Privacy

As a patent attorney, I designed Accio Patent to keep you and your clients’ patent research confidential and, if applicable, attorney–client privileged. My goal is to make sure you feel comfortable using Accio Patent to fetch patents. If you have any reservations about your privacy using my app, please email me at privacy@acciopatent.com.

When you use the app, I do not know who you are or which patents you are fetching.

The app does not send any personal information or other information back to me. The only app-related information I can access is anonymized and aggregated statistics pertaining to downloads and in-app purchases. For more details, please read the App Privacy Policy below.

The website is self-hosted and does not collect any personal information other than IP addresses logged by the web server. The logs are solely for security and troubleshooting. Your IP address will never be sold or transferred to a third party unless required by law. The website also collects anonymized and aggregated statistics pertaining to website traffic using a privacy-oriented, self-hosted software package. For more details, please read the Website Privacy Policy below.

App Privacy Policy

This privacy policy applies to the collection, use, and disclosure of information through the Accio Patent app. By using the app, you are agreeing to the terms of this privacy policy. You are encouraged to read the privacy policy of any app you use.

Information Collection and Use

Accio Patent LLC (“the company” or “we”) does not collect personal information from users of the app. Specifically, the app does not send any information to me, but it has to send your patent queries somewhere! Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Send the Patent Number to a Patent Office

You can fetch a patent by typing the patent number into the dial pad or by scanning a barcode. If you use the barcode scanner (and I hope you do—it’s a fun and unique way to get e-copies of patents!), rest assured that all image processing is handled locally on your device. Your device extracts a patent number from the barcode to send to the relevant patent offices as if you had dialed it yourself using the dial pad. The app does not store or transmit any images.

Next, the app sends the patent number directly from your device to the EPO and, in some cases, to the USPTO:

European Patent Office (EPO): The EPO receives your IP address, the fact that you are using the Accio Patent app, and the patent number. The EPO’s collection and use of this data are governed by the EPO’s privacy policy.

United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO): The USPTO receives your IP address and the patent number. The USPTO’s collection and use of your data are governed by the USPTO’s privacy policy.

These policies are the same ones that apply when you visit the EPO or USPTO directly on the web or search their databases, with the added benefit that they cannot read or set any cookies on your device because you are not using a web browser.

Step 2: Store the Patent on Your Device

Patent metadata and original PDFs are stored locally on your device. You can delete individual patents or clear your entire history within the app. This data will also be deleted if you delete the app.

Step 3 (optional): Upload the Patent to the Cloud

You have the option to connect to cloud services and automatically upload your original PDFs to these services. The app never accesses or stores your login information, and you can disable or disconnect from these services at any time through the app’s settings menu.

Apple iCloud Drive: The app only sends the PDF to an app-specific folder in your iCloud Drive, which you can access using Apple’s Files app on your iOS device or in Finder on a macOS device. Apple’s collection and use of your data are governed by Apple’s privacy policy.

Dropbox: The app only sends the PDF to an app-specific folder in your connected Dropbox account. Dropbox’s collection and use of your data are governed by Dropbox’s privacy policy. The app will also store an authorization token on the device to keep your account connected. Dropbox has a great explanation of how it uses OAuth 2 tokens here. You can revoke access at any time from the app or within Dropbox.

The app does not delete PDFs from your connected cloud services, even if you clear your history or delete the app. Similarly, deleting PDFs from your connected cloud services does not delete the copies of PDFs stored on your device. (This is handy if you want to move a PDF from your cloud service to a different folder without affecting your history in the app.)

Security

The app uses commercially reasonable safeguards to protect your information against loss, unauthorized access, use, modification, or deletion. However, no security safeguard is 100% secure, so I cannot guarantee the absolute security of your data.

Developers Trust Alliance

It is the mission of the Developers Trust Alliance to offer developers a set of principles and best practices that promote user trust, and to educate consumers and those outside of the developer community about the different types of data and how data is used.

We have adopted the principles of the Developers Trust Alliance, and we are proud to have been accepted by the Developers Trust Alliance as a trusted developer and app.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this privacy policy to reflect changes to our privacy practices. If we make any material changes, we will notify you with a notice on the website before the changes become effective. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

Contact Us

If you have questions regarding this privacy policy, please email us at privacy@acciopatent.com.

Last updated March 29, 2019.

Website Privacy Policy

This privacy policy applies to the collection, use, and disclosure of information through the Accio Patent website.

By visiting the website, you are agreeing to the terms of this privacy policy. The website may include links to other websites with different privacy practices. You are encouraged to read the privacy policy of any website you visit.

Information Collection

Accio Patent LLC (“the company” or “we”) collects both personal information and other information from visitors to the website. For purposes of this privacy policy, “personal information” is information that we can directly associate with a specific person without additional information, and other information is any information that is not personal information.

If you email us, we will only use your email address and other information to respond to your inquiry.

Like most websites and blogs, other information may be collected via passive collection and tracking technologies. This information may include Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, web browser type, Internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, files and pages viewed on the website, operating system, date and time stamps, or general geographic location. This information may be collected using technologies such as server logs, cookies, pixel tags, etc. Only necessary cookies for maintaining the functionality of the site will be stored and will not be used for any other purpose.

Information Use

We use the information it collects for a variety of purposes, including to provide services to users, respond to customer service requests, administer and troubleshoot the website, count unique website visitors, analyze aggregate trend data, and comply with legal and/or regulatory requirements.

Information Disclosure

We may disclose the collected information to third parties for a variety of purposes, such as:

Legal purposes: We may use or disclose your personal information or other information to third parties when it believes, in its sole discretion, that doing so is necessary to comply with applicable laws or a court order, subpoena, request from government or law enforcement, or other legal process; to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, violations of our terms and conditions, or situations involving threats to our property or physical safety of any person or third party; to establish, protect, or exercise the company’s legal rights or defend against legal claims; or to facilitate a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of the company’s assets. You will be notified via email or a prominent notice on the website of any change of ownership, uses of your personal information, and choices you may have regarding your personal information.

With your consent: We may disclose your information to any other third party with your prior consent.

This website is self-hosted and does not share personal information or any other information with third-party service providers.

Access and Choice

Upon request, we will provide you with information about whether the company holds any of your personal information. You may request access, correction, or deletion of your personal information by contacting the company at privacy@acciopatent.com. We will respond to these requests within a reasonable timeframe.

Data Retention

We will retain information as long as reasonably necessary to accomplish the purposes described in this privacy policy. We will also retain and use information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.

Security

We use commercially reasonable safeguards to protect your information against loss, unauthorized access, use, modification, or deletion. However, no security safeguard is 100% secure, so it cannot guarantee the absolute security of your data.

California Online Privacy Protection Act Compliance

We comply with the California Online Privacy Protection Act. Please also note that the website does not currently respond to browser Do Not Track signals.

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Compliance

We never collect or maintain information at our website from those we actually know are under 13, and no part of our website is structured to attract anyone under 13.

Information for European Union Visitors

By visiting the website and providing your personal information, you authorize us to collect, use, and store your personal information outside of the European Economic Area. Your information will be stored and processed in the United States.

International Transfers of Information

Information may be processed, stored, and used outside of the country in which you are located. Data privacy laws vary across jurisdictions, and different laws may be applicable to your data depending on where it is processed, stored, or used.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

Contact Us

If you have questions regarding this privacy policy, please email us at privacy@acciopatent.com.

Last updated March 20, 2019.