--- title: "Terms of Service" description: "Terms of Service for DesignAround, the design-patent screening and design-around software by Shanghai Qidianyan Technology Co., Ltd." url: "https://designaround.elidot.com/terms/" language: "en" updated: "2026-10-29" --- # Terms of Service Last updated: October 30, 2026 These terms apply to the DesignAround software and online services (together, "DesignAround" or the "Service"). The Service is provided by Shanghai Qidianyan Technology Co., Ltd. (上海奇点砚科技有限公司), Room 218, Building 3, No. 336 Tianjiao Road, Lingang New Area, China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, Shanghai 201306, China ("we", "us"). By creating an account, using an API key or installing the software, you agree to these terms. If you use DesignAround for a company, you confirm that you may bind that company to these terms. ## 1. What DesignAround is DesignAround helps you check physical product designs against published design patents and registrations, compare designs, develop alternative designs and prepare patent drawings and filing packages. It consists of: - **Client software**: the command-line tool, the local engine, the chat workbench, the agent runtime and the Skill, which run on your computer. - **Online services**: accounts and API keys, registry screening, hosted AI models, hosted observer scoring, evidence anchors, practitioner review gates and billing. ## 2. Not legal advice DesignAround is software. We are not a law firm, and we do not give legal advice, infringement opinions, freedom-to-operate opinions or patentability opinions. No attorney-client or agent-client relationship is created by using the Service. Similarity scores, risk levels and search results are automated estimates; they can be wrong, and no search covers every design right in force. Decisions to sell, change, file or defend a product are yours. For filings and opinions, use a registered patent attorney or agent. You are responsible for checking every document before you file or submit it anywhere. ## 3. Accounts and API keys - An API key gives access to your account. Keep it secret. You are responsible for all use of the Service under your keys, including use by agents, scripts and people you give a key to. - Give accurate information. If you provide an email address, keep it current so we can reach you about billing and security. - Do not create multiple free accounts to obtain extra starter credits or free screens. - Tell us at [support@elidot.com](mailto:support@elidot.com) if you think a key has been exposed; we will revoke it and issue a new one. ## 4. Plans, credits and payment - **Prices.** Prices are shown in US dollars on the [pricing page](https://designaround.elidot.com/pricing/). Taxes such as VAT or sales tax are added at checkout where they apply. - **Merchant of record.** Purchases are processed by Creem, which acts as our merchant of record and reseller. Creem processes your payment, issues your receipt and collects applicable taxes. Creem's own terms apply to the payment transaction. - **Subscriptions.** Pro and Team subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each monthly or yearly period, at the price then in effect, until you cancel. You can cancel at any time in the billing portal (`designaround billing portal`, or "Manage subscription" in the workbench). Cancelling stops future renewals; the plan stays active until the end of the period you already paid for. - **Price changes.** If we change the price of your subscription, we will tell you at least 30 days before the change applies to your next renewal. You can cancel before then. - **Credits.** Credits are used for server steps at the prices on the pricing page. Monthly plans add the plan's credits each period; yearly plans add twelve months of credits at the start of the year. Credits do not expire while your account is open. Credits have no cash value, cannot be transferred or resold, and are removed when the account is closed. Unused credits are refundable only as described in the [refund policy](https://designaround.elidot.com/refund/). - **Spending caps.** The software shows the price of paid steps and stops at the credit cap you set. Metered model use is charged by actual token use; we hold the estimated amount during a step and charge the actual amount when it finishes. - **Free plan.** The free plan includes starter credits and a monthly allowance of quick screens. We may change free plan limits for the future; changes do not remove credits already granted. - **Refunds.** See the [refund policy](https://designaround.elidot.com/refund/). ## 5. Your content You keep all rights in the designs, models, photos, text and other material you put into DesignAround, and in the outputs created for you (renders, drawings, documents, candidate designs). Most of this material stays on your computer. Where you send material to the online services, you give us a limited permission to process it only to provide the Service to you, as described in the [privacy policy](https://designaround.elidot.com/privacy/). We do not use your content to train AI models. You confirm that you have the right to use the material you put into DesignAround. Search results, figures and documents from patent offices and patent databases are third-party material and remain subject to the rights and terms of their sources. AI-generated design proposals are suggestions. Whether a design can be protected, and who must be named as its designer, depends on the law of each office. The filing package records the human contribution to a design; keep that record accurate. ## 6. Acceptable use You must follow the [acceptable use policy](https://designaround.elidot.com/aup/). In short: use DesignAround to create designs that are genuinely different, not to copy protected designs, and do not misuse the online services. ## 7. The software We license the client software to you for use with the Service. The license terms of each package are stated in its package metadata; where those terms grant you broader rights, they apply to that package. The agent runtime runs in its own directory and does not change the settings of other AI tools on your computer. Updates may be required for the online services to keep working, for example when a scoring rubric changes. ## 8. Third-party services The Service relies on third parties, including patent office and patent database sources, AI model providers, Cloudflare and Creem. When you use bring-your-own-key mode or host mode, your own model provider or agent host processes your data under its terms, not ours. We are not responsible for the availability or accuracy of third-party sources, and a source can fail during a screen; the result then lists the failed sources. ## 9. Availability and changes We work to keep the online services available but do not guarantee uninterrupted service. We may change or discontinue features. If we discontinue a paid online service, we will give at least 30 days' notice where we can and refund prepaid amounts for the unused part of a subscription period and for unused purchased credits. ## 10. Suspension and termination You can stop using DesignAround and close your account at any time by emailing [support@elidot.com](mailto:support@elidot.com); cancel any subscription first. We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms or the acceptable use policy, that does not pay, or where we must do so by law. Where reasonable, we will warn you first and give you a chance to fix the problem. Your local data stays on your computer after the account is closed. ## 11. Warranty disclaimer To the extent permitted by law, the Service is provided "as is" and "as available". We do not promise that search results are complete, that scores are correct, that a design-around avoids infringement, or that an application will be granted. ## 12. Limitation of liability To the extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect or consequential losses, lost profits, lost sales, account or listing suspensions on marketplaces, legal costs or damages awarded in disputes with third parties. Our total liability for all claims relating to the Service in any 12-month period is limited to the amount you paid us for the Service in that period, or US$100 if you paid nothing. These limits do not apply to liability that cannot be limited by law, such as liability for intent or gross negligence. ## 13. Consumers If you are a consumer, nothing in these terms limits rights you have under the mandatory consumer protection law of the country where you live. ## 14. Governing law and disputes These terms are governed by the laws of the People's Republic of China. Please contact us first so we can try to resolve any dispute informally. If that fails, disputes are decided by the competent people's court at our registered address in Shanghai. If you are a consumer, you may also bring proceedings in the courts of the country where you live where its law gives you that right. ## 15. Changes to these terms We may update these terms. We will post the new version on this page with a new date and, for material changes, tell paying customers by email or in the software at least 30 days before they apply. If you do not agree, you can cancel before the change applies. ## 16. Contact Shanghai Qidianyan Technology Co., Ltd., Room 218, Building 3, No. 336 Tianjiao Road, Lingang New Area, China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, Shanghai 201306, China. Email: [support@elidot.com](mailto:support@elidot.com).