Clear IP Privacy Policy

1. About this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Clear IP Limited collects, uses, stores, shares and otherwise processes personal data when you use our websites, mobile applications, web applications, communications and related products and services.

Our services include Clear IP's idea-management, intellectual-property analysis, document-generation, search, scoring, collaboration and confidentiality tools, including the Idea Manager, IP Manager, IP Cruncher, IP Searcher, Idea Score Calculator and Clear NDA.

For the purposes of applicable data protection law, the data controller is:

Clear IP Limited Company number: 757247 39 Mount Pleasant Square Dublin 6 D06 E089 Ireland

Email: support@clearip.ai

In this Privacy Policy, "Clear IP", "we", "us" and "our" refer to Clear IP Limited.

This Privacy Policy applies to information relating to an identified or identifiable individual. Information about an invention, business idea or intellectual-property asset may not itself constitute personal data, but this Policy applies where that information identifies, describes or can reasonably be connected to an individual.

Ownership of ideas, inventions, documents and other user content is governed by our Terms and Conditions and, where applicable, the terms of the Clear NDA. This Privacy Policy does not transfer ownership of your ideas or intellectual property to Clear IP.

2. Our role under data protection law

Clear IP normally acts as the controller of personal data relating to:

• individual user accounts
• use of our websites and applications
• subscriptions and payments
• product and service communications
• customer support
• security and service administration
• product analytics and development
• events and demonstrations
• marketing activities

Where an organisation provides access to Clear IP for its employees, clients, advisers, reviewers or other authorised users, that organisation may also act as a controller of certain personal data.

In some enterprise arrangements, Clear IP may process personal data solely on the documented instructions of a business customer. In those circumstances, Clear IP acts as a processor and the relevant customer is responsible for providing appropriate privacy information to the individuals concerned.

3. Personal data we collect

3.1 Account and profile information

We may collect:

• your first and last name
• email address
• telephone number
• postal or billing address
• username and internal account identifiers
• organisation, employer, job title and professional information
• account role, such as owner, administrator, editor or reviewer
• authentication and account-security information
• communication and notification preferences
• subscription or membership information
• your interests in, and reasons for using, Clear IP

3.2 Ideas, documents and other user content

When you use our services, we may process content that you or another authorised user provides, including:

• descriptions of ideas, inventions, products and services
• answers to questionnaires and guided idea-development questions
• invention disclosures
• novelty-search, patent-search and technical-search queries
• business, technical, commercial and competitive information
• draft intellectual-property materials
• notes, messages and comments
• documents, photographs, images, video, audio and other uploaded files
• generated reports, scores, classifications and recommendations
• reviewer feedback and annotations
• communications with Clear IP or an intellectual-property professional
• information about inventors, founders, contributors, reviewers, employees, customers or other individuals identified within the content

Users should only provide personal data relating to another person where they have an appropriate legal basis, permission or authority to do so.

Our services are not designed to require information about health, biometric characteristics, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade-union membership, sexual orientation or other special categories of personal data. However, such information could be included incidentally in material uploaded by a user.

Users should avoid providing special-category personal data unless it is genuinely necessary and they are legally entitled to provide it.

3.3 Mobile-device, media and contact information

Depending on the features you choose to use and the permissions you grant, we may process:

• approximate or precise location information
• contact-list or address-book information selected by you
• photographs, images and videos
• audio recordings
• messages and other communications submitted through the service
• device and application identifiers
• push-notification tokens
• mobile application interactions
• crash reports
• performance information
• application diagnostics

Clear IP only accesses device information or functionality where it is required for a feature you have requested or where you have granted the relevant device permission.

You can manage device permissions through your device settings. Refusing or withdrawing a permission may prevent the relevant feature from operating but will not ordinarily prevent you from using unrelated parts of the service.

3.4 Payment and transaction information

When you purchase a subscription or service, we may collect:

• billing name and address
• transaction and invoice details
• subscription status
• payment amount and currency
• payment status
• purchase history
• limited payment-method information supplied by our payment provider

Complete payment-card information is normally collected directly by our payment provider and is not stored by Clear IP.

3.5 Technical, log and usage information

We may automatically collect:

• IP address
• browser type
• operating system
• device type
• mobile-device identifiers
• application version
• internet-service provider
• domain name
• referring and exit pages
• login and authentication events
• date and time of access
• pages, screens and features accessed
• clickstream and interaction information
• error reports
• diagnostic and performance information
• security and audit logs
• cookie, SDK and similar tracking information, where permitted

3.6 Communications and customer-support information

We process information provided when you:

• contact customer support
• report a problem or security issue
• request a demonstration
• attend a meeting, webinar or event
• complete a form
• respond to a survey
• provide product feedback
• communicate with us by email, telephone, video call, in-app messaging or another communication service

This information may include your name, contact details, employer, the content of your enquiry, attachments and any follow-up correspondence.

3.7 Information received from other sources

We may receive personal data from:

• your employer or organisation
• an account owner or administrator
• another user who invites you to collaborate
• an intellectual-property professional or service partner
• authentication, payment or integration providers
• publicly available professional sources
• event organisers
• business partners
• marketing partners, where permitted by law

Where we obtain information from another source, the categories of information may include identity details, professional information, contact details, account permissions, collaboration information and information contained in documents or communications submitted by another user.

3.8 Information obtained indirectly

Where we receive personal data about you from an organisation, account administrator, collaborator, customer, intellectual-property professional or another person, we will provide the information required by applicable data protection law within a reasonable period and, where required, no later than:

• one month after receiving the information
• our first communication with you
• the first disclosure of the information to another recipient

This requirement may not apply where:

• you already have the relevant information
• providing it would be impossible or involve disproportionate effort
• obtaining or disclosing the information is expressly required by law
• another exemption under applicable data protection law applies

4. Information you are required to provide

You are not generally required by law to provide personal data to Clear IP.

However, certain information is necessary to create an account, enter into a contract, process payment, authenticate users, protect the service or provide a requested feature.

Where required information is not provided, we may be unable to:

• create or maintain your account
• provide a requested product or service
• process a payment
• provide access to a particular feature
• respond to an enquiry
• meet a legal or security requirement

Optional information will be identified as such where appropriate.

5. How and why we use personal data

We process personal data only where we have an appropriate legal basis.

5.1 Providing and administering the services

We process account information, user content, uploaded files and service activity to:

• create and manage user accounts
• authenticate users
• store and organise ideas
• generate documents and analysis
• perform searches and scoring
• enable collaboration and reviewer access
• provide subscriptions and requested services
• preserve user settings
• manage permissions
• maintain service history
• provide requested exports or downloads

The principal legal basis is that processing is necessary to perform our contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract.

Where an organisation contracts with Clear IP on behalf of users, we may also rely on our legitimate interests and those of the relevant organisation in administering access to the service.

5.2 Artificial-intelligence and search functionality

Certain Clear IP features use automated systems, artificial-intelligence providers, machine-learning technologies or search technologies to analyse information supplied by users and produce requested outputs.

Relevant portions of user content may be processed by Clear IP and contracted technology providers to:

• analyse or structure an idea
• calculate or assist with an idea score
• generate draft documents
• create or improve search queries
• identify potentially relevant patents, publications or technical material
• summarise information
• classify information
• generate recommendations
• produce other outputs requested by the user

The principal legal basis is performance of our contract with you.

Where we analyse service performance or improve the reliability of these features using appropriately protected usage information, we may rely on our legitimate interests in developing, maintaining and improving our services.

AI-generated outputs may be incomplete, outdated or inaccurate. Users must review outputs before relying on, submitting or publishing them.

Clear IP's automated outputs:

• do not constitute legal advice
• do not guarantee patentability, registrability or commercial success
• do not replace advice from a qualified intellectual-property professional
• are not used by Clear IP to make solely automated decisions producing legal or similarly significant effects concerning an individual

Clear IP does not use confidential idea content for targeted advertising.

5.3 Account administration and customer support

We process personal data to:

• verify accounts
• answer questions
• provide support
• troubleshoot problems
• investigate reported issues
• communicate service information
• manage complaints
• maintain records of support activity

We rely on performance of our contract and our legitimate interests in supporting users and operating the service effectively.

5.4 Payments, accounting and compliance

We process transaction and billing information to:

• collect and record payments
• administer subscriptions
• issue invoices
• process refunds
• prevent payment fraud
• maintain financial records
• comply with tax, accounting and legal obligations

We rely on performance of our contract, compliance with legal obligations and our legitimate interests in administering our business and preventing fraud.

5.5 Security, fraud prevention and service integrity

We process account, device, log and usage information to:

• authenticate users
• manage access permissions
• detect unauthorised activity
• investigate suspected misuse
• protect confidential information
• prevent fraud
• monitor system availability
• maintain backups
• diagnose technical problems
• investigate security incidents
• establish, exercise or defend legal claims

We rely on our legitimate interests in maintaining a secure, reliable and lawful service and, where applicable, compliance with legal obligations.

5.6 Product development and service improvement

We may analyse service activity, support requests, diagnostics and feedback to:

• understand how our services are used
• identify errors and performance problems
• improve functionality and accessibility
• test new features
• improve user experience
• develop new products and services

Where possible, we use aggregated, pseudonymised or de-identified information.

We rely on our legitimate interests in developing and improving our services. Where analytics depend on non-essential cookies, SDKs or similar technologies, we obtain consent where required.

5.7 Service communications

We may send:

• account-verification messages
• password-reset communications
• security alerts
• billing and subscription messages
• changes to the services or applicable terms
• information about support enquiries
• collaboration invitations
• other operational notices

These communications are necessary to provide and administer the service and are not marketing communications.

We rely on performance of our contract, compliance with legal obligations and our legitimate interests in administering and protecting the service.

5.8 Marketing communications

We send electronic marketing communications to individuals where:

• they have provided consent
• they have requested the communication
• the limited existing-customer exception under applicable electronic-marketing law applies

Where we rely on the existing-customer exception, we will only market our own similar products or services, provide an opportunity to object when contact details are collected and include a free and straightforward unsubscribe method in each marketing communication.

You may withdraw consent or object to direct marketing at any time by:

• using the unsubscribe link in the communication
• contacting support@clearip.ai

Once you object, we will stop using your personal data for direct marketing. We may retain limited information on a suppression list to ensure that your request continues to be respected.

5.9 Events, demonstrations and business enquiries

We may process contact, professional and communication information to:

• arrange product demonstrations
• manage event registrations
• conduct business discussions
• follow up on enquiries
• maintain relationships with potential customers, partners and professional contacts

Depending on the circumstances, we rely on your consent, steps taken at your request before entering into a contract or our legitimate interests in developing and managing our business relationships.

5.10 Legal, regulatory and corporate purposes

We may process personal data to:

• comply with applicable law
• respond to lawful requests
• comply with court orders or regulatory requirements
• obtain legal advice
• manage disputes
• enforce our agreements
• protect our rights or the rights of others
• support a financing, investment, restructuring, merger, acquisition or sale of all or part of our business

The relevant legal bases are compliance with legal obligations and our legitimate interests in protecting and managing our business.

6. Legitimate interests

Where we rely on legitimate interests, those interests may include:

• providing and administering a reliable service
• maintaining network and information security
• preventing fraud and unauthorised access
• supporting customers
• improving products and user experience
• managing business relationships
• protecting confidential information
• maintaining appropriate records
• enforcing contractual rights
• establishing or defending legal claims
• managing and developing our business

Before relying on legitimate interests, we consider whether the processing is necessary and whether the interests, rights and freedoms of the affected individuals override those interests.

You may object to processing based on legitimate interests as explained in section 15.

7. AI-generated scores and automated processing

Clear IP tools may produce:

• idea scores
• classifications
• search results
• draft documents
• summaries
• gap analyses
• novelty indicators
• recommendations
• other AI-assisted outputs

These tools are intended to assist users in organising and evaluating information.

They do not determine:

• whether an invention is legally patentable
• whether a patent, trademark or other intellectual-property right will be granted
• whether a document is legally sufficient
• whether an idea is commercially viable
• whether a user should take a particular legal or commercial action

Clear IP does not make decisions producing legal or similarly significant effects about individuals solely through these automated tools.

Where required, Clear IP will clearly indicate within the relevant product or feature that the user is interacting with, or receiving output from, an AI-assisted system.

8. Who receives personal data

We may disclose personal data to the following categories of recipients where necessary and lawful.

8.1 Technology and service providers

We use third-party providers to support the operation of our services. These may include providers of cloud hosting, file storage, databases, application infrastructure, identity and authentication, artificial intelligence, document generation, technical and patent search, payment processing, customer-relationship management, email delivery, business communications, in-app messaging, collaboration tools, analytics, cookie and consent management, security monitoring, error reporting, application development, mobile-app distribution, and customer support.

This list of providers may change as our services develop. The inclusion of a provider does not mean that every provider receives every category of personal data.

Service providers are required to process personal data only for authorised purposes and in accordance with applicable contractual, confidentiality and data-protection obligations, except where a provider acts as an independent controller.

8.2 Your organisation and authorised collaborators

Where an account is managed by an organisation, authorised account owners, administrators, editors, reviewers, employees, or professional advisers may be able to access account information and content associated with that organisation.

Where you invite another person to collaborate, review or edit an idea, relevant information will be made available according to the permissions selected.

Users should review permissions carefully before granting another person access to confidential information.

8.3 Intellectual-property professionals and partners

At your request, or where necessary to provide a service you have selected, information may be shared with an intellectual-property lawyer, patent attorney, trademark attorney, filing professional, reviewer, search professional, translator, or other specialist.

Where such a professional independently determines how personal data is used, they may act as an independent controller and their own privacy notice will apply.

8.4 Professional advisers and authorities

We may disclose information to lawyers, accountants, auditors, insurers, security advisers, regulators, courts, law-enforcement bodies, and other competent authorities where disclosure is necessary and lawful.

8.5 Corporate transactions

Information may be disclosed to prospective purchasers, investors, lenders, professional advisers, or transaction counterparties in connection with a financing, investment, merger, reorganisation, acquisition, insolvency or sale of all or part of our business.

Appropriate confidentiality and data-protection safeguards will be applied.

If another organisation acquires Clear IP or its assets, that organisation may assume the rights and obligations relating to personal data described in this Privacy Policy.

8.6 No sale of personal data

Clear IP does not sell personal data. Clear IP does not provide personal data to third parties for their own unrelated direct-marketing or targeted-advertising purposes.

9. International transfers

Clear IP is established in Ireland.

Some of our technology and service providers may process personal data outside Ireland or the European Economic Area, including in the United States and other jurisdictions whose data-protection laws may differ from those applying in Ireland.

Where personal data is transferred outside the European Economic Area, we use an available lawful transfer mechanism, which may include an adequacy decision adopted by the European Commission, the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses, participation by the recipient in an approved data-transfer framework, supplementary contractual, organisational or technical safeguards, or another transfer mechanism permitted under applicable data protection law.

Where appropriate, we assess the circumstances of the transfer and the legal and practical protections applying in the recipient country.

You may contact support@clearip.ai for further information about the safeguards applicable to a particular transfer.

10. Data retention

We retain personal data only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.

The applicable retention period depends on how long an account remains active, the services provided, the nature and sensitivity of the information, instructions received from the user or business customer, contractual obligations, security and backup requirements, applicable tax, accounting and regulatory obligations, applicable limitation periods, and the need to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

Unless a longer period is required or justified: account information and user content are retained while the relevant account remains active; deleted user content is removed from active systems in accordance with our deletion processes; residual copies may remain temporarily in secured backups until those backups are overwritten or expire; abandoned or incomplete registrations may be deleted after a reasonable period of inactivity; security and audit logs are retained for a period appropriate to detecting and investigating security incidents; support correspondence may be retained after an enquiry is resolved to manage follow-up issues, complaints and legal claims; transaction, tax and accounting records are retained for the period required under applicable law; marketing information is retained until you unsubscribe, withdraw consent or object; and limited suppression information may be retained to ensure that marketing objections continue to be respected.

Where an organisation controls an account, retention may also depend on that organisation's instructions and contractual arrangements with Clear IP.

When an account is closed or content is deleted, some information may continue to be retained where necessary to comply with law, maintain financial or security records, prevent fraud, resolve disputes, enforce contractual terms, or establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

We may retain aggregated or properly anonymised information indefinitely where it can no longer be used to identify an individual.

11. Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse or alteration. These measures may include encryption in transit and at rest, access controls, authentication requirements, logging, monitoring and staff confidentiality obligations.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. You are responsible for keeping your account credentials confidential and for notifying us promptly at support@clearip.ai if you suspect unauthorised access to your account.

12. Cookies, SDKs and similar technologies

We use cookies, software development kits, local storage and similar technologies to operate our services.

12.1 Strictly necessary technologies

Strictly necessary technologies may be used without consent where they are required to provide a service requested by the user, including authentication, account security, fraud prevention, session management, load balancing, and storage of privacy preferences.

12.2 Analytics and other non-essential technologies

Analytics, marketing and other non-essential technologies will only be used after consent has been obtained where consent is required.

These technologies may be provided by analytics and marketing services and may collect information about pages or screens viewed, features used, session duration, application performance, referral sources, device and browser information, product interactions, and errors or crashes.

12.3 Your cookie choices

Our cookie and consent controls allow users, where required, to accept non-essential technologies, reject non-essential technologies, choose between available categories, and change or withdraw their choices.

Non-essential technologies should not be activated before the necessary consent has been obtained.

Withdrawing consent will not affect the lawfulness of processing that occurred before withdrawal.

You can also manage certain cookies and device permissions through your browser, operating-system or device settings. Blocking strictly necessary technologies may prevent parts of the service from functioning correctly.

Additional information about individual cookies and similar technologies, including their names, providers, purposes and durations, is provided through our cookie-management tool or separate Cookie Policy.

13. Children

Our services are not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children under the age of 16. If you believe that a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us at support@clearip.ai and we will take steps to delete that information.

14. Third-party services and links

Our services may contain links to, or integrations with, third-party services.

Clear IP is not responsible for processing undertaken independently by those third parties. Their collection and use of personal data are governed by their own privacy notices and terms.

Users should review the applicable third-party privacy information before providing personal data or enabling an integration.

15. Your data-protection rights

Subject to applicable law, you may have the following rights.

15.1 Right of access

You may request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and obtain a copy of that information.

15.2 Right to rectification

You may request correction of inaccurate information and completion of incomplete information.

15.3 Right to erasure

You may request deletion of your personal data in certain circumstances. This right is not absolute. We may retain information where continued processing is required or permitted by law.

15.4 Right to restriction

You may request that we restrict processing in certain circumstances, including while the accuracy or lawfulness of processing is being considered.

15.5 Right to object

You may object to processing based on legitimate interests. Where you object, we will stop the processing unless we demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights and freedoms or the processing is required for legal claims.

You have an absolute right to object to the use of your personal data for direct marketing.

15.6 Right to data portability

Where processing is based on consent or a contract and is carried out by automated means, you may request eligible personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format. You may also request that the information be transmitted directly to another controller where technically feasible.

15.7 Right to withdraw consent

Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing conducted before consent was withdrawn. Withdrawing consent may prevent us from providing a feature that depends on that consent.

15.8 Rights concerning automated decisions

You may have rights relating to decisions based solely on automated processing where those decisions produce legal or similarly significant effects. Clear IP does not currently use its automated idea scores, analyses or generated documents to make such decisions about individuals.

15.9 Right to complain

You have the right to lodge a complaint with a competent data-protection authority.

In Ireland, the supervisory authority is the:

Data Protection Commission 6 Pembroke Row Dublin 2 D02 X963 Ireland

You may also contact the supervisory authority in the EU or EEA country where you live or work or where you believe an infringement occurred.

16. Exercising your rights

To exercise a data-protection right or make a privacy enquiry, contact: support@clearip.ai

Please provide sufficient information to help us identify who you are, the account or information concerned, and the right you wish to exercise.

We may request additional information where reasonably necessary to verify your identity and protect personal data from unauthorised disclosure.

We normally respond within one month of receiving a valid request. This period may be extended by up to two additional months where a request is complex or numerous. Where an extension applies, we will inform you within the initial one-month period.

No fee is normally charged. A reasonable fee may be charged, or a request may be refused, where it is manifestly unfounded or excessive, particularly where requests are repetitive, as permitted by law.

17. Account closure and deletion

You may request closure of your account by using an account-deletion feature where one is available, or by contacting support@clearip.ai.

Closing an account does not necessarily result in the immediate deletion of every record.

Certain information may be retained temporarily in backups or for legal compliance, tax or accounting requirements, security, fraud prevention, dispute resolution, enforcement of contractual terms, or the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

Where an account belongs to or is managed by an organisation, the organisation's administrator may also control access, retention and account-closure requests.

Before closing an account, users should download or export any information they are entitled to retain.

18. Complaints to Clear IP

We encourage you to contact us first so that we can investigate and respond to your concern.

Privacy complaints should be sent to: support@clearip.ai

Where a complaint identifies an issue in our privacy practices, we will assess the issue and take appropriate remedial action where necessary.

Contacting Clear IP does not affect your right to complain directly to a data-protection authority.

19. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, technology or legal obligations. When we make material changes, we will provide notice by posting the updated policy on this page and changing the effective date above, and where appropriate by email or in-app notice. Your continued use of the services after an update takes effect constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

20. Contact us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle personal data, you can contact us at:

Email: support@clearip.ai

Clear IP Limited, One, Central Plaza, Dame St, Temple Bar, Dublin 2, D02 EF64, Ireland.