matching inventors to professional profiles). AI-generated output may contain errors, including incorrect profile matches, inaccurate employment data, or misidentified inventors. All AI-assisted results should be independently verified.

8.4 Accuracy Limitations

Results depend on the completeness and accuracy of underlying public records. Patent and employment data may be incomplete, outdated, or inaccurate. You are solely responsible for reviewing, validating, and acting on any output at your own discretion.

9. Output Ownership

You own the reports and analysis generated through the Service. You may use, share, and export reports for your internal business purposes, including sharing with colleagues, legal counsel, and transaction counterparties in connection with IP due diligence activities.

Reports should be reviewed by qualified counsel before use in legal proceedings or transaction decisions. You may not publicly distribute, resell, or use reports to build competing products.

10. Acceptable Use

You may not use the Service to:

Engage in any unlawful purpose or solicit unlawful acts
Access or attempt to access other users' data
Reverse-engineer, decompile, or disassemble the Service
Use automated means to scrape, crawl, or overload the Service
Resell, redistribute, or sublicense reports or data without prior written consent
Exploit the credit system or create multiple accounts to circumvent limits
Share account credentials with unauthorized users
Submit false or misleading information
Upload or transmit viruses or malicious code

11. Intellectual Property

The Service, including its design, features, underlying technology, and documentation, is owned by Futurist IP and protected by applicable intellectual property laws. These Terms do not grant you any right to use Futurist IP's or Patencial's trademarks, logos, or brand elements without prior written permission.

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Futurist IP, its officers, directors, employees, and agents from any claims, damages, losses, or expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from:

Your violation of these Terms
Your reliance on Service output without independent legal review
Any infringement or misappropriation claims related to materials you upload

13. Limitation of Liability

IN NO EVENT SHALL FUTURIST IP, NOR ITS DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, PARTNERS, AGENTS, SUPPLIERS, OR AFFILIATES, BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, USE, GOODWILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, RESULTING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE.

FUTURIST IP'S TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE SERVICE SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF: (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID TO FUTURIST IP IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED US DOLLARS ($100 USD).

14. Disclaimer of Warranties

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ACCURACY, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

15. Data Retention

Report data — including patent analysis results, inventor profiles, risk assessments, remediation items, and all associated records — is retained for 90 days from the date of report generation and then permanently deleted. You may delete reports at any time from your dashboard, which triggers immediate and permanent deletion of all associated data.

For details on retention of other data types, see our Privacy Policy.

16. Termination

16.1 Termination by User

You may terminate your account at any time by contacting us at contact@patencial.com.

16.2 Termination by Futurist IP

We may suspend or terminate your account at any time, with or without cause. If we terminate without cause, we will provide reasonable notice and may issue a pro-rata refund of unused purchased credits at our discretion.

16.3 Effect of Termination

Upon termination, you will have 30 days to export or download your reports. After that period, we will delete your data in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Unused report credits are forfeited upon termination and are not refundable (except as described in Section 16.2).

16.4 Surviving Sections

Sections 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 20, 21, and 22 survive termination of these Terms.

17. Data Deletion

You can delete individual reports from your dashboard at any time. To request full account deletion, contact us at contact@patencial.com. See our Privacy Policy for complete data deletion details.

18. Force Majeure

Futurist IP shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performing its obligations under these Terms due to circumstances beyond its reasonable control, including but not limited to natural disasters, internet outages, third-party service failures, government actions, or pandemic-related disruptions.

19. Age Restriction

The Service is intended for users aged 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect information from individuals under 18. If we learn that a minor has created an account, we will promptly delete it.

20. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein. Any disputes shall first be addressed through good-faith negotiations for a period of 30 days. If unresolved, disputes shall be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Ontario, Canada.

21. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable while preserving its original intent. All other provisions remain in full force and effect.

22. Waiver

Our failure to enforce any provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of that or any other provision.

23. Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Futurist IP regarding the Service, superseding any prior agreements.

24. Assignment

You may not assign or transfer your rights under these Terms without our prior written consent. Futurist IP may assign its rights and obligations under these Terms upon notice to you.

25. Changes to Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will provide at least 30 days' notice of material changes by posting the updated Terms on the Service or sending notice to the email associated with your account. Continued use of the Service after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

26. Contact

Questions about these Terms should be directed to:

Futurist IP
Email: contact@patencial.com