Terms of service.

Commissioning research

These terms describe use of the PatentOracle service and commissioned research editions. Your accepted quotation records the specific scope, price, deliverables and delivery estimate for your order. If that quotation expressly varies a service detail below, the agreed order detail applies. Mandatory consumer rights remain unaffected.

Your request and approved scope

Research can begin with a topic, company or inventor, combined with exact phrases and all-or-any matching. Current editions use US publications and English-language discovery. Dates and an editorial brief are optional. A scope check does not commission paid production. Review the discovered scope, stated limitations, fixed price and delivery window before accepting. A changed scope, price or timing estimate requires a new agreement.

What an edition includes

The quotation defines your deliverables. A research edition normally includes a reading PDF, cited interpretation, a technical map, a publication index and recorded evidence. Available original PDFs and source transcripts accompany the research. The reading PDF can use a disclosed selection from the larger evidence library. A customer brief guides the opening and reading recommendations; it does not silently exclude matching source evidence.

Coverage and timing

Discovery depends on third-party sources, their coverage and availability. We report known collection gaps, OCR use and unresolved source issues. Current operating ceilings are 25,000 selected publications and 2,000 pages in the reading PDF; these are limits, not included quantities or guarantees of complete coverage. A larger or multi-volume project requires an expressly agreed scope. Delivery windows are estimates, with progress and pauses shown in your workspace.

Prices and research credits

Prices are in US dollars unless an order says otherwise. One paid research credit represents US$1 toward eligible quoted work. Buying credits does not start a report. You approve the specific quote before credits are committed. Test purchases and test credits have no cash value and cannot fund production. Checkout identifies the payment mode and total before payment; Stripe handles card entry.

Patent Studio explanations and questions

A verified account can prepare an individual patent and review a reading plan without starting paid AI generation. A standard explanation is quoted at 5 credits and a focused follow-up answer at 1 credit. The displayed quote governs the requested job; unusually long, incomplete or complex sources may require a changed scope or review before generation. Credits are reserved only after you confirm the quote. A processing delay or restart does not authorise a second charge for the same job. If a job is held for source review, its status and reservation remain visible. Saved results can be read again without paying for another generation.

Cancellation, corrections and refunds

Cancelling a commissioned report before source collection starts returns its committed credits to your account once. For Patent Studio, an available cancellation before generation begins releases the reservation once; a queued or paused job retains its reservation until delivered or released. After work begins, contact the research team to review cancellation and the work completed. We will correct material delivery defects or agree an appropriate refund for work we cannot deliver. You can request review of unused paid credits for a refund. A wallet credit and a refund to a payment method are distinct; we identify which remedy is being applied. Nothing here removes a refund or cancellation right required by applicable law.

Source hosting and downloads for new orders

For new orders that include the source-hosting policy in their accepted quote, the delivered report PDF and publication index are hosted for five years, and originals, full source transcripts and highlighted copies for two years from delivery. Full and selected downloads are included without per-patent export fees. Downloaded files have no read expiry or required subscription. Temporary ZIP parts expire after seven days and can be prepared again while source access is active.

Expiry, recovery and optional renewal

We remind you 60, 30 and 7 days before source-hosting expiry, provide 30 days of continued access and export, and allow requested recovery for export through day 90. After that, removal is permitted subject to shared-source references, holds and backup retention; recovery is not guaranteed. Optional annual renewal is $29 up to 25 GiB, $59 up to 100 GiB, or an agreed larger-library price. Your accepted quote records the first renewal price, which we hold. No automatic renewal or research-credit debit applies. We extend access for material service failures that prevent promised access. These terms do not retroactively impose expiry on existing accepted orders or published samples.

Your account

Provide accurate account and contact information and keep your password, access codes and recovery information private. Use only workspaces and source collections you are authorised to access. You are responsible for the material and instructions you submit, including having permission to provide them for the requested work. Do not use the service to access other customers’ records, interfere with operations or bypass access controls.

Using and sharing your report

You may download, read, print and share your delivered report unless your accepted quotation sets a specific restriction. You retain your rights in material you submit. Public patent material retains its existing legal status; our service does not create exclusive rights in it. Preserve source attribution and identify your own changes when distributing an edited version. Source links for new orders under the hosting policy are private until you enable report-scoped sharing. Existing source grants retain their agreed terms. Sharing an enabled PDF can share its source access, but not bulk-export rights. Those links do not give access to your account or other projects.

Interpretation and original sources

The report distinguishes patent wording from editorial interpretation and points to supporting evidence. It is a research service, not a legal opinion on patentability, validity, infringement or freedom to operate. Review the originals and obtain suitable professional advice for decisions requiring it. We do not warrant that a disclosed invention works or that a searched collection contains every relevant publication.

Printed editions

Print requests are inquiries until a separate quotation is accepted. Format, content, proof, print provider, shipping and price must be agreed before an order is submitted. We do not send a private report or delivery address to a printer solely because you ask about print options. Approved print orders may have different cancellation constraints once manufacturing starts; those must be stated in the print quotation.

Service access and changes

We may pause a job when source access fails, agreed limits are reached, payment is uncertain or review finds an issue requiring your decision. We may restrict account access for misuse or to protect the service and customer data. We explain material order changes through your workspace where possible. Updated terms apply prospectively; they do not silently change an accepted quotation.

Contact and order questions

Email support@patentoracle.com or contact PatentOracle through “Talk to the research team” in your workspace for a question, correction, cancellation or payment issue. Include the relevant report or order reference. Our privacy notice explains how account and research information is used.

Who operates PatentOracle

PatentOracle is operated by Richard Blair, trading as PatentOracle, in the United States.

support@patentoracle.com