Product and intended use
Define the configuration, people, information and tasks being assessed.
Plans and what this profile covers
Public claim only
The pricing page (checked 2026-09-27) publishes three plans. Essential lists the all-in-one digital workspace, 'Purpose-built GenAI Chat Skills', a PDF viewer and editor, a DOCX viewer and editor, up to 500 blank projects, and 'SSO & Security'. Advanced adds 'AI-Agent: Patent Search' with 300 AI searches, 'AI-Chat: Drawing Generation' with 300 patent drawings, 15 Research Assistant automation credits, up to 2,400 blank and 2,400 patent projects, and Strategic Patent Insights. Premium raises those to 900 AI searches, 900 drawings, 30 automation credits, up to 5,000 blank and 5,000 patent projects, and 'Advanced Research Assistant Automations'. Every plan carries a 'Get a quote' action and no published price. This profile covers the standalone Qthena product and the Qthena agent delivered inside Equinox IPMS; the separate Questel products named on the page (Equinox IPMS, Orbit Intelligence, Markify) are not covered.
Ask: Which plan includes the office action response and patent drafting skills we need, and how do the AI search, drawing and automation credit allowances reset?
Deployment model
Public claim only
The product is described on its own page as a single unified workspace reached through a browser; the log-in link on every Qthena page points to app.ipquants.com. The vendor describes 'One single intuitive and collaborative platform' and 'Instant access to essential data, suggestions, and generative AI capabilities through a unified UI'. Separately, the Equinox IPMS AI agents page describes Qthena as the AI agent inside that hosted IP management system. No on-premises, private-cloud or self-hosted option appears on any page read, and no hosting location is stated anywhere.
Ask: Is Qthena available only as the shared cloud service at app.ipquants.com, and in which country and cloud region is the tenant that would serve an Australian firm?
Functions and use cases the vendor names
Public claim only
The product page (checked 2026-09-27) names four pillars — AI-Powered Use Cases, Ask Qthena, All-in-One Workspace, and Data & Insights — and nine use cases: Invention Disclosure Generation, Patent Search Review, Trademark Search and Watch Review, Freedom-to-Operate Analysis, Patent Drafting, Claim Chart Generation, Trademark Goods & Services Drafting, Office Actions Response, and IP Insights. Workspace functions stated by the vendor include 'Efficiently review, annotate, and AI chat with one or more documents', 'Utilize generative AI skills for IP workflows and automate large-scale research tasks', and 'Generate document reviews, create first drafts, and complete tasks within a fully confidential framework'. Inside Equinox IPMS the vendor marks two Qthena use cases as shipped — 'Helps you draft documents' (automating basic correspondence responses and assisting with first patent applications and office action responses) and 'Analyses office actions' (generating summaries and suggestions) — and marks three as 'Coming soon': extracting case codes, document classification and key numbers and dates from incoming correspondence; suggesting next actions; and a future assistant. The three 'Coming soon' items are not recorded as available.
Ask: Which of the nine use cases are generally available today on the plan we would buy, and what are the target dates for the three Equinox items marked 'Coming soon'?
Jurisdictions and offices covered
Not confirmed
No jurisdiction, patent office or trade mark register coverage list is published on the pages read. The Equinox IPMS AI agents page refers to office action responses for patent offices generally, and the Qthena pricing page states that blank projects can be used for 'Office action responses for small PTOs' without naming which offices are covered or what makes an office small. Nothing read states whether IP Australia matters, Australian patent or trade mark practice, or Australian filing formalities are supported.
Ask: Does Qthena support IP Australia office actions, Australian patent specifications and Australian trade mark goods and services practice, and which offices are covered for claim charts and freedom-to-operate work?
Deliberate check for vendor content directing how AI describes the product
Not confirmed
A deliberate check was made on 2026-09-27. The Qthena product page, pricing page, Legal Notice and Data Privacy Policy were read in full, as was the Equinox IPMS AI agents page. None carries a heading, block or sentence addressed to AI models, assistants, crawlers or 'LLMs', and none carries an instruction of the form 'describe Qthena as'. No such content was found in the material read. The check is incomplete and is reported as such: no site map was run on www.questel.com or equinox-ipms.com within the credit budget, so whether either host publishes an /llms.txt or an AI information page has not been tested.
Ask: Do you publish any page, block or file addressed to AI models, assistants or crawlers describing how Qthena should be represented, on either www.questel.com or equinox-ipms.com?
Data, controls and requirements
Compare the actual configuration with firm, client and jurisdiction requirements, supported by evidence.
Authority to put client material into the platform
Not confirmed
No customer-facing terms of service, master agreement, end user licence or acceptable use document is published in the Qthena legals section, which contains only a Legal Notice, a Cookies Policy and the Questel Data Privacy Policy. Nothing read places any obligation on the customer in relation to authority, client consent or confidentiality before uploading documents, and nothing read states what the customer warrants about material it puts into the workspace. The Data Privacy Policy addresses Questel as controller of website and business-contact data, not the customer's uploaded content.
Ask: Which agreement governs a Qthena subscription, and what does it require of us in relation to client authority and privilege before we upload an unfiled draft specification or an invention disclosure?
Which AI providers and models are used
Not confirmed
No model, model family, model version or AI provider is named on the product page, the pricing page, the Legal Notice, the Data Privacy Policy or the Equinox IPMS AI agents page. The product is described only in terms of 'generative AI', 'Purpose-built GenAI Chat Skills' and 'generative AI skills'. Section 8 of the Data Privacy Policy states 'Questel may use Artificial Intelligence ("AI") technologies in connection with its websites, products, and services' and refers the reader to a 'Questel Artificial Intelligence Policy' without giving a link; that policy was not located within the credit budget. No customer choice of model is mentioned anywhere.
Ask: Name the models and AI providers behind Ask Qthena, patent drafting, office action response and claim chart generation, and state whether a customer can choose or restrict which model is used.
Published subprocessor list
Not confirmed
No subprocessor or sub-contractor list for the Qthena service is published on any page read. The Data Privacy Policy describes categories of recipients rather than named parties — 'Employees and contractors of Questel group whose roles require access to your data' and 'Services providers who process personal data on our behalf (processors/vendors)' for tasks such as 'internet technical support, marketing automation, designers, website developers, translation services' — and states such vendors 'are contractually bound to protect your data to the same standard as set out in this Policy'. The named third parties in that policy are website and marketing tools (Google Analytics, Google Ads, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Salesforce, Zapier, NextRoll, GoToWebinar, SEMrush, Claspo, reCAPTCHA), not service subprocessors for customer content.
Ask: Will you provide the subprocessor list for the Qthena service, including the hosting provider, the AI providers and any translation or support vendor that can reach customer documents?
Training on customer content
Public claim only
Nothing on the Qthena product page, pricing page, Legal Notice or Data Privacy Policy states whether customer content is used to train or fine-tune any model. The only statement found is on Questel's Equinox IPMS AI agents page, which states that the vendor provides 'clear visibility into how data is processed, ensuring full transparency for IP professionals, and don't train our AI agents on client data', in a section about the AI agents inside Equinox, where Qthena is named as that agent. That page is footed '© 2026 Work AnyWare Ltd'. No equivalent statement was found for the standalone Qthena product, and no contractual document supporting the claim was read.
Ask: Is the Equinox statement that you 'don't train our AI agents on client data' contractual, does it cover the standalone Qthena product as well as the Equinox agent, and does it bind the third-party AI providers not to train on our submissions?
Use of feedback and in-product corrections
Not confirmed
No published document read addresses feedback, suggestions or in-product corrections. The Data Privacy Policy lists 'Knowledge, belief & preference data, e.g., thoughts, concerns, preferences, feedback, opinions and other information provided through surveys, interviews, etc.' among the categories of personal data collected, but says nothing about whether corrections a user makes to a generated draft are retained or used to improve the service. No terms of service was found in which a feedback licence might sit.
Ask: When an attorney edits a Qthena-generated office action response or claim chart, is that edit retained and used to evaluate or improve the service, and can that be switched off for our tenant?
Retention of customer content
Public claim only
The product page publishes the figure 'Zero' above the label 'Data retention', with no definition of what is retained for zero time, whether it refers to the vendor or to the third-party AI providers, and no supporting document. Section 3 of the Data Privacy Policy addresses only personal data and states Questel 'stores your Personal Data throughout the period of your relationship with us and retains it for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which Questel collect it', directing readers to email the data protection officer for retention periods. Nothing read states how long documents, projects or generated outputs are kept in a Qthena workspace.
Ask: What exactly does 'Zero data retention' cover — the AI provider's processing, the workspace, or both — and for how long are our projects, uploaded documents and generated drafts stored?
Deletion on request and on exit
Not confirmed
No deletion commitment for customer content is published on any page read. The Data Privacy Policy sets out personal data subject rights, including a right to erasure 'under certain conditions' unless Questel has a legitimate interest in keeping the data, exercised by emailing the data protection officer, and a separate right to deletion for individuals covered by the United States section 'subject to statutory exceptions'. Those are individual rights over personal data, not a customer right to have workspace content and generated outputs deleted.
Ask: Can we delete a project and all of its uploaded documents and generated drafts on demand, what is the backup deletion timeline, and will you certify deletion in writing?
Vendor personnel access to customer content
Not confirmed
Nothing read states whether Questel or ipQuants personnel can open customer projects or documents, under what approval, or whether such access is logged. The Data Privacy Policy states personal data may be shared with 'Employees and contractors of Questel group whose roles require access to your data' and that 'Our personnel are bound to confidentiality terms which cover their obligations to protect personal data', which addresses personal data rather than the confidential IP documents in a workspace. The product page states outputs are generated 'within a fully confidential framework' without describing the framework.
Ask: Which Questel or ipQuants personnel can open our projects and documents, what approval is required, is the access logged, and can we see that log?
Authentication, roles and network controls
Public claim only
The pricing page lists 'SSO & Security' as an inclusion in the Essential plan and therefore in all three plans. No further detail is published: the identity protocols supported, whether multi-factor authentication is available, what roles or permissions exist inside a workspace, and whether network restrictions such as internet protocol allowlisting are offered are all absent from the pages read. The product page states documents can be shared and managed 'Securely ... with your team, anytime, anywhere' without describing the controls.
Ask: Which single sign-on protocols and identity providers are supported, is multi-factor authentication enforceable, and what roles control who inside our firm can open a given project?
Encryption in transit and at rest
Public claim only
The product page publishes the figure '100%' above the label 'End-to-end data security' with no definition, and the Equinox IPMS AI agents page refers to encryption in general terms. Section 5 of the Data Privacy Policy states Questel maintains administrative, technical and physical measures that 'may include encryption, firewalls, roles-based data access, intrusion-detection software, and physical access controls to data centers', and refers to a 'Questel IT Security Policy' without a link. No cipher, protocol version or key management arrangement is published for the Qthena service on any page read.
Ask: What encryption is applied to our documents in transit and at rest in Qthena, who holds and rotates the keys, and is a customer-managed key option available?
Independent certification and attestation, and whose certification it is
Not confirmed
The product page shows ISO 27001, SOC 2 and GDPR badges under the heading 'A Confidential and Secure Solution' and states 'The servers and IT infrastructure used for Qthena are certified as compliant with ISO 27001 (Information Security) and SOC 2 (Data Security).' The next sentence on the same page states 'Questel is certified ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 (Quality Management) and ipQuants is in the process of obtaining its own ISO certifications.' Those two sentences attribute certification to different subjects — the infrastructure, Questel, and ipQuants which does not yet hold its own certification — and the product page separately publishes the label 'Independent / Certification of infrastructure'. The Equinox IPMS AI agents page carries an ISO 27001 certification logo for that separate product. No certificate, scope statement, statement of applicability or audit report is published for any of these claims on the pages read, so no assurance value is recorded in this profile. GDPR: the vendor's own page states "n.prod.website-files.com/67af1eaa6b6c3a46ca6a1dee/67c1a4ba346bfd31b91cd493_SOC2.avif) SOC2 ![icon GDPR EU](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/67af1eaa6b6c3a46ca6a1dee/67c1a541ebe2b7d" (https://www.questel.com/qthena/, checked 2026-10-10). ISO 27001: the vendor's own page states "Professional Practice & Director Patents, Murgitroyd ## A Confidential and Secure Solution ![icon ISO 27001](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/67af1eaa6b6c3a46ca6a1dee/67c1a541beaac11b2a" (https://www.questel.com/qthena/, checked 2026-10-10). SOC 2: the vendor's own page states "con AICPA SOC](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/67af1eaa6b6c3a46ca6a1dee/67c1a4ba346bfd31b91cd493_SOC2.avif) SOC2 ![icon GDPR EU](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/67af1eaa6b6c3a4" (https://www.questel.com/qthena/, checked 2026-10-10).
Ask: Which legal entity holds the ISO 27001 certificate and the SOC 2 report, what is the certified scope, does it include the Qthena application and the AI processing rather than only the hosting infrastructure, and may we see the certificate and report?
Contracting entity and contract documents
Not confirmed
Three entities appear across the pages read and none is identified as the contracting party. The Legal Notice (last updated 4 February 2023) names QUESTEL SAS, 'a company incorporated in France under reference number 329326896 RCS Paris, having its registered office at 23 Rue d'Antin, 75002 Paris, France', whose president is stated to be QUESTEL INTERNATIONAL SASU, and states that the Legal Notice is governed by French law with disputes submitted to the courts of Paris. The Qthena site footer reads '© 2025 Qthena' and states 'A solution developed by ipQuants and powered by Questel'. The Equinox IPMS AI agents page, which names Qthena as its AI agent, is footed '© 2026 Work AnyWare Ltd'. No terms of service, master subscription agreement or order form is published in the Qthena legals section, which contains only the Legal Notice, a Cookies Policy and the Questel Data Privacy Policy.
Ask: Which legal entity would contract with an Australian firm for Qthena, under which agreement and governing law, and is an Australian contracting entity available?
Where data is held and cross-border transfer
Not confirmed
No hosting country, data centre location or regional option is stated for Qthena on any page read, and no Australian data residency option is mentioned. Section 6 of the Data Privacy Policy states 'Questel is a global business, and your data may be transferred to countries with different privacy and data protection laws than your own', and protects transfers out of the European Union using Questel's intra-group agreements incorporating the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses and Standard Contractual Clauses with third parties. That policy addresses personal data under European law; it says nothing about where customer documents in a Qthena workspace are stored or where inference is performed.
Ask: In which country are Qthena workspaces hosted, in which country does inference run, and is an Australian or Asia-Pacific hosting region available for an Australian firm?
Security incident and breach notification
Not confirmed
No incident response or customer notification commitment for the Qthena service is published on any page read. Section 5 of the Data Privacy Policy states that 'Under the applicable European rules, if a Personal Data breach is found which can cause a high risk to the rights and freedoms of data subjects, Questel will notify that breach to the competent national supervisory authority and, where required by the regulation, to the data subjects' — a statement of the vendor's obligations under European law to regulators and individuals, with no notification timeframe and no commitment to notify a customer firm. Nothing read refers to the Australian Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.
Ask: Within what time will you notify us of a security incident affecting our projects or documents, who is notified, and will you accept an obligation framed to the Australian Notifiable Data Breaches scheme?
Notice of changes to the service, the models and the documents
Public claim only
The Data Privacy Policy states 'Questel reserves the right to change its Privacy Policy. You can find the latest version on Questel's webpage. Any changes will be effective when we post on the website the revised Privacy Policy', with no advance notice period. The Legal Notice states 'The information on the QUESTEL Web Site is non-binding and subject to change at any time.' The Equinox IPMS AI agents page states the vendor is 'constantly refining, expanding, and improving how AI is integrated into Equinox'. Nothing read commits the vendor to notify customers before changing a model, an AI provider or a feature, and no changelog or release notes page was found for Qthena on the pages read.
Ask: Will you notify us before changing the model or AI provider behind any Qthena skill, and is there a published release note or changelog for the product?
Getting data out at the end
Not confirmed
No export, data portability or transition commitment for customer content is published on any page read. The product page states the workspace includes PDF and DOCX viewing and editing, and the Equinox integration implies documents move between the products, but nothing read states what a customer can export on exit, in what format, or for how long the data remains available after a subscription ends. The Data Privacy Policy's portability right applies to an individual's personal data under European law, not to a firm's project content.
Ask: On termination, what can we export from a Qthena workspace, in which formats, for how long does it stay available, and is a transition assistance period offered?
Integrations and connections to other systems
Public claim only
The product page publishes a section headed 'Connect Effortlessly to the Questel IP Ecosystem' naming three connections, each linked: Equinox IP Management Software, Orbit Intelligence for patent search and analytics, and Markify for trade mark clearance and watch. The page also states 'Automatic Data Integration — Reduce manual data gathering with instant access to all relevant patent and trademark data'. The Equinox IPMS AI agents page confirms the reverse direction, naming Qthena as the AI agent inside Equinox. No application programming interface, no document management system connector and no Microsoft Word or Outlook add-in is named on the pages read.
Ask: Is there an API, and does Qthena connect to a document management system such as iManage or NetDocuments, or to Microsoft Word, without moving documents through the Questel ecosystem?
Whether the product retrieves material from outside the workspace
Public claim only
The vendor describes retrieval from IP data sources rather than from the open internet: 'Automatic Data Integration' giving 'instant access to all relevant patent and trademark data', 'Data & Insights — Seamless integration and analysis of patent and trademark data', an 'AI-Agent: Patent Search' with a per-plan allowance of AI searches, and ecosystem links to Orbit Intelligence and Markify. Named use cases including Patent Search Review, Trademark Search and Watch Review and Freedom-to-Operate Analysis are search-based. Nothing read states which databases are queried, whether any general web search is performed, or whether a query leaves the tenant.
Ask: Which databases does an AI search query, does any Qthena feature search the open internet, and does the text of our query or our document leave the tenant when a search runs?
Whether the product takes actions on its own
Public claim only
The vendor states the product can 'automate large-scale research tasks' and 'complete tasks', publishes an 'AI-Agent: Patent Search' and 'Research Assistant Automation Credits' on the pricing page, and states on the product page 'Built for safe, AI-powered workflows. Designed for human control.' Inside Equinox, the vendor states the agent 'Automate[s] basic correspondence responses' and, for the office action use case, 'You stay in control. always'; the not-yet-released items include recommending 'which pre-set workflows to trigger', described with 'they point you in the right direction, but you make the final call'. Nothing read states which actions an automation can take without a user step, whether any action leaves the workspace, or whether a filing or an outgoing communication can be produced or sent automatically.
Ask: For each automation and for the patent search agent, list the actions taken without a user step, and confirm nothing can file, send or serve a document outside the workspace without a human action.
Human review of generated output
Public claim only
The vendor frames outputs as drafts and asserts human control: the product page states the product is 'Designed for human control' and that it can 'Generate document reviews, create first drafts, and complete tasks', and the Equinox IPMS AI agents page states the Qthena agent 'generates actionable summaries and suggestions' with '☑ You stay in control. always', and that transparency 'ensures you stay informed and in control'. No published document read obliges the user to verify output, and no contractual allocation of responsibility for a wrong output was found, because no terms of service is published. Nothing read describes citation or source linking that would let an attorney check a generated claim chart or office action response against its source.
Ask: Does Qthena show the source passage behind each generated statement in a claim chart or office action response, and where in the agreement is responsibility for verifying output allocated?
