If your company owns a technology that has strong potential on the global market, it would be a proactive and sound decision to invest in international patent protection. Registering and handling IP rights globally can be a challenging task, though – especially when you’re just getting started. Apart from the many nuances and pitfalls, you can find out that agent services are often overpriced while limiting your control over the whole process.
IP management automation can help you streamline your global IP protection process by providing you with a single entry point for all your patenting activities, assets, managers and attorneys. With IP management tools, you’ll be able to review and manage your IP portfolio, search for and hire attorneys globally, add integrations with other tools and services, analyze statistics – and all that in one place.
Increased transparency and control
It’s not easy to effectively manage your IP portfolio and patenting activities unless you have full access to all the relevant data, such as filing deadlines, extensions of time, fees due to be paid, etc. With this data on hand, you’ll be able to analyze your activities and expenses and manage them more effectively.
It often occurs, though, that all these records are stored on your patent attorney’s premises with limited access, and to view them you need to send a request. In this case, you have little control over what’s going on and have to fully rely on the attorney. To avoid such dependency and increase transparency, it is crucial to have full access to all your patent data, which can be reached by adopting IP management software.
Up to 80% economy
When expanding abroad, the costs of your patenting activities can easily spin out of control. Apart from paying the patenting fees, a great part of the budget is often spent on legal support since agencies usually charge higher for international projects. Besides, with the growth of your IP portfolio, the management costs also increase.
Using IP management solutions can help you avoid ineffective patent-related activity (which can often be excessive) and keep the expenses at a relatively low level. By connecting to local attorneys directly and increasing the transparency of the processes, you can spend up to 50-80% less. Here you can read about how one of our clients was able to save 13.553 € on IP registration by using iPNOTE.
Easier IP portfolio management
Access to all crucial data is among the most important parts of an effective management process. The information should also be well-structured and organized so that you can get the details of your IP assets and the entire IP portfolio in just a few clicks.
You might have a number of IP assets in the form of technologies or products each covered by a number of patents or trademarks on the domestic market, while pending a patent grant in a few other countries, each with a different status.
You might also have a bunch of deadlines for various payments. It’s crucial that all this data is organized in a neat structure and can be found straight away when the need arises. IP management solutions like iPNOTE enable you to do this.
Access to patent attorneys worldwide
Protecting your IP rights globally often means you have to rely on local contractors and patenting agencies. But the more tasks you outsource, the less control you have over your IP management process, not to mention the rising costs. The general recommendation here would be to avoid middlemen and work with the attorneys directly.
Cutting-edge IP management platforms like iPNOTE enable you to search for and connect with hundreds of attorneys from around the world. This frees you from the need to work with agencies that would often prevent you from accessing data while making for a significant expense item. Adopting an IP management solution might save up to 30% of your IP budget.
Integrations with services and patent offices
In the post-COVID world, digital communications and workflows have become a necessity. Earlier on, companies would often correspond with government and patenting bodies in an old-fashioned offline manner, but today, it’s all gone digital. Government agencies now provide APIs for fast electronic document turnaround, so you can switch on your IP platform and enjoy speedy document exchange.
So, one of the apparent benefits of adopting an IP management tool is integration with patent offices, external IP systems and other services such as CRM or analytical systems, which allows you to exchange documents and data as well as send updates to customers and contractors. This can significantly improve the speed and the efficiency of your IP management process.
Final thoughts
IP management solutions can be extremely helpful when you’re expanding abroad and seeking for IP rights protection. These tools enable you to manage your IP portfolio and processes more easily, while making it much cheaper, more flexible and transparent.