Service Level Agreement

This Service Level Agreement ("SLA") forms part of, and is incorporated into, the Master Service Agreement between Patentext, Inc. ("Patentext") and Customer (the "Agreement"). Capitalized terms used but not defined in this SLA have the meanings set forth in the Agreement. If this SLA conflicts with the Agreement, this SLA controls solely with respect to the Uptime Commitment, Service Credits, support response targets, and termination for Chronic SLA Failure; the Agreement controls in all other respects.

1. Scope.

This SLA applies only to the Platform provided by Patentext, Inc. It does not apply to, and creates no obligations of, Patentext Services LLC or any other provider of professional services, including patent preparation and prosecution services, whether or not those services are delivered through the Platform. Any such professional services are governed exclusively by the applicable engagement agreement between Customer and the service provider. Nothing in this SLA, including any exclusion from the definition of a Service Outage, limits any professional duty owed to Customer under an engagement agreement or applicable law, and nothing in this SLA shall be construed to excuse performance of any such duty because the Platform is unavailable. Platform support does not provide legal advice, and questions concerning patent deadlines or the status of any matter should be directed to Customer's patent practitioner. Only Customer may claim Service Credits or exercise any other right under this SLA; Authorized Users, Invited Contributors, and other third parties have no rights under this SLA.

2. Uptime Commitment.

Patentext will make the Platform available at least 98.5% of the time in each calendar month (the “Uptime Commitment”). Uptime is measured over each calendar month, beginning at 12:00 a.m. Mountain Time on the first day of the month, using the following formula:

Uptime Percentage = ((Total Minutes in the Month − Service Outage Minutes) ÷ Total Minutes in the Month) × 100%

Uptime is measured continuously, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, regardless of Support Hours. Upon Customer’s written request, Patentext will report the Uptime Percentage for any calendar month within the preceding twelve months.

3. Service Outage.

A "Service Outage" occurs when material features or functionality of the Platform cannot be accessed or used by Customer or its Authorized Users for a reason other than an Excluded Event (as defined in Section 4). A Service Outage begins at the earlier of (a) the time Customer submits a Support Request reporting it, and (b) the time Patentext's monitoring systems first detect it, and ends when Patentext restores the affected material features or functionality.

4. Excluded Events.

The following (each, an “Excluded Event”) are not Service Outages and are not counted in calculating the Uptime Percentage:

(a) Scheduled Maintenance and Emergency Maintenance conducted in accordance with Section 5;

(b) suspension, throttling, rate-limiting, or other restriction of access to the Platform by Patentext in accordance with the Agreement;

(c) unavailability resulting from Customer's or any Authorized User's breach of the Agreement, including Section 3.3 (Use Restrictions) or Section 3.5 (Acceptable Use) of the Agreement;

(d) failures of Customer's or any Authorized User's own telecommunications or Internet service providers, or of their own hardware, software, data, or network connections;

(e) systemic Internet failures;

(f) failure or unavailability of third-party artificial intelligence model providers, cloud hosting or infrastructure providers, or other third-party services on which the Platform depends and that are not under Patentext’s control, provided that Patentext uses commercially reasonable efforts to restore service, including by failing over to alternative providers where reasonably available, and keeps Customer reasonably informed of the status of restoration;

(g) unavailability of the electronic systems of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the World Intellectual Property Organization, or any other patent office, including Patent Center and ePCT;

(h) features or functionality that Patentext designates as beta, preview, or early access; and

(i) circumstances described in Section 12 (Force Majeure) of the Agreement.

5. Maintenance.

(a) Scheduled Maintenance. “Scheduled Maintenance” means planned maintenance or downtime of which Patentext gives Customer at least three (3) business days’ advance notice. Patentext will use commercially reasonable efforts to perform Scheduled Maintenance outside Support Hours. Scheduled Maintenance is limited to eight (8) hours per calendar month; any Scheduled Maintenance in excess of that limit, and any planned downtime for which the required notice was not given, counts as a Service Outage.

(b) Emergency Maintenance. “Emergency Maintenance” means unplanned maintenance that is reasonably necessary to address an urgent security vulnerability or to prevent imminent harm to the Platform, Customer Data, or other customers of Patentext. Patentext will give Customer as much advance notice of Emergency Maintenance as is reasonably practicable under the circumstances, will limit Emergency Maintenance to the duration reasonably necessary, and will describe the reason for it upon Customer’s request.

6. Service Credits.

If the Uptime Percentage for a calendar month falls below the Uptime Commitment, Customer is eligible for a credit against Platform fees (a “Service Credit”) equal to the following percentage of the Monthly Fees for that month:

(a) Monthly Fees. “Monthly Fees” means the subscription fees paid or payable to Patentext for the Platform for the affected calendar month. For fees billed for a period other than a month, Monthly Fees means the pro-rata portion of those fees attributable to the affected month. Monthly Fees exclude taxes, one-time fees, and any fees for professional services.

(b) Claims. To receive a Service Credit, Customer must submit a written request through Patentext’s designated support channels within thirty (30) days after the end of the affected month. Patentext will determine the Uptime Percentage from its records, taking into reasonable account any information Customer provides, and will notify Customer of its determination.

(c) Application. Service Credits will be applied against Customer’s next invoice or invoices for Platform fees. If no further invoice will be issued, Patentext will refund the amount of any unapplied Service Credit within thirty (30) days. Service Credits for any calendar month will not exceed 15% of the Monthly Fees for that month, and are not available for any month in which Customer has undisputed fees more than thirty (30) days past due.

(d) Exclusive Remedy. Except for Customer’s termination right under Section 7, Service Credits are Customer’s sole and exclusive remedy, and Patentext’s sole and exclusive liability, for any failure to meet the Uptime Commitment.

(e) Nature of Credits. Service Credits are a reasonable estimate of the reduced value of the Platform to Customer during the affected month and are not a penalty. Service Credits and refunds under this SLA count toward, and are subject to, the limitations of liability in the Agreement.

7. Termination for Chronic SLA Failure.

A “Chronic SLA Failure” occurs if the Uptime Percentage is (a) below the Uptime Commitment in any three (3) calendar months within any rolling six (6) month period, or (b) below 95.0% in any two (2) consecutive calendar months. Upon a Chronic SLA Failure, Customer may terminate the Agreement by written notice given within thirty (30) days after the end of the month in which the Chronic SLA Failure occurs, effective on the date of the notice or any later date specified in it. Upon such termination, Patentext will, within thirty (30) days after the effective date of termination, refund any prepaid Platform fees attributable to the remainder of the then-current Subscription Period after the effective date of termination, together with any unapplied Service Credits. Customer will owe no early termination fee or other charge for terminating under this Section, and Customer’s rights under the Agreement regarding the return, export, or deletion of Customer Data apply to such termination. Termination and the refund described in this Section, together with any Service Credits, are Customer’s sole and exclusive remedies for a Chronic SLA Failure.

8. Support.

Customer may submit requests for technical support (each, a “Support Request”) through the support channels Patentext designates in the Platform or its documentation.

(a) Support Hours. Patentext provides support from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Mountain Time, Monday through Friday, excluding United States federal holidays (“Support Hours”).

(b) Response Targets. Patentext will use commercially reasonable efforts to provide an initial response to each Support Request within the following targets, measured in Support Hours:

(c) Severity. Patentext will assign the severity of each Support Request in its reasonable judgment, taking into account the severity Customer designates, and may reclassify a Support Request as circumstances change.

(d) Initial Response. An initial response is an acknowledgment of the Support Request by Patentext support personnel, not an automated reply, that begins triage of the reported issue. A Support Request received outside Support Hours is treated as received at the start of the next Support Hours. Patentext will use commercially reasonable efforts to respond to Severity 1 Support Requests outside Support Hours but makes no commitment to do so.

(e) Resolution. Patentext will work diligently during Support Hours to resolve Severity 1 and Severity 2 issues or to provide a reasonable workaround, but does not guarantee that any issue will be resolved within any particular time.

(f) Targets Only. Response targets are goals, not guarantees. Failure to meet a response target is not a breach of the Agreement and does not entitle Customer to Service Credits, but it does not affect the measurement of any Service Outage under Section 3.

9. Limitations.

Patentext is not responsible for correcting any Service Outage or other error that is not reproducible by Patentext on the unmodified Platform, or that is caused by any of the following: (a) alterations of or additions to the Platform or Patentext Technology made by parties other than Patentext; (b) use of the Platform or Patentext Technology in a manner for which it was not designed or in violation of the Agreement; or (c) accident, negligence, or misuse of the Platform by Customer or its Authorized Users.

10. Updates.

Patentext may update this SLA in accordance with Section 14.2 of the Agreement, including Customer's right under that Section to terminate the Agreement following an update that is materially adverse to Customer.