PatentRef Terms of Service (free beta)

Effective: 2026-10-20. Version: beta-2. Operator: Aaron Baker, Tucson, Arizona, United States (the "Operator", "we"). Contact: legal@patentref.io (until that mailbox is live: hello@patentref.io).

These terms govern the use of the PatentRef service at patentref.io, including the API under /api/v1/, the sign-up and account pages, the status page, the published snapshot files and, when they open, the disclosure registry and the owner console (together, the "Service"). By creating an account, requesting an API key or sending a request to the API you agree to these terms. If you use the Service for an organization, you confirm you may bind it.

1. What the Service is

PatentRef publishes records, rules and routes drawn from public patent data. It is a data service. It is not a law firm, it does not give legal advice and nothing it returns is a legal conclusion about any patent, application or right. Status fields are record facts with their basis and an as-of date. You remain responsible for any decision you make with the data, and for consulting a qualified practitioner where a decision needs one.

PatentRef is an independent service. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or operated by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, PatentsView, or any other patent office or data provider.

2. The beta

The Service is in a free beta. During the beta:

• Access is free. Nothing is charged. Paid plans, when they start, will be offered under updated terms that you must accept before any charge.
• The Service may change, pause or stop without notice. We aim for the uptime shown on the status page but make no promise of availability during the beta.
• Your API key, account and usage counters may be reset if a change requires it. We will tell you on the status page when that happens.

3. Accounts and API keys

• One account per person or organization, with a working email address that you control. Sign-in is handled by Supabase Auth; we never see or store your password.
• Each account holds one active API key. The key is shown once when it is minted. Keep it secret; treat it like a password. If it leaks, rotate it on the account page.
• You are responsible for every request made with your key. Do not share, sell or publish a key. Do not create extra accounts to get around a limit.
• Keys may be revoked for a breach of these terms or of the Acceptable Use Policy, or for abuse that threatens the Service.

4. Limits

The Free plan allows 1,000 requests a month and 45 a minute per key, plus the request size, query cost and concurrency limits described in the API guide at patentref.io/llms-full.txt. Requests over a limit receive a 429 answer with a Retry-After header. We may change limits during the beta; the current figures are always in the guide and in the usage endpoint.

5. Data and licenses

• Patent data comes from PatentsView and the USPTO and is used and redistributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0). The license register at patentref.io/LICENSES.md lists every table, source and attribution line. When you redistribute data you obtained from the Service, carry the attribution lines listed there.
• Derived fields that PatentRef adds (for example data_version, as-of dates and, later, the Lapse fields) are provided under the same CC BY 4.0 terms with attribution to PatentRef.
• The server code is published under the GNU General Public License version 3. Nothing in these terms limits your rights under that license.
• We do not sell your data and we do not claim any ownership of your queries. Request logs are kept for operations, metering and abuse prevention as described in the Privacy Policy.

6. Acceptable use

The Acceptable Use Policy at patentref.io/docs/legal/acceptable-use is part of these terms. In short: do not attack the Service, do not evade limits, do not scrape the website instead of using the API, do not misrepresent what the data says, and do not use the Service to break the law.

7. Content you submit (registry, when it opens)

This section applies from the day the disclosure registry accepts submissions from the public. It is included now so that the terms you accept at sign-up already cover it.

• You keep every right you hold in the text, files and data you submit (a "Submission"). You grant the Operator a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to store, hash, timestamp, display, index and distribute the Submission as part of the registry, for as long as the record exists, including after your account closes. A sealed Submission is displayed only as its hash until you release it.
• You confirm that you have the right to submit the content and to grant this license, that it does not infringe anyone else's rights, that it contains no personal data of others that you lack permission to publish, and that every inventor named consented to being named.
• A record's hash, proof bundle and DOI are permanent by design; they cannot be deleted. The content behind a record can be hidden or removed as described in the registry terms and the takedown process in section 9.
• Submissions are shown as entered, inside a block labeled as user content. The Operator does not review them for accuracy and is not the author of any statement in them.

8. Patent owner statements (owner console, when it opens)

A license-availability declaration or any other statement entered through the owner console is the owner's own statement, labeled as such wherever it is shown. The Operator does not verify it and makes no representation about it.

9. Copyright complaints (DMCA)

If you believe content on the Service infringes your copyright, send a notice meeting the requirements of 17 U.S.C. 512(c)(3) to the designated agent, Aaron Baker, at the address and email listed at patentref.io/docs/legal/dmca (the designated agent is registered with the U.S. Copyright Office; the registration number is shown on that page). We will act on complete notices, forward counter-notices as the statute provides, and terminate repeat infringers. Public patent data from the USPTO is not subject to copyright in the United States and complaints about it will be answered on that basis.

10. No warranty

The Service and all data are provided "as is" and "as available", without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including any warranty of accuracy, completeness, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. The data is a snapshot of public releases; it may be incomplete, out of date or wrong. The data_version and as-of date on every response tell you which release you are looking at.

11. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Operator is not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, business, data or opportunity, arising from your use of or inability to use the Service, even if advised of the possibility. The Operator's total liability for any claim relating to the Service during the free beta is limited to one hundred US dollars (USD 100). Some jurisdictions do not allow some of these limits; in those places the limits apply to the extent allowed.

12. Indemnity

You will defend and hold the Operator harmless from claims, damages and costs (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your Submissions, your breach of these terms or your unlawful use of the Service.

13. Termination

You can close your account at any time from the account page or by email. We can suspend or terminate an account or key for breach, abuse or legal necessity, with notice where practical. Sections 5, 7, 9 to 12, 14 and 15 survive termination.

14. Assignment and the future operator

The Service is run during the beta by Aaron Baker personally. The Operator may assign these terms, the accounts and the registry records to a legal entity formed to operate PatentRef, or to a successor that agrees to honor them, and will announce the assignment on the status page and by email to account holders at least 14 days before it takes effect. Your rights under these terms are not reduced by the assignment. You may not assign your account without our consent.

15. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Arizona and the federal laws of the United States, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute will be brought in the state or federal courts located in Pima County, Arizona, and you consent to their jurisdiction, except that either party may seek injunctive relief in any competent court. If you are a consumer in a jurisdiction whose law gives you the right to sue at home, that right is not affected.

16. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. The version and effective date at the top change when we do; material changes are announced on the status page and by email at least 14 days before they take effect, and continued use after that date is acceptance. The current version is always at patentref.io/docs/legal/terms, and earlier versions are kept and sent on request.

17. Contact

Operator: Aaron Baker, Tucson, Arizona, United States. Email: legal@patentref.io (until the mailbox is live: hello@patentref.io). Status page: patentref.io/api/v1/meta/status/.