Confidentiality

Every engagement begins with a mutual non-disclosure agreement signed by both parties. The NDA covers all information exchanged in connection with the engagement, including materials disclosed before a formal project is confirmed.

The NDA is mutual: it binds 3AIP as comprehensively as it binds the Client. Our standard NDA is available for review before any engagement is confirmed. Clients may propose their own form; we will review and execute most standard professional NDA forms without markup.

The obligation of confidentiality survives termination of the NDA and termination or completion of the engagement for a period of five years, unless otherwise agreed in writing.

Under our internal policy, Client Confidential Information means any information disclosed by or generated for a client, including the following — whether marked confidential or not:

• Search queries, search strategies, and search briefs.
• Invention disclosures, technical summaries, and product descriptions provided for a patentability, FTO, or invalidity search.
• Claim sets, draft specifications, and prosecution strategy shared for prosecution support or analysis.
• Litigation strategy, target identification, and any information connected with IPR or inter partes proceedings.
• File numbers, matter identifiers, and correspondence.
• The identity of the client matter, the technology involved, and the existence of the engagement itself, where the client has indicated sensitivity.
• All work product produced by 3AIP during the engagement.

Under our AI Usage & Client Data Protection Policy, AI tools may only assist retrieval across public patent databases and literature when all three of the following conditions are satisfied simultaneously. Client confidential information is never submitted:

Any use case that does not clearly satisfy all three conditions is treated as prohibited. The default is caution.

No AI tool is added to the Approved Register until it clears every item on our vetting checklist. The tool must provide:

• A signed no-training / no-retention guarantee — a contractual commitment that data submitted to the tool will not be used to train models and will not be retained beyond the minimum required to deliver the service.
• Documented data retention limits and a process for secure deletion.
• Encryption in transit and at rest.
• A defined, assessed data residency (where data is stored and processed).
• Independent security certifications, such as SOC 2 or ISO/IEC 27001.
• A named internal owner at 3AIP responsible for ongoing compliance monitoring for that tool.

The following practices are prohibited without exception, for every partner, employee, contractor, and intern performing work on 3AIP’s behalf:

• Enter client confidential information into any third-party or public AI tool.
• Use any AI tool — approved or otherwise — on an engagement where the client has opted out, at any stage.
• Upload client files, invention disclosures, draft claims, unpublished material, or work product to an AI tool for analysis.
• Use browser AI-assist features that transmit content while working in client files.

You may instruct us to use no AI tools of any kind on your engagement at any time. The process is simple and enforceable:

To be added to the register, contact your account contact or email info@3aip.com.

Access controls. Project materials are stored in client-specific environments. Access is restricted to the analysts assigned to the engagement and the senior reviewer. No other personnel have access to client project files without explicit authorisation.

Pre-filing disclosures. Unfiled invention disclosures are handled in isolated environments not connected to third-party AI platforms. Role-based access is limited to the assigned project team.

Analyst confidentiality agreements. Every analyst and contractor engaged by 3AIP is bound by a written confidentiality agreement that mirrors the obligations we owe to clients, surviving the termination of their engagement with us.

Conflict checks. A conflict check is run on every new client matter before the NDA is signed. Identified conflicts are disclosed promptly.

Certain engagements involve specialist sub-contractors. Sub-contractors are bound by confidentiality obligations equivalent to those owed by 3AIP to the Client; receive only the minimum information necessary to perform their specific task; are disclosed to the Client on request; and do not receive materials the Client has designated as restricted to the core project team.

Our confidentiality and AI use commitments are actively maintained, not merely written:

• Compliance & Information Security Lead — owns the policy, approves AI tools, maintains the No-AI Client Register, and leads incident response.
• Project & engagement leads — confirm each client’s AI status before work begins, brief the team, and log any AI use in the project file.
• All staff & contractors — complete AI and data-protection training at onboarding and re-acknowledge the policy annually.
• Periodic audits — usage logs, project files, and the client register are reviewed on a recurring internal audit cycle.

Any suspected exposure of client data — including to an AI system — is reported immediately to the Compliance & Information Security Lead, assessed, remediated, and — where relevant — disclosed to the affected client. We will communicate the nature of the incident, the information involved, the steps taken, and the outcome of our investigation.

If 3AIP is compelled by law, court order, or regulatory authority to disclose confidential information, we will (to the extent permitted by law) notify the Client promptly before disclosure so that the Client may seek a protective order or other appropriate relief. We will disclose only what is legally required and use reasonable efforts to obtain confidential treatment for any disclosed materials.

If you have questions about how we handle a specific category of information, wish to confirm our practices before sharing sensitive materials, or want to be added to the No-AI Client Register, contact us before the engagement begins.