1. Introduction

These Terms of Service govern your use of PatentNode ("the Service"), operated by Christopher Chen. By accessing the Service you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service. PatentNode is a drafting and analysis tool for US patent prosecution. It reads an Office Action and the application, evaluates each rejection, and prepares draft amendments, draft arguments and a client report for your review. Every draft is produced for a qualified patent professional to review, edit and approve: the Service pauses for your review before it drafts, and nothing it produces is filed anywhere. The Service does not file documents with the USPTO or any other office, does not docket or monitor deadlines, and does not calculate or pay fees. Nothing it produces is legal advice, and it is not a substitute for your independent professional judgment. Using the Service does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Christopher Chen or any entity that operates the Service.

2. Eligibility

The Service is intended for patent professionals working on US matters (including patent engineers, patent agents and registered patent practitioners) and individuals working under their supervision. You represent that you are over the age of majority in your jurisdiction, that you use the Service in a professional capacity, and that your use complies with applicable law and any rules of professional conduct that apply to you. Access is currently by invitation. We may grant, limit, suspend or withdraw access at any time.

3. Early access

The Service is in early access. During early access we provide it to invited users at no charge, subject to a per-account allowance on the number of Office Actions you may process and to fair-use limits we may apply to keep the Service available. Your current allowance is shown in your account. Early access is not a commitment as to future availability, features or pricing. Paid plans, if and when they are offered, will be presented separately and will not apply to you without your agreement. We may end early access, or change its limits, at any time.

4. Acceptable use

You agree not to (a) reverse-engineer the Service or attempt to extract its underlying models or prompts; (b) use the Service to violate any law, including export controls; (c) attempt to disrupt the operation of the Service or other users' access to it. You are responsible for what you submit. You represent that you are authorised to submit each document you upload and to have it processed as described in the Privacy Policy, and that you will not submit privileged or confidential third-party information you have no authority to disclose. During early access, please use published cases or matters you are authorised to handle.

5. Our intellectual property

The Service, including all software, models, prompts, and content presented on the site, is the intellectual property of Christopher Chen or its licensors and is protected by applicable law. These Terms grant you no right in it other than the right to use the Service as permitted here.

6. Your content and your outputs

You keep every right you have in the documents you submit and in the drafts the Service prepares for you. You may use those outputs in your professional work, and you remain solely responsible for verifying their accuracy and for your own compliance with your professional obligations. You grant us the limited right to process what you submit in order to provide the Service to you, and, during early access, to diagnose and improve it, as described in the Privacy Policy. During early access, content from your runs may also be used to improve our own models, which is the use the upload consent asks you to accept. We do not sell or rent your content, and we do not use it to train any third party's models.

7. Disclaimers

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. AI-generated content may be inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading. You are solely responsible for verifying every output before relying on it in any professional capacity. In particular, the Service does not file anything, does not docket or monitor any deadline, does not calculate or pay official fees, and does not determine whether a response is compliant or complete. Its compliance notices are aids to your review, not a certification. Deciding what to file, and when, remains entirely yours.

8. Limitation of liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL CHRISTOPHER CHEN BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUES, DATA, OR USE, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE. IN ANY EVENT, THE TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF CHRISTOPHER CHEN AND ANY ENTITY THAT OPERATES THE SERVICE, FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICE, WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE TOTAL FEES YOU PAID FOR THE SERVICE IN THE TWELVE MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE LIABILITY, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED US DOLLARS (US$100).

9. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Christopher Chen and any entity that operates the Service from and against any claim, damage, loss, liability, cost, or expense (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your use of any output without independent verification by a qualified patent professional; (b) any content you submit, including any submission you were not authorized to make; or (c) your violation of these Terms or of any law or rule of professional conduct. Christopher Chen may assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification by you, and you will cooperate in asserting available defenses.

10. Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service at any time, with or without cause, and with or without notice, including where an account exceeds its allowance or fair-use limits. You may stop using the Service at any time, and you may request deletion of your account, of an individual run, or of all of your run content as described in the Privacy Policy.

11. Assignment and successors

The Service is currently operated by Christopher Chen as an individual. We may assign these Terms, in whole or in part, to an entity formed to operate the Service or to a successor in connection with a reorganisation or transfer of the Service, and these Terms will bind and benefit our respective successors. You may not assign these Terms without our written consent. If these Terms are assigned, the obligations owed to you under them are unchanged.

12. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Wyoming, USA, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. Subject to the binding arbitration provision below, any matter not subject to arbitration will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Wyoming, and you consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.

13. Dispute resolution; arbitration and class-action waiver

Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Commercial Arbitration Rules, seated in Wyoming, rather than in court, except that either party may bring an individual claim in a small-claims court. To the fullest extent permitted by law, you and Christopher Chen each waive any right to a jury trial and agree that disputes will be resolved only on an individual basis: no class, collective, consolidated, or representative proceeding is permitted. If this class-action waiver is held unenforceable, the arbitration agreement will be void as to that dispute, which will then proceed only in the courts identified above.

14. Changes

We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be communicated through the Service or by email to the address associated with your account. Continued use after the effective date of any update constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

15. Contact

Questions regarding these Terms: legal@patentnode.com.