http://www.uspto.gov/terms-use-uspto-websites
https://buy.stripe.com/dR6cPbeBbefpbcc7tD
Terms of Use for USPTO websites
Scope
https://discussions.apple.com/signup/acceptToc?path=%2Fprofile%2FCIEDRAA%2Fparticipation%3Flogin%3Dtrue
These Terms of Use apply to United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) websites, applications, software, and services (collectively, “Services”) that are intended for public use on the uspto.gov domain, and to USPTO-branded mobile applications and social media presences, except where superseded or modified by a separate agreement. Any separate service agreements will accompany the applicable Services or be clearly noted.
Modifications
USPTO may revise and update these Terms of Use as necessary to clarify or improve Services.
Linking policy
Links from USPTO to other websites
The USPTO provides limited external links as a service to our visitors. When you select a link to an external website, you leave the uspto.gov site and are subject to the privacy and security policies of the external website. USPTO makes use of some third-party sites to provide access to official information that is otherwise available directly from USPTO, and continually reviews these and other external links to assess their ongoing value to the public. Please note, however, that the USPTO:
• Does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness or completeness of information contained on a linked external website;
• Does not endorse the organizations sponsoring linked websites or the views they express or the products and services they offer;
• Cannot and does not authorize the use of copyrighted materials found in linked websites (you must request authorization from the sponsor of the linked websites if you wish to use copyrighted materials from those sites – see the Copyright Information section for general guidance);
• Is not responsible for transmissions you may receive from external websites; and
• Does not guarantee that external websites comply with Section 508 (Accessibility Requirements) of the Rehabilitation Act.
Links from other websites to USPTO.gov
The USPTO does not engage in reciprocal linking arrangements. If you create a link to a USPTO website, you must do so in a manner that does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by the USPTO for your enterprise or websites. See the Copyright Information and Editorial Guidance sections for additional information. In addition, please be aware that:
• USPTO websites are not archival; links may change and material may be removed without warning;
• Because deep links to pages on USPTO websites may bypass critical instructions and notices to customers, you should take care to link to content’s parent page(s) where relevant notices and instructions may appear; and
• The USPTO strongly encourages archival or permanent links to the USPTO home page only.
Blogs, collaboration, and comment policy
The USPTO makes use of certain social media capabilities that permit informal, collaborative communications in a public forum. Participants who engage in such communications are expected to treat each other, as well as our agency and our employees, with respect, and are advised that:
• The use of vulgar, offensive, threatening or harassing language is prohibited.
• Comments should be related to the posted topic.
• Comments that make unsupported claims or accusations are not appropriate.
• Comments pertaining to the promotion or advertisement of a business or commercial transaction are not appropriate.
• Comments promoting or opposing any person campaigning for election to a political office or promoting or opposing any ballot proposition are prohibited.
• A comment should not be attributed to anyone other than the individual making the post, nor be presented in a way that is misleading about its origin.
• Comments made in a public forum on any USPTO website are considered to be public information.
• Comments that relate to pending applications for patents or trademarks are not appropriate for public forums.
• Communications made through social media sites will in no way constitute a legal or official notice or comment to the USPTO or any official or employee of the USPTO for any purpose.
• All comments are subject to review and removal if they fail to conform to the policy at any time.
Blogs on the USPTO websites represent official government communications, and are managed and moderated by the Office of Chief Communications Officer. The USPTO will not post blog comments that do not conform to the policy, and will not edit or alter individual blog comments to make them conform to policy.
On USPTO’s third party sites and social media channels (e.g., Twitter or Facebook), comments are reviewed and moderated following posts. Comments which do not comply with the stated policy are not allowed, and may be removed or withheld. USPTO reserves the right to use features that may restrict the ability of users who repeatedly violate the commenting policy, including limiting their ability to comment or reporting their comments as spam.
Any references to commercial entities, products, services, or other nongovernmental organizations or individuals that are allowed are provided solely for the information of individuals using the site. These references are not intended to reflect the opinion of USPTO, the United States, or its officers or employees concerning the significance, priority, or importance to be given the referenced entity, product, service, or organization. Such references are not an official or personal endorsement of any product, person, or service, and may not be quoted or reproduced for the purpose of stating or implying USPTO endorsement or approval of any product, person, or service.
This policy is subject to amendment or modification at any time to ensure blogs, collaboration, and comments on the USPTO website are managed in a manner consistent with the intended purpose of the public forum.
Copyright information
Pursuant to federal law, most government-produced materials appearing on this website are not subject to copyright restrictions within the United States and are therefore in the public domain. Public domain information may be freely distributed and copied, but it is requested that in any subsequent use the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) be given appropriate acknowledgement (e.g., “Source: United States Patent and Trademark Office, http://www.uspto.gov”). The USPTO reserves the right to assert copyright protection internationally.
WARNING: Not all materials on the USPTO website are works of the U.S. government. When using USPTO websites, you may encounter documents, illustrations, photographs, or other informational resources contributed or licensed by private individuals, companies, or organizations that may be protected by U.S. and foreign copyright laws. Transmission or reproduction of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use as defined in the copyright laws, requires the written permission of the copyright owners. The USPTO is unable to grant or deny permission for any materials that may be posted on its website for which the copyright is owned by a third party. Should you need copyright permission, you are solely responsible for contacting the copyright owner directly.
Please contact us regarding copyright status before publishing, distributing, or reselling any documents having outside authorship or any images contained on the webpages for this site. For additional information about copyright restrictions on U.S. government works, please see guidance posted on USA.gov . See also the Editorial Guidance section of this page regarding references to materials obtained from USPTO.gov websites, including special considerations for patents and trademarks.
Use of USPTO seal and logo
The USPTO does not authorize the use of either its seal or logo on any other websites, except where the agency maintains an official presence on that site.
Account management
USPTO websites provide access to a rich collection of information and services, including communications, forums, online filing for patents and trademarks, fee handling, data, and search. While published information is freely provided, some features may require that you log in with a dedicated account in order to access personalized content and transactions. When you complete the registration process to obtain an account, you will receive an account and password. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account information, and for all activities that occur under your account, including any information data, software, or other materials that you may post or upload. Each practitioner will be responsible for verifying the identity of the person using any sponsored support staff account. For information on your identity verification responsibilities, please refer to the Patent Electronic System Access Document. You must log off from your account at the end of each session and must immediately notify USPTO of any unauthorized use of your account information or any other breach of security; USPTO is not liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to perform these actions. Users accessing EFS-Web, PAIR, and Patent Center must abide by the Patent Electronic System Subscriber Agreement and PKI Subscribers Agreement. See the USPTO Privacy Policy for other important details about safeguarding your personal data.
You may terminate or deactivate your USPTO account and related access to USPTO services by submitting a termination request to USPTO. In addition, USPTO may, without prior notice, terminate, deactivate, limit your access to, or suspend your USPTO account, and related access to certain USPTO services. Cause for such action by USPTO shall include, but not be limited to, (a) breaches or violations of the Terms of Use or other incorporated agreements or guidelines, (b) requests by law enforcement or other government agencies, (c) discontinuance or material modification to the USPTO services (or any part thereof), (d) unexpected technical or security issues or problems, (e) extended periods of inactivity, (f) engagement by you in fraudulent or illegal activities, (g) nonpayment of any fees owed by you in connection with the USPTO services, and/or (h) sharing of accounts and/or account passwords when they are intended for the sole use by the customer who registers for the account). Further, you agree that all terminations, limitations of access and suspensions for cause shall be made in USPTO’s sole discretion and that USPTO shall not be liable to you or any third party for any termination or deactivation of your account or related access to the USPTO services.
Security
This is a USPTO computer system, which may be accessed and used only for official Government business by authorized personnel. Unauthorized access, actions, use, modification, or disclosure of the data contained herein or in transit to/from this system constitutes a violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Pub. L. No. 99-474, codified at 18 U.S.C. §1030, state criminal and civil laws, and may subject violators to criminal, civil, and/or administrative action and penalties. Unauthorized use or actions exceeding authorized use of USPTO systems will be investigated, and, when appropriate, official sanctions will be imposed. All data contained on USPTO computer systems is owned by the USPTO, and may be monitored, intercepted, recorded, read, copied, captured, and disclosed in any manner by authorized personnel. THERE IS NO RIGHT OF PRIVACY IN THIS SYSTEM. System personnel may give to law enforcement officials, for investigation and prosecution, any potential evidence of crime found on USPTO computer systems. USE OF THIS SYSTEM BY ANY USER, AUTHORIZED OR UNAUTHORIZED, CONSTITUTES CONSENT TO THIS MONITORING, INTERCEPTION, RECORDING, READING, COPYING, CAPTURING, AND DISCLOSURE.
The USPTO uses HTTPS protocol and other forms of data encryption when necessary to protect sensitive data such as financial account information.
For website security and to ensure that USPTO Web services remain available to the general public, the USPTO monitors network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, deny service, otherwise cause damage or access non-public information. Unauthorized attempts to upload information or change information are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the United States criminal code (18 U.S.C. § 1030). Information regarding possible violations of law may be provided to law enforcement officials.
This information system may contain Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) that is subject to safeguarding or dissemination controls in accordance with law, regulation, or government-wide policy. Any activity or operation, whether generated automatically or manually, that results in or has the potential to result in denial or decrease of service for other customers may be denied access to USPTO.gov Web resources without notice. If you believe your IP address may have been blocked, you may contact the Webmaster for instructions.
Use of USPTO databases
USPTO’s online databases are not designed or intended to be a source for bulk downloads of USPTO data when accessed through the website’s interfaces. Individuals, companies, IP addresses, or blocks of IP addresses who, in effect, deny or decrease service by generating unusually high numbers of database accesses (searches, pages, or hits), whether generated manually or in an automated fashion, may be denied access to USPTO servers without notice.
Bulk data products may be separately obtained from the USPTO, either for free or at the cost of dissemination. For details, see information on Electronic Bulk Data Products.
>> Terms of Use Statement for PAIR databases
Editorial guidance
Proper citation
It is considered a good practice, both academically and editorially, to properly credit the source of any materials not authored by you. Subject to other terms described on this page, you may cite materials obtained from USPTO.gov websites using any or all of the following:
• The United States Patent and Trademark Office
• http://www.uspto.gov
• [system ID].uspto.gov/[specific Web page address]; for example, etas.uspto.gov/etas/guidelines.jsp
Patent information
Patents are published as part of the terms of granting the patent to the inventor. Subject to limited exceptions reflected in 37 CFR 1.71(d) & (e) and 1.84(s), the text and drawings of a patent are typically not subject to copyright restrictions. The inventors’ rights to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention throughout the United States or importing the invention into the United States for a limited time is not compromised by the publication of the description of the invention. In other words, the fact that a patent’s description may have been published without copyright restrictions does not give you permission to manufacture or use the invention without permission from the inventor during the active life of the patent. See MPEP § 600 – 608.01(v) regarding the right to include a copyright or mask work notice in patents.
Trademark information
Trademark images are published by the USPTO for public information dissemination purposes in accordance with the law. If you wish to use a trademark obtained from our records, you must do so in accordance with the individual licensing policies of the marks’ owners. The USPTO will not assist in contacting trademark owners or arranging and managing licensing agreements.
CAUTION: There are instances where trademarks may be embedded in patents as part of the drawing, particularly for design patents. There are also instances where a portion of the text or drawings of a patent may be under copyright. You should consult an attorney regarding these potential trademark and copyright issues. The USPTO will not assist in determining if a potential trademark issue or copyright issue exists for a particular patent.
Refer-a-Friend Program Terms of Service
Last Updated: December 6, 2022
The Automattic Refer-A-Friend Program (“Program”) allows you to earn and share rewards when you refer friends (“Referred Friends”) and they become new customers. The Program is offered subject to your acceptance, without modification, of these terms, the main Terms of Service, and any other guidelines or policies that we may publish from time to time (collectively, the “Agreement”).
1. Program eligibility
You must have an active WordPress.com account that’s in good standing (e.g., current on all applicable fees, compliant with our policies, etc.) in order to participate in the Program.
We may also offer other similar programs, such as the Automattic Affiliate Program. You may not receive compensation for more than one program at the same time.
2. Sharing your link
You can find your link via the Earn section of your dashboard. You can share your unique link with others to promote our products and services.
Here are some ground rules when it comes to sharing your link:
- Be honest and accurately represent Automattic, our products, and our services.
- Your link should only be used for personal and non-commercial purposes. Feel free to share your link on social channels, but you please don’t post your link on coupon or deal sites, or send spam or unsolicited messages.
- Don’t manipulate or change your link.
- Don’t engage in cookie stuffing or include false or misleading links wherever you share your link.
- Don’t mask the referring URL information in your link (i.e. the page from where the link click is originating) or use redirects to make it seem like a Referred Friend’s click on your link came from another domain.
- Don’t use your link in purchased ads or keywords on any search engine or third-party site, or engage in pay-per-click trademark bidding.
- Don’t post your link on any of our activity on social media. For example, you shouldn’t post your link in a reply to our Tweet on Twitter or one of our posts on Facebook.
And if you engage in pay-per-click advertising on your site where you use your link, you must follow these guidelines:
- You shouldn’t bid on any Automattic trademarks, or any variations or misspellings thereof, for search or content-based campaigns.
- You cannot use Automattic trademarks in combination with any other keywords. For example, “WordPress.com coupons.”
- You may not use Automattic trademarks in your ad title, ad copy, display name, or as the display URL.
- You may not link to our websites from any pay-per-click ad or use redirects that yield the same result.
- You may not bid in any manner appearing higher than Automattic for any search term in position 1-5 in any auction-style pay-per-click advertising program.
We may discontinue or invalidate your link at any time, for example, if we suspect fraudulent or improper use.
3. Rewards
Both you and your Referred Friend will earn rewards if, via your link, your Referred Friend signs up for a new WordPress.com account and purchases a paid WordPress.com annual plan (making an “Eligible Purchase”). Other purchases, such as renewals of existing WordPress.com plans or the purchase of a domain registration, are not eligible. Purchases that are refunded or subject to dispute (such as chargebacks or reversals) are not Eligible Purchases.
A Referred Friend can only use one link, and you’ll only earn rewards if your Referred Friend correctly uses your specific link.
Please note that any rewards you may earn will be applied to your WordPress.com account up to two months after the month your Referred Friend made the Eligible Purchase.
Your rewards can only be applied to future purchases. There will be no other compensation of any kind in connection with your participation in the Program, and rewards are not redeemable for cash or any other payment. Rewards may not be combined with any other coupons or discounts. If your WordPress.com account is terminated for any reason, any unused rewards in or associated with your account will be null and void.
Please see our Program Details for more details, such as what rewards you and your Referred Friend may earn.
4. Your responsibilities
We hope that you love our services and refer all of your friends! But please note that you don’t have any authority to assume or create any obligation or warranty, express or implied, on our behalf, or to represent us in any capacity. As much as we appreciate you, nothing in these terms creates or implies any partnership, joint venture, agency, franchise, sales representative, or employment relationship.
You must comply with all laws that apply to your participation in the Program, including the FTC’s rules regarding sponsored endorsements (please see the FTC’s website for more details), all privacy laws that apply to the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information, and all marketing laws that apply to any messages you send in connection with this Agreement. You are solely responsible for your participation in the Program.
You’re also responsible for all costs and expenses you incur in connection with your participation in the Program, and any and all taxes, fees, duties, tariffs or charges which may be imposed on you in connection with your participation in the Program.
5. Termination and changes
We may update or terminate the Program, or terminate your participation in the Program, at any time in our sole discretion without prior notice to you. You may terminate your participation in the Program by ceasing to distribute your link. Immediately upon termination, you must remove any links you’ve shared.
We reserve the right to suspend accounts or remove rewards if we notice any activity that we believe is abusive, fraudulent, or in violation of the Agreement.
6. Updates to the terms
These terms may only be modified by a written amendment signed by an authorized executive of Automattic, or if we post a revised version. We’ll let you know when we make changes, for example, by posting here and updating the “Last Updated” date. Your continued participation in the program after the new terms take effect will be subject to the new terms, so if you disagree with any changes in the new terms, then you must terminate your participation in the Program.https://www2.census.gov/about/partners/cac/2030-cac-charter.pdf
https://www.pay.gov/public/a/myaccount/myforms/attachment/view/277VUAF8
https://buy.stripe.com/14k02pfFfefp6VW6p6
Privacy Policy
Information You Provide to Us
It’s probably no surprise that we collect information that you provide to us directly. Here are some examples:
- Basic account information: We ask for basic information from you in order to set up your account. For example, we require individuals who sign up for a WordPress.com account to provide an email address and password, along with a username or name — and that’s it. You may provide us with more information — like your address and other information you want to share — but we don’t require that information to create a WordPress.com account.
- Public profile information: If you have an account with us, we collect the information that you provide for your public profile. For example, if you have a WordPress.com account, your username is part of that public profile, along with any other information you put into your public profile, like a photo or an “About Me” description. Your public profile information is just that — public — so please keep that in mind when deciding what information you would like to include.
- Payment and contact information: There are various ways in which you may provide us payment information and associated contact information. For example, if you buy something from us or earn revenue through your site, we’ll collect information to process those payments and contact you. If you buy something from us — a subscription to a WordPress.com plan, a premium theme, a custom domain, some Longreads swag — or if you pay fees to a person or business through their WordPress.com site (for example via the Payments feature or the Pay with PayPal block), you’ll provide additional personal and payment information like your name, credit card information, and contact information. We also keep a record of the purchases you’ve made. If you use our Ecommerce Services (including Woo Shipping, Woo Tax, and WooPayments), you’ll have to create a WordPress.com account or connect an existing account and, for some Services, provide your site URL. You may also provide us with financial details to set up a payments integration, like the email address for your Stripe or PayPal account or your bank account information. Additionally, if you use WooPay to make purchases on other sites, we will store the contact information and payment information you provide to that service. And if you participate in a revenue sharing opportunity for your site, like WordAds, you’ll provide some additional information — for example, a tax ID or other identifier so we can process payments to you.
- Business Profile: Some of our products collect additional information from you as part of creating a user/customer profile. For example, if you are a Jetpack CRM customer we may add you to our customer relationship database (powered by Jetpack CRM!) using information you provide us including your name, your employer, your job title or role, your contact information, and your communications with us. If you are a Happy Tools user, we use information you provide us like your timezone and location information, your company and team information, and your contact information, to set up your account and power the Service’s features.
- Content information: You might provide us with information about you in draft and published content (a blog post or comment that includes biographic information about you, or any media or files you upload).
- Credentials: Depending on the Services you use, you may provide us with credentials for your self-hosted website (like SSH, FTP, and SFTP username and password). Jetpack and VaultPress users may provide us with these credentials in order to use our one-click restore feature if there is a problem with their site, or to allow us to troubleshoot problems more quickly.
- Communications with us (hi there!): You may also provide us with information when you respond to surveys, communicate with our Happiness Engineers about a support question, post a question in our public forums, or sign up for a newsletter like the one we send through Longreads. When you communicate with us via form, email, phone, WordPress.com comment, or otherwise, we store a copy of our communications (including any call recordings as permitted by applicable law).
- Job applicant information: If you apply for a job with us — awesome! You may provide us with information like your name, contact information, resume or CV, professional or personal references, similar professional and employment-related data, and work authorization verification as part of the application process. We may also collect additional information about you during the process, like background and credit checks (in applicable jurisdictions and only for certain job roles). You may also provide us with demographic information when required by law or to support our diverse workplace initiatives, such as your gender, racial or ethnic origin, veteran status, and disability status if you voluntarily submit such information as part of your application. We collect demographic information in accordance with applicable law, and do not request demographic information in jurisdictions where it may be prohibited. We will only use this sensitive information to accommodate a disability or illness, comply with legal obligations, protect the health and safety of our employees, and facilitate our internal programs relating to diversity, inclusion, and anti-discrimination.
How We Share Information
We share information about you in limited circumstances, and with appropriate safeguards on your privacy. These are spelled out below, as well as in the section called Ads and Analytics Services Provided by Others:
- Subsidiaries and independent contractors: We may disclose information about you to our subsidiaries and independent contractors who need the information to help us provide our Services or process the information on our behalf. We require our subsidiaries and independent contractors to follow this Privacy Policy for any personal information that we share with them.
- Third-party vendors: We may share information about you with third-party vendors who need the information in order to provide their services to us, or to provide their services to you or your site. This includes vendors that help us provide our Services to you (like Stripe, which powers WooPayments, payment providers that process your credit and debit card information, payment providers you use for your own ecommerce operations, fraud prevention services that allow us to analyze fraudulent payment transactions, cloud storage services, postal and email delivery services that help us stay in touch with you, customer chat and email support services that help us communicate with you, registrars, registries, data escrow services that allow us to provide domain registration services, and your hosting provider if your site is not hosted by Automattic); those that assist us with our marketing efforts (e.g., by providing tools for identifying a specific marketing target group or improving our marketing campaigns, and by placing ads to market our services); those that help us understand and enhance our Services (like analytics providers); those that make tools to help us run our operations (like programs that help us with task management, scheduling, word processing, email and other communications, and collaboration among our teams); other third-party tools that help us manage operations; and companies that make products available on our websites (like the extensions on woocommerce.com), who may need information about you in order to, for example, provide technical or other support services to you. We require vendors to agree to privacy commitments in order to share information with them. Other vendors are listed in our more specific policies (e.g., our Cookie Policy).
- Legal and regulatory requirements: We may disclose information about you in response to a subpoena, court order, or other governmental request. For more information on how we respond to requests for information about WordPress.com users, please see our Legal Guidelines. Additionally, if you have a domain registered with WordPress.com, we may share your information to comply with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ (ICANN) regulations, rules, or policies. For example, your information relating to your domain registration may be available in the WHOIS database, or we may be required to share your information with ICANN-approved Dispute Resolution Service Providers. Please see our Domain Registrations and Privacy support document for more details.
- To protect rights, property, and others: We may disclose information about you when we believe in good faith that disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect the property or rights of Automattic, third parties, or the public at large. For example, if we have a good faith belief that there is an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury, we may disclose information related to the emergency without delay.
- Business transfers: In connection with any merger, sale of company assets, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business by another company, or in the unlikely event that Automattic goes out of business or enters bankruptcy, user information would likely be one of the assets that is transferred or acquired by a third party. If any of these events were to happen, this Privacy Policy would continue to apply to your information and the party receiving your information may continue to use your information, but only consistent with this Privacy Policy.
- With your consent: We may share and disclose information with your consent or at your direction. For example, we may share your information with third parties when you authorize us to do so, like when you connected your site to a social media service through our Publicize feature.
- Aggregated or de-identified information: We may share information that has been aggregated or de-identified, so that it can no longer reasonably be used to identify you. For instance, we may publish aggregate statistics about the use of our Services, or share a hashed version of your email address to facilitate customized ad campaigns on other platforms.
- Site owners: If you have a WordPress.com account and interact with another site using our Services, your information may be shared with the administrators of the site. For example, if you leave a comment on a site created on WordPress.com or running Jetpack, your IP address and the email address associated with your WordPress.com account may be shared with the administrator(s) of the site where you left the comment. Or if you make a payment (like via the Payments feature) to a site, your public display name, user name, and email address may be shared with the administrator(s) of the site. Or if you follow/subscribe to another WordPress.com site we will share your email address with the site owner.
- Published support requests: If you send us a request for assistance (for example, via a support email or one of our other feedback mechanisms), we reserve the right to publish that request in order to clarify or respond to your request, or to help us support other users.
You must be logged in to post a comment.