1. Introduction
PatentNode is a research and demonstration product for US patent practitioners. This Privacy Policy explains what we collect when you visit the site, sign in, or submit interest in the upload waitlist. The site is operated in sample-mode only at V1.0 — no Office Action you upload is sent to a third-party model for processing in this version. Real upload processing ships with V1.1; the third-party processor section below covers what changes when it does.
2. Information we collect
When you sign in with Google: your name, email address, and profile image, as provided by Google OAuth. We store these in our database to maintain your account. When you click "Process this OA" on the dashboard upload tile: a record that you expressed interest, along with the file name, size, and MIME type if a file was selected. No file content is transmitted to or stored on our servers in V1.0. When you use the site: standard session cookies (set by NextAuth) and basic request logs (IP, user agent, timestamps) retained for operational and security purposes.
3. How we use information
We use your account information to keep you signed in, show you which review threads you have access to, and contact you about service updates. We use upload-intent records to email you when V1.1 live processing opens. We do not sell or rent your information to third parties.
4. Third-party processors
V1.0 processors: • Google (sign-in identity) • Vercel (web hosting + edge delivery) • Neon (managed Postgres database) V1.1 will add Anthropic and OpenAI for the processing of Office Actions you choose to upload. Both vendors will be subscribed under their Zero Data Retention (ZDR) terms, meaning prompts and outputs are not retained for model training or beyond the operational window required to return the response. We will update this Policy and notify you before V1.1 processing is enabled on your account. Note on in-house models: PatentNode's five specialized in-house models were trained only on public USPTO records and synthetic examples — no customer-uploaded content or firm work product was used.
5. Cookies
We use first-party cookies strictly necessary for the site to function — most importantly a session cookie set after sign-in. We do not currently use third-party advertising or analytics cookies.
6. Data retention
Account information is retained while your account is active. You may request deletion at any time using the contact address below; on request we delete your account and associated review marks within a reasonable period, subject to any legal retention obligations.
7. Your rights
Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the right to access, correct, port, or delete personal information we hold about you, and to object to certain processing. To exercise these rights, contact us at the address below.
8. Contact
Questions or requests regarding this Privacy Policy: privacy@patentnode.com. We will update this Policy when our practices change. The "Effective" date at the top reflects the most recent update.