IP law firms and companies have been struggling to manage their workload due to increased global IP filings. To counter this challenge, they are now seeking virtual paralegal support that can help them effectively manage their IP, administrative, and legal tasks. In line with this, our article covers three case studies on how Sagacious IP’s remote paralegal service helped IP law firms and companies in managing their workload effectively.

Understanding Virtual Paralegals

By definition, a virtual/remote IP paralegal is an IP professional who remotely supports entities including law firms, IP attorneys, and solo IP practitioners. He/she offers a variety of services for managing legal, administrative, and IP tasks.

To emphasize on the importance of virtual paralegals, the following sections discuss case studies on how Sagacious IP offered remote support to some prominent IP law firms and companies and reduced their IP workload.

Case Study 1: Californian IP Law Firm and IP Docket Management

A California-based IP law firm approached Sagacious IP for managing its IP portfolio of over 3500 U.S. and foreign patent and trademark applications. After understanding their requirement, our team first employed a web-based docketing tool for managing their entire IP portfolio. This included helping them audit their client contact list and updating client information in the tool. The team also assisted the law firm in managing the internal as well as patent and trademark office (PTO) deadlines and sending reminders to the IP attorneys before the actual deadlines.

Now that the tool has been set up, Sagacious IP communicates with the foreign associates to manage the firm’s foreign applications and provides regular reports to keep the firm updated on upcoming deadlines. Our team also periodically prepares client status reports for keeping track of the law firm’s clients, proofreads patents, and prepares information disclosure statements (IDS) when required.

Case Study 2: Michigan-based IP Law Firm and IDS Management

In another case, a Michigan-based IP law firm handling multiple IP portfolios engaged Sagacious IP for managing their IDS tasks. Based on the client’s requirements, our team first devised a strategy on how to manage IDS effectively and reduce the IP workload. Thereafter, the team used an IDS management tool for preparing IDS(s) including the relevant foreign patent and non-patent references. Sagacious IP also helped the client in filing the IDS(s) and sharing the reporting emails within the stipulated timelines. Every month, our team prepares and files nearly 100 IDS(s) to manage their IDS work.

Case Study 3: US-based Robotic Process Automation Company and IP Docket Management

Besides IP law firms, Sagacious IP has also offered paralegal services to a renowned US-based robotic process automation company for systematically managing their IP dockets and transferring all their internal data to a docket management tool. Based on their requirements, the paralegal team recommended a docket management tool for managing their patent and trademark dockets. Thereafter, the team moved the spreadsheet data (previously used for IP docketing) and created country-wise records. The team also visited the official websites of patent offices (wherever required) for verifying the bibliographic data and entering the correct details into the tool. Besides this, Sagacious IP’s team also processed the client’s old emails in the tool to view the changes in the patent and trademark prosecution records.

Once all the data was transferred to the tool, our team processed the e-mails to ensure that their database was up to date and that they could view the bibliographic data, PTO status, and upcoming PTO deadlines on a single webpage. Doing this helped in saving the client’s time in searching PTO notices in their e-mails. Also, now that their data has been organized, Sagacious IP provides weekly and monthly PTO deadline reminders before the actual deadlines to ensure that the necessary responses are prepared and filed on time.

Conclusion

Since managing IP workload can be a daunting task for entities such as IP law firms or companies, it’s only natural for them to seek assistance from remote paralegals. To ensure that they get the most out of such paralegals, they need to look for virtual service providers who are credible and offer services throughout the IP lifecycle.

If you are an IP law firm or a company seeking IP services, it’s imperative to get expert assistance. Sagacious IP’s Intellectual Property Management Solutions is a suite of services including patent docketing, IDS preparation, patent proofreading, and office action shell response. To know more about virtual paralegals, watch the webinar here.

– Sudipta Dey (IPMS) and the Editorial Team

Having Queries? Contact Us Now!