We do not collect personal information about you when you visit our website unless you choose to provide information to us.
Consistent with the Privacy Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-579), if you voluntarily submit information, it constitutes your consent to the use of the information for the purpose(s) stated at the time of collection.
Except for the purposes described below, no other attempts are made to identify individual users while on the USPTO websites.
Information Collected and Stored Automatically
Our host server may automatically collect and save the default information customarily logged by Web server software. This includes the date and time of the visit, the originating IP address, the object requested, and the completion status of the request is collected and saved for each http request received by the server. We also use an authorized Google Analytics agent to collect comparable information on our behalf.
We may review this information to determine the traffic through the server(s) in hits, the number of pages served, and the level of demand for pages of interest. We may also analyze accesses to particular pages to determine U.S. versus non-U.S. use, government agency versus private use, and other statistics that may be of value to us in establishing priorities and allocating resources in order to accomplish our goals and better serve visitors to the site. Analysis of this information may also help identify problem areas of the website or to improve overall service. Information is retained as long as necessary to perform useful analysis.
For site security purposes and to ensure that our services remain available to users, we may monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information or otherwise cause damage. Unauthorized attempts to upload information or change information on this service are strictly prohibited and subject to civil liability and criminal penalties.
Use of Cookies and Tracking Technology
You may control permissions for cookies on this or any other website by adjusting your individual browser settings for customized privacy protection – see http://www.usa.gov/optout_instructions.shtml for helpful guidance.
Session Cookies
Session cookies are also known as memory-resident cookies. These cookies are not stored on your computer’s hard drive, and are removed when you complete your session or exit the site. We may use session cookies for some applications to improve their usability and ensure session integrity. However, no personal information is gathered through session cookies.
Persistent Cookies
Persistent cookies remain on your computer’s hard drive after you complete an activity. We may use use “Tier 2” persistent cookies to help us recognize new and returning visitors, but no personally-identifiable information is gathered. If you block a persistent cookie, you are not prevented from using the USPTO website in any way. We may also use persistent cookies to enable the Google Analytics program to measure how new and returning visitors use the website over time.
Third Party Advertisements
Please note that one or more advertisements that appear on the site may be provided by third parties. These advertisements may help defray our costs and may provide information on resources related to the content of our website and which may therefore be of interest to our visitors. If you click on an advertisement, you may be directed to a third party’s website, the content of which we do not control. While we try to be selective about the entities that advertise on our site, we cannot guarantee the content of these third party websites or their individual privacy policies. Therefore, if you choose to visit a third party’s website, you should review their privacy policy carefully as it may be significantly less protective of visitors than ours.
E-Mail
If you choose to provide us with personal information in e-mail, we use that information to respond to your message and to help us get you the information you have requested. We only share the information you give us with other entities if your inquiry relates to that entity, or as otherwise required by law. As a professional courtesy, we may share with you information that may be of interest to you, including discounts on the book described on the website that are available from the publisher or information about a related resource that provides information similar to the information on our website.
Blog Comments
If you choose to submit a blog comment, only personal information that you voluntarily provide as part of the comment will be revealed. All comments are moderated, and only those that comply with the specified policies will be publicly posted. If you simply visit a blog page, your visit will be recorded for statistical purposes, as for other areas of the website.
Surveys
While visiting the website, you may be asked to participate in a survey. This survey helps us meet our goals and maintain the usefulness of the website and your participation is voluntary. No personal information is collected unless you choose to provide it as part of a comment. Survey data is retained as long as needed to permit accurate analysis, produce summary reports, and monitor overall trends. If you choose not to participate in the survey, you are not prevented from using the website in any other way. If you wish to provide feedback without taking the survey, you may send e-mail directly to EFennessy @ tmttw.com. If you have an immediate concern, please refer to the Contact Us page on the website.
Kids’ Privacy
We are especially concerned about protecting the privacy of children and we do not request personal information from children. Although the contents of our website are available to all users and do not include any content likely to be offensive or inappropriate for children, we encourage all parents to closely supervise the online activities of their children.
Links to Other Sites
Our Web pages may contain links to other websites, including those of other federal agencies, international sites, and private organizations. Be aware that whenever you follow a link to another site, you are subject to the privacy policy of that site.
Protection for Sensitive Information
Please protect yourself against identity theft. When using our site or communicating with us, please do not include sensitive information such as social security, credit card, and bank account numbers. To protect your privacy, you should delete such information from any documentation that you send to us except when submitting a Credit Card Payment Form. Please enter payment information such as credit card numbers only in the specific secure payment portion of the form.
Thank you for visiting our site. We look forward to serving you.