Information you post
Information you post on our Site is available to the public. Do not disclose any personal, intellectual property or other sensitive information that you do not want to have in the public domain.
Cookies
The Site may use "cookies" to help you personalize your online experience. A cookie is a text file that is placed on your hard disk by a Web page server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you, and can only be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you. You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most Web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of the Site.
Due to the communications standards on the Internet, when you visit the Site we automatically receive the URL of the site from which you came and the site to which you are going when you leave patents.com. We also receive the Internet protocol (IP) address of your computer (or the proxy server you use to access the World Wide Web), your computer operating system and type of web browser you are using, as well as the name of your ISP. This information is used to analyze overall trends to help us improve the patents.com service. The linkage between your IP address and your personally identifiable information is never shared with third-parties without your permission or except when required by law.
Links to Other Websites
The Site has links to other websites. Once you link to another website, you are subject to the privacy policy of the new website and our Privacy Policy is no longer in effect. We are not responsible for the practices employed by other websites linked to or from our Site nor the information or content contained therein. Your browsing and interaction on any other website, including websites which have a link on our Site, is subject to that website's own rules and policies. Please read over those rules and policies before proceeding.
Information Use
If you provide us with your financial information for purposes of using a portion of our Site, we use your address and billing information to bill you and provide associated support.
You agree that we may use personal information to improve our efforts, to analyze Site usage, improve our content and product offerings, and customize the Site for your use.
Communications
Patents.com will communicate with you through email and notices posted on this Site. These may include a series of emails which help inform new users about various features of our service. Please be aware that you may receive certain emails from patents.com related to the proper functioning of your account, such as email notices when another user wishes to contact you. Patents.com may send you promotional information unless you have opted out of receiving such information.
Sharing Information with Third Parties
We don’t sell, rent, or otherwise provide your personally identifiable information to any third parties for marketing purposes. We will only share your personally identifiable with third parties to carry out your instructions and to provide specific services. For instance, we may use a credit card processing company to bill users for fees. We may provide aggregated data about the usage of our services to third-parties for such purposes as we deem, in our sole discretion, to be appropriate.
Communications on Message Boards
If you choose to post messages on the Message boards, we will collect that information you provide to us. We record and store the IP address where all Message board postings originate. We retain this information as necessary to resolve disputes, provide customer support and troubleshoot problems as permitted by law. Additionally, if you contact another user, that user will obtain any confidential information that you provide to them.
Your use of others information
Our Site allows you limited access to other users' contact information. You agree that any personal information that you obtain may be used only for using services offered through patents.com and any other purpose that a user expressly agrees to. Under no circumstances, except as defined herein, can you disclose information about another user to any party without the express consent of patents.com and the user. You agree that other users may use your personal information to communicate with you in accordance with this Section.
Patents.com does not tolerate spam. Notwithstanding anything else herein, you may not add a user to your electronic or written list without their express consent. If you are the victim of spam, please notify us at privacypolicy@patents.com.
Information Collection
In order to become a patents.com Registered user, you must first create an account on the Site. To create an account you are required to provide certain contact information such as your name, email address, country, ZIP/postal code and choose a password. Once you are a registered user, you may provide additional information describing your background and your experiences. Providing additional information beyond what is required at registration is entirely optional, but enables you to better identify yourself and find new opportunities on the Site.
For those creating accounts and profiles which contain personally identifiable information, we take reasonable steps to maintain the security of the personally identifiable information that we collect, including limiting the number of people who have physical access to our database servers, as well as installing electronic security systems that guard against unauthorized access. However, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Accordingly, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of the information that you transmit to us.
If you choose to provide us with personal information in an e-mail, we may use that information to respond to your message, to provide information you have requested, or to facilitate a business transaction you have requested. We do not collect personal information for any purpose other than to respond to you. We do not store any personal information or create individual profiles with the information you provide. We do not provide personal information to other organizations (unless requested to do so by the user) or specifically, to marketers.
Legal Disclaimer
It is possible that we may need to disclose personal information when required by law. We will disclose such information wherein we have a good-faith belief that it is necessary to comply with a court order, ongoing judicial proceeding, or other legal process served on our company or to exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
Notice of all changes that materially affect ways in which your personally identifiable data may be used or shared will be posted in updates to our Privacy Policy. If you continue to use the Site after notice of changes have been sent to you or published on our Site, you hereby provide your consent to the changed practices.
Questions or Comments
If you have questions or comments about this privacy policy, please email us at privacypolicy@patents.com.