How Scatter handles your data.

Terms of use

Scatter is provided as-is for informational purposes only. Patent family data is sourced from the European Patent Office (EPO) INPADOC database; prosecution data is sourced from IP Australia (AU), the European Patent Register (EP), the USPTO (US), and derived from AU and EP file wrappers for PCT/WO records. While we strive for accuracy, this tool does not constitute legal advice. Always verify critical data against official patent office records before relying on it for legal or business decisions.

AI-assisted extraction (examination report analysis, citation extraction) is experimental. Results should be reviewed by a qualified patent professional before use in prosecution, opposition, or litigation contexts.

Accounts and personal information

Scatter offers optional accounts. Browsing and searching never require one. If you create an account we store your email address and a session record so you can stay signed in. Sign-in links are delivered by our email provider, Resend. You can ask for your account and its data to be deleted at any time via the feedback form in the app.

Search queries and recent searches are stored locally in your browser and are not transmitted to our servers beyond what is necessary to fetch patent data from external APIs.

Cookies

A session cookie keeps you signed in if you have an account. We use Vercel Analytics and PostHog for usage analytics (page views, feature usage); analytics are not tied to your account email.

Document processing

When you use the prosecution analysis feature, uploaded PDF documents are processed server-side to extract structured data. Document content is sent to an AI sub-processor (OpenAI) for extraction. Extracted text and metadata are stored in our database to avoid re-processing on subsequent visits. Uploaded prosecution documents are generally public records issued by patent offices, so we may also retain the original files to support full-document viewing and re-extraction.

Sub-processor data retention terms and our processing and storage regions are being finalised; this page will state them before open account signup is announced.

Data sources

• Patent family and bibliographic data: EPO Open Patent Services (INPADOC)
• AU prosecution history: IP Australia AusPat
• EP prosecution history: European Patent Register (register.epo.org)
• US prosecution history: USPTO Open Data Portal (Patent Center)
• PCT/WO prosecution history: derived from the AU and EP file wrappers of national-phase descendants
• Citation extraction: AI-assisted (configurable provider)

Contact

For questions, feedback, or account deletion requests, use the feedback widget in the app or reach out via the project repository.