Privacy Policy
Whistle · Last updated 15 October 2026
Whistle is business software for patent and trademark practices, built and operated by Grant Steyer, a US patent attorney. This policy has three parts: the Whistle service that firms use, this website, and the Whistle browser extensions.
The Whistle service
Who uses it
Whistle is used by law firms. Its users are the firm's attorneys and staff, and clients the firm has invited to its client portal. Access is limited to people the firm authorizes.
What it holds
The firm's docket and matter records — application and patent numbers, dates and deadlines, titles, inventors, applicants and clients; email that users connect to Whistle, with its attachments; documents prepared in or uploaded to Whistle; notes, tasks and time-entry details; and, for each user, a name, an email address, and a record of the pages they viewed and the actions they took in the application.
A user may connect their own Microsoft 365 mailbox and calendar. Whistle then reads that user's mail, prepares drafts and replies for the user to review, and adds calendar entries, with the permissions the user grants when connecting.
Where it is held
In Amazon Web Services in the United States (the us-east-2 region, Ohio), in an account operated for Whistle. Connections to Whistle use HTTPS, and data is encrypted at rest. Each firm is moving to its own installation, in an AWS account the firm owns.
It can be seen by the firm's authorized users, and by Whistle's operator for support and maintenance.
Outside services
Whistle sends data to these services to do its work:
- OpenAI — AI drafting and analysis; receives the document, email and matter text the task needs. Whistle uses OpenAI's business API; under OpenAI's API terms, data sent through it is not used to train OpenAI's models. OpenAI may retain it for a limited period under those terms.
- Microsoft 365 (Microsoft Graph) — the connected user's own mailbox and calendar, with that user's consent.
- Azure Document Intelligence and AWS Textract — reading text from scanned documents.
- pdfRest — flattening PDF forms.
- Zoho Sign — electronic signature, when a firm uses it.
- SurePoint LMS — the firm's practice-management system; receives time entries.
- Public patent sources — the USPTO, the EPO, Lens, OpenAlex, Crossref and Europe PMC; these receive application and publication numbers and search queries only.
Whistle does not sell data or use it for advertising.
Retention
Matter, docket and email records are kept for as long as the firm uses Whistle, and are deleted or returned at the firm's request when it stops. Caches and research results expire automatically, typically within 90 days. The record of which pages a user viewed is kept for 400 days.
Problem reports
If a user sends a problem report from within Whistle, it includes their description, a screenshot of the page and recent technical log lines. It is stored with the firm's data and reviewed by Whistle's operator to diagnose the problem.
Confidentiality
Matter and client information in Whistle is client-confidential information belonging to the firm and its clients, and is governed by the firm's own data-handling and professional-responsibility obligations.
This website
The whistleip.com home page is a static page. It sets no cookies, runs no analytics, and loads nothing from other sites.
The signed-in Whistle application keeps its sign-in session in the browser's local storage rather than in cookies, and runs no advertising or analytics trackers. It records the pages a signed-in user views, as described under Retention above.
Whistle browser extensions
This part covers the Whistle Docket Assistant and the Whistle Filing Assistant, internal tools for Renner Otto staff. They are distributed unlisted and are only functional for users with firm accounts.
What they access
While you are signed in to systems the firm already uses — its Anaqua matter system, USPTO Patent Center, and the firm's SurePoint practice-management system — the extensions read patent matter information displayed on those pages: application and publication numbers, filing and due dates, inventor and applicant names, document titles, and time-entry details.
Where it goes
That information is sent only to the firm's own Whistle server at whistleip.com (formerly tcklsh.com, the same server), over HTTPS, to create and update the firm's docket records. It is not sent anywhere else. There are no analytics, advertising, tracking, or third-party services of any kind.
Credentials
The Filing Assistant offers an optional SurePoint LMS auto-login. If you choose to use it, the username and password you enter in the extension's popup are stored in local extension storage on your own machine, and are used only to fill that system's own login form. They are never transmitted to the firm's server or to anyone else, and you can clear them from the same popup at any time. If you do not use that feature, no credentials are stored.
No other sign-in is handled by these extensions — everywhere else they operate only within sessions you have already established.
What is stored in the browser
The address of the firm's server, a token used to authenticate to it, and per-user form preferences. The Filing Assistant also keeps a local diagnostic log on your own machine, capped by age and size, to help diagnose a failed filing; it is never uploaded automatically.
What is not collected
Browsing history, activity on unrelated sites, and payment details.
Confidentiality
Data handled by these extensions is client-confidential information belonging to the firm and its clients, and is governed by the firm's own data-handling and professional-responsibility obligations.