Information Security & Confidentiality Policy
Revised: July 5, 2019
Your information privacy is extremely important to us. We have prepared this Information Security & Confidentiality Policy (“Privacy Policy”) to explain how we collect, use, protect, and in some circumstances disclose information and data when you use the Specifio website (“Site”), the Microsoft Word Add-in, BluePencil by Specifio (“Word Add-in”), and the Specifio deep learning and natural language processing and generation technologies and services (“Services”). This Privacy Policy also explains your choices for managing your information preferences, including opting out of certain uses of your Personal Information. The Privacy Policy also explains how we keep your patent claims, specifications, and related information confidential. This Privacy Policy applies to all users of the Site and Services. The Site and Services are provided by Specifio, Inc. (“Specifio” “we” “our” “us”). “You” and “your” refers to you as a user of the Site or Services.
BY USING THE SITE OR SERVICES, YOU ARE CONSENTING TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY. PLEASE READ IT CAREFULLY.
Privilege
You are engaging Specifio to provide the Site and Services in order to assist you in providing provision of legal advice to your client.
It is understood that only you and your client have the right to assert or waive the attorney-client privilege, not Specifio.
To the extent permitted by law, it is intended and agreed that any communications made to Specifio by you or your client in connection with your use of the Site and Services shall be privileged and that any such communications shall be made to facilitate communications between you and your client and to aid you in rendering legal advice to your client. We, therefore, shall not divulge to anyone any communication (or part or substance thereof) received from you or your client in connection with the Site and Services.
Definition of Confidential Information
For the purposes of this paragraph 1, “Confidential Information” means patent claims, and any resultant draft patent application specifications and/or drawing figures generated by the Services, that you e-mail to us or that we e-mail back to you in accordance with the intended use of the Services.
Restrictions on Use and Disclosure
Keeping your Confidential Information safe is paramount for Specifio. In addition to our obligations respecting privilege described above, we will not use your Confidential Information except to provide you with the Services and as described in this Privacy Policy. We will maintain in confidence and protect your Confidential Information using at least the same degree of care as we use for our own information of a similar nature, but in all events at least a reasonable degree of care.
Your patent claims can be e-mailed to Specifio in password-encrypted Microsoft Word documents, which is how Specifio returns draft specifications to you. Specifio runs on secured (data encrypted) U.S.-based servers and does not keep unencrypted copies of Confidential Information, except for the obscured content-stripped versions described below. At every step of the way, Confidential Information is guarded from human eyes or other outside access, as described in this Privacy Policy.
We may keep and use obscured content-stripped versions of your Confidential Information; however, the content words will be removed from the documents and replaced with nonspecific symbols so that the meaning of the text cannot be ascertained. For example:
The statement:
The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for facilitating review of a confidential document by a non-privileged person by stripping away content and meaning from the document without human intervention such that only structural and/or grammatical information of the document are conveyed to the non-privileged person.
would look something like this:
the p0018 d0017 r0019s to systems and methods for f0000ing r0001 of a c0002 d0003 by a n0004 p0005 by s0006ing a0007 c0008 and m0009 from the d0003 without h0010 i0011 such that only s0012 and/or g0013 i0014 of the d0003 are c0015ed to the n0004 p0005.
We use these obscured content-stripped versions for limited internal purposes only, such as to analyze document structures and word forms, which helps use do things like provide you with better support services and improve the Services.
In addition, Specifio does not train its machine-learning models on the content of any Confidential Information. This helps ensures there is never “cross pollination” between patent applications.
We will not disclose to anyone that you are a Specifio customer or that you are using the Services, without your prior written consent in each instance.
Exclusions
The restrictions set forth in paragraph 1 will not apply with respect to any Confidential Information that: (i) was or becomes publicly known through no fault of ours; (ii) was rightfully known or becomes rightfully known to us without confidential or proprietary restriction from a source other than you who has a right to disclose it; (iii) is approved by you for disclosure without restriction in a written document which is signed by you; or (iv) we independently develop without access to or use of your Confidential Information. The restrictions set forth in paragraph 1 will not restrict us from disclosing Confidential Information pursuant to the order or requirement of a court, administrative agency, or other governmental body, provided that we give you reasonable notice to enable you to contest such order or requirement.
The restrictions set forth in this paragraph 1 will survive the termination or expiration of your use of the Site and Services.
You agree to reimburse us for reasonable legal fees and expenses incurred in connection with any litigation or administrative proceeding resulting from: (i) our failure or refusal of to comply with any attempt to compel us to disclose any communication described in described in this paragraph 1 (or part or substance thereof) or to produce documents or (ii) the obtaining of, or attempt to obtain, a court order compelling us to disclose any communication described in this paragraph 1 (or part or substance thereof) or to produce documents.
You can review, correct, update, or change your Personal Information or opt out of receiving certain e-mails by e-mailing us at support@specif.io. You are able to opt out of receiving marketing e-mails from us, however, you cannot opt out of receiving all e-mails from us, such as e-mails about the status of your account. If you have questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy, please e-mail us at the same address.
Personal Information
We collect information that personally identifies you, such as your name, address, phone number, mobile phone number, e-mail, payment information, law firm name, United States Patent & Trademark Office patent attorney/agent registration number, and other personally identifiable information that you choose to provide us with or that you choose to include in your account (“Personal Information”). You may be asked to provide us with Personal Information when you register with the Site or use any of our Services, and at other times.
Usage Data and Site Activity
We automatically collect information regarding the actions you take on the Site (“Usage Data”). For example, each time you use the Site we automatically collect the type of Web browser you use, your operating system, your Internet Service Provider, your IP address, the pages you view, and the time and duration of your visits to the Site. We use this information to help us understand how people use the Site and Services, and to enhance the services we offer.
Cookies and Anonymous Identifiers
We use cookies (a small text file placed on your computer to identify your computer and web browser) and may use anonymous identifiers (a random string of characters that is used for the same purposes as a cookie). We use cookies and other anonymous identifiers to analyze use of and improve the Site and Services and as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy. We do not use cookies to collect Personal Information. Most web browsers are initially set up to accept cookies. You can reset your web browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent, however, certain features of the Site or Services may not work if you delete or disable cookies. Some of our Service Providers (defined below) may use their own cookies, anonymous identifiers, or other tracking technology in connection with the services they perform on our behalf. Our systems do not recognize browser “Do Not Track” signals.
We use Google Analytics on the Site and Services to collect Usage Data, to analyze how users use the Site and Services, and to provide advertisements to you on other websites. For more information about how to opt out of having your information used by Google Analytics, visit https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/.
We use Personal Information for internal purposes only, such as to provide you with the Site and Services, including to generate patent specifications using the Services, produce and send password-encrypted Microsoft Word Documents, send you alerts about your account, to improve the Site and Services, to notify you of new products or services, and to otherwise communicate with you about Specifio. We will not disclose Personal Information to third parties, including for their direct marketing purposes, without your consent, except as explained in this Privacy Policy. We may disclose to third parties, certain Usage Data regarding the Site and Services. However, in such cases, your Usage Data is aggregated with the Usage Data of others and does not identify you individually.
From time to time, we may establish a business relationship with other businesses whom we believe trustworthy and who have confirmed that their privacy practices are consistent with ours (“Service Providers”). For example, we may contract with Service Providers to provide certain services, such as hosting and maintenance, data storage and management, and marketing and promotions. We only provide our Service Providers with the information necessary for them to perform these services on our behalf. Each Service Provider must agree to use reasonable security procedures and practices, appropriate to the nature of the information involved, in order to protect your Personal Information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. Service Providers are prohibited from using Personal Information other than as specified by us.
We may share Personal Information and Usage Data with businesses controlling, controlled by, or under common control with Specifio. If our Specifio is merged, acquired, or sold, or in the event of a transfer of some or all of our assets, we may disclose or transfer Personal Information and Usage Data in connection with such transaction. You will have the opportunity to opt out of any such transfer if, in our discretion, it will result in the handling of your Personal Information in a way that differs materially from this Privacy Policy.
We cooperate with government and law enforcement officials and private parties to enforce and comply with the law. We may disclose Personal Information and any other information about you to government or law enforcement officials or private parties if, in our discretion, we believe it is necessary or appropriate in order to respond to legal requests (including court orders and subpoenas), to protect the safety, property, or rights of our Specifio or of any third party, to prevent or stop any illegal, unethical, or legally actionable activity, or to comply with the law, subject to our confidentiality obligations detailed in paragraph 10 below.
We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to protect the confidentiality and security of information transmitted to us. However, no data transmission over the Internet or other network can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect information transmitted on or through the Site or Services, we cannot and do not guarantee the security of any information you transmit on or through the Site or Services, and you do so at your own risk.
Our Site and Services may contain links to other websites or allow others to send you such links. A link to a third party’s website does not mean that we endorse it or that we are affiliated with it. We do not exercise control over third-party websites. You access such third-party websites or content at your own risk. You should always read the privacy policy of a third-party website before providing any information to the website.
The Site and Services are intended for users who are 18 years old or older. We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under the age of 13. If we become aware that we have inadvertently received Personal Information from a child under the age of 13, we will delete such information from our records.
You acknowledge and agree that the communication of information by, in, to or through this Site or Services and your receipt or use of it (i) is not provided in the course of and does not create or constitute an attorney-client relationship, (ii) is not intended as a solicitation, (iii) is not intended to convey or constitute legal advice, and (iv) is not a substitute for obtaining legal advice from a qualified attorney.
Our company and its servers are located in the United States. The data we collect – including Personal Information, Usage Data, and Confidential Information – is regulated by United States law. By accessing or using the Site or Services or otherwise providing such data to us, and except as prohibited by applicable law, by using the Site and Services, you consent to the processing and transfer of your data in and to the United States. For any transfer of Personal Information to countries outside of the European Union, we have entered, or will enter into “Standard Contractual Clauses” approved by the Commission of the European Union for international transfer of Personal Information to controllers or processors established in third countries, as the case may be.
We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we decide to change this Privacy Policy, we will inform you by posting the revised Privacy Policy on the Site. Those changes will go into effect on the “Revised” date shown in the revised Privacy Policy. By continuing to use the Site or Services, you are consenting to the revised Privacy Policy.
Please print a copy of this privacy policy for you records and PLEASE check the Site frequently for any changes.