Patent
Patent and licensing
Consent.link runs on a method patented in the United States: a page between a click on a link and the website, where the person decides whether their data may be collected. Our clients use it as part of the service. Companies that want to build it into their own product can license it.
Ask about a licenceUS patent
US 11,531,721 B2
Title as grantedMethod of using a portion of a URL and an interstitial page to make a disclosure statement for regulation compliance
- Filed
- January 27, 2021
- Granted
- December 20, 2022
- Patent holder
- RMX Tec EOOD
What the patent describes
The method in plain words
Five steps between a click and the website. Under each one: how consent.link does it.
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A click on a link
A person clicks a link that leads to a website.
In consent.linkThe link is a consent.link short link, created through the API.
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A page before the website
The link is a short URL that leads to an intermediate page with a disclosure, not straight to the website.
In consent.linkThe consent page names the client, the purposes and where the link leads.
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A choice about data
Before the redirect, the page offers two ways on: with collection of personal data or without it. Each way carries its own redirect parameters.
In consent.linkTwo buttons of equal weight, each sending a signed decision.
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Consent from the choice
Whether the person consented is determined from the redirect parameters of the way they chose.
In consent.linkThe server checks the signature and writes the decision to a journal nobody can quietly change.
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On to the website
The person is redirected to the website, with data collection or without it.
In consent.linkWith consent the website gets a signed decision token; without it, a clean address without click IDs.
Variants
The patent also describes variants: before the redirect the page may ask for an action, such as waiting for a timer, pressing a button, entering a password, accepting terms or confirming age or location, and the kind of disclosure may be shown in the short URL itself.
Using consent.link? No separate licence
Clients who create links through consent.link need no licence of their own: using the method is part of the service on every plan, Free included.
This summary is here to help you decide whether to talk to us. It is not legal advice, and it does not define what the patent protects: only the claims of the granted patent do.
Licensing
Who a licence is for
Companies that want to show a page with a disclosure or a choice about data between a click and the website, in their own product and on their own servers.
Link shorteners and redirects
Ask for consent or show a disclosure before short links and redirects open.
Ad and affiliate networks
Disclose a paid or affiliate link and ask about tracking before the click-through.
Creator and influencer platforms
Label sponsored links in bios and posts before the visitor leaves.
Social networks, messengers and email
Show a page before an outside link opens, with a choice about data.
Consent management platforms
Take consent from the cookie banner to the links that leave a site.
Marketplaces and comparison sites
Ask before a shopper goes on to a partner shop with tracking.
Rather not build it yourself?
The consent.link API gives you the same consent page and journal without a licence: one call creates a link.
Step by step
How to get a licence
Write to us
Name your company and product, the countries and roughly how many clicks a month go through it.
We talk
We look at how your product works and which steps of the method it uses. An NDA first, if you need one.
The terms
They depend on the product, the countries and the volume: a royalty, a one-off payment or both.
The agreement
The licence agreement is signed with the patent holder, RMX Tec EOOD.
Talk to us about a licence
Tell us a little about your product, and we will come back to you.
Write to us licensing@consent.linkPlease keep confidential details out of the first email: we sign an NDA before going into them.
Patent marking
This page gives notice under 35 U.S.C. § 287(a) that the consent.link service (short links with a consent page) and the consent.link API are protected by US 11,531,721 B2.