Posted by Jerry Lamigo on Mon, Mar 15, 2010
Things are not always what they appear. What may initially seem like an excellent price on Intellectual Asset Management Software, may end up costing you more in the long run.
A myriad of other factors come into play such as cost of operations, cost of maintenance, useful life span, and training costs. Over the effective life of an intellectual asset management application, the cost of maintenance and support dwarfs the cost of initial deployment.
Let's take the example of purchasing a car. By no means is this the end to all car-related expenses. You won't get more than three hundred miles before the gas tank needs filling, oil changes, new tires, various filters, belts, hoses, taxes, insurance... all of this contributes to the total cost of owning the vehicle. The same metrics apply to Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for Intellectual Property (IP) asset management software.
There are five major metrics of TCO analysis for the IP asset management software: Acquisition, Implementation, Operations, Maintenance & Replacement.
1. Acquisition
All too often, acquisition costs drive decisions concerning intellectual asset management deployment. This forces attention to up-front, direct, and budgeted costs. Acquisition includes the capital expense of IAM software licenses in the case of on-premise software and the operating expense of the subscription fees in the case of hosted solution. Be sure to know the differences between Hosted or On-Premise IP Asset Management.
For on-premise installations, the acquisition also includes the costs associated with the necessary hardware and infrastructure (operating system, database licenses) to host the application.
On an average, acquisition contributes to 10-15% of the overall cost of ownership of the IAM software.
2. Implementation
The implementation includes services to make the system work for users.
The costs associated with the implementation of the intellectual asset management application include development (customization/configuration), integration, testing, data migration, and training.
It is critical that the system does not require software expertise for any customization. That will make you dependent on the vendor and will cost you dearly in the long term. Ensure that the IP management software provides supportable, off-the-shelf capabilities for data migration from legacy docketing systems as well as integration tools to integrate seamlessly with existing systems. These capabilities should be easy enough for use by the IP team without the need for internal IT support or outside consultants. Read more on IP Management Data Migration.
On an average, the implementation contributes to 30-40% of the overall cost of ownership of the IAM software.
3. Operations
The operational costs occur in time and productivity loss. These costs are more difficult to quantify, tend to be process and people oriented, and often add significantly to the TCO. They can include unproductive end-user time, troubleshooting, and system downtime.
For measuring operational costs associated with intellectual asset management software, pay attention to how much staff is required to operate the application smoothly. Choose an application that can be managed without an IT/vendor team as opposed to the one that requires IT/vendor help for basic operational changes. These "people" costs contribute heavily to overall TCO.
On an average, the operations contribute to 30-40% of the overall cost of ownership of the IAM software.
4. Maintenance
The maintenance costs include country law updates, patches, upgrades and administration of the hardware, software, and databases.
Many hard coded IP asset management applications require significant downtime and break custom processes during upgrades. While determining maintenance costs, include the support labor hours and the management overhead to oversee any issues.
On an average, the maintenance and support costs contribute about 15-20% of the overall cost of ownership of the IAM software.
5. Replacement
It is important that you don't lock yourself into a specific IP asset management software vendor. During or after the expected life span, you should be able to transition to better software with ease. The software should provide you the tools to export the data easily into new applications. Often, this is difficult to determine upfront. You need to consider the extra support needed as you get up to speed with the new application.
On an average, replacement contributes to 10-15% of the overall cost of ownership of the IAM software.
The long term goals of IP asset management deserve the most sustained attention; In the short term, tactical cost reductions should not impede the achievement of long term goals and priorities.
Lecorpio provides a powerful intellectual asset management solution with comprehensive functionality, can be deployed 2 times faster, at a lower upfront cost and overall 50% of the total cost of operations than competitors. This is possible because unlike hard coded competitive applications, Lecorpio utilizes a powerful, model-based application platform. This results in faster turnarounds, lower maintenance costs, and better user adoption.
Get more information on best practices for IP asset management project implementation. Please post your thoughts to the comments.
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Image courtesy of itstrategyblog
Posted by Jerry Lamigo on Mon, Feb 01, 2010
Docketing is one of the most crucial functions within any Intellectual Property department. An excellent IP docketing system combined with structured docketing procedures can provide substantial reduction in IP spending to IP departments.
At its core, IP docketing software works like a virtual assistant to the IP department. It keeps track of deadlines, outstanding payments for applications and annuities, and sends reminders to the IP team at a predefined schedule.
Here are the top 5 features of great IP docketing software:
1) Country-specific Law Support
The IP docketing software must provide proactive management of your portfolio with rule-driven due dates. The system should calculate the deadlines based on filing, prosecution, and grant dates for each patent, jurisdiction, and type of filing. The system should be pre-programmed with required deadlines for all major countries. It should also provide an interface for you to create your own automated deadlines and reminders.
2) PTO File History
Tracking statutory deadlines is critical for managing patent and trademark portfolios more effectively. Your docketing software must enable you to store Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) correspondence. The users should be able to upload all documentation into specific folders for faster access. If an extension is filed for an office action response, you should be able to view the office action, its response, and the reason with a single click.
3) PTO Data Integration
Several PTO offices are providing electronic data access for filing, prosecution, and maintenance-related activities. The IP docketing software should leverage this technology for better data accuracy. For example, PAIR provides access to real-time valuable information from USPTO. The patent docketing software should be able to make PAIR an extension of its own infrastructure.
4) Workflow
Workflow plays a major role in leveraging key data stored inside IP docketing. The workflow allows for distributing the right information to the right people at the right time. Several key decisions such as filing international applications or filing divisional/continuation/CIP and annuity payment review can be triggered directly from the docketing. Your IP docketing system must provide integrated workflow capabilities for faster task management.
5) Adaptability
If your IP department considers IP docketing as a critical component of your infrastructure, the IP docketing software should be able to accommodate your needs. The docketing system must provide tools to easily configure layouts for data capture, reporting, document generation, and workflows.
IP docketing is just one—albeit a crucial component of Lecorpio's IP management software. Some features include: comprehensive IP docketing capabilities including country-law-based due date calculations, repository for storing file history, correspondence and references, sophisticated workflows to automate each activity, and point-and-click configuration.
Feel free to contact us to get more information on best practices for using IP docketing software for your advantage.
Posted by Jerry Lamigo on Mon, Jan 18, 2010
If you are part of an IP department in a mid-to-large size organization, you are probably facing the same issues as other organizations: More filings with limited budgets, and a greater need for responsiveness to the business clients with a smaller team. In short, you and your team are being asked to do much more with less resources.
Maximizing process efficiency is one of the IP department's biggest challenges for effective patent management. Here are the the top 5 tips to optimize your patent management processes:
1) Self Service for Inventors and Service Providers
Create a self service portal for inventors where they can track the status of their patent filings. This will reduce the number of incoming inquiries and improve inventor satisfaction.
The portal can also help your outside law firms and agents collaborate with you and inventors in real-time and enter information directly into your system. This will help you reduce administrative costs related to data reentry and follow-ups and improve data integrity.
You will be able to delegate tasks with confidence and transfer matters seamlessly to another firm when needed.
2) Electronic Case Repository
As a progressive legal department, you will get much better visibility into the entire patent lifecycle by setting up a centralized case repository.
The repository should include a complete filing history: documents, cited references, all correspondence, and docketing. It should also provide the most up to date information about all matters including current status, filing and prosecution history, outstanding actions, and annuity information.
Having a centralized repository will provide you with the tools to selectively share relevant information with all stakeholders. For example, getting formal reviews by the patent committee on international filing decisions and annuity payments for collective decision making.
3) Integrate Billing and Estimates into Workflow Processes
You can optimize your financial performance by integrating budgets and estimates in the workflow processes. This will help you track firms and attorneys who have a better turnaround time over other firms that routinely file extensions. This information will provide you with effective tools for future work allocation and for reorganizing the workload according to your budget constraints.
Integrating billing will also allow to forecast your costs more accurately and help you measure the overall spend by firms, by countries, and other metrics.
4) Automate Manual Operations
Where possible, automate manual operations. If your team is spending 2 days a month calculating patent awards, it is time to automate that function. If your law firms are directly working with inventors for drafting application specs, it is time to give them a system where they can work together in a collaborative manner. If you are spending too much time reentering data provided by firms or patent offices, use technology integration to interface with patent offices and law firms.
Identify all opportunities to automate manual operations and use technology tools to get them automated.
5) Patent Characterization
Characterize your patent portfolios according to technology areas, business units, products and ratings. Establish workflow processes for regular updates to the categorizations and use analytical tools to spot trends, find anomalies, identify strengths and weaknesses by leveraging your IP assets data.
Lecorpio patent management enables IP departments to collaborate with inventors, law firms, and other stakeholders as one for competitive advantage. The system provides a self service portal and organizes all patent information in a centralized case repository. It brings structure to patent preparation and filing through prosecution and maintenance processes. With Lecorpio's Spend Management solution, you can manage budgets, estimates, and actuals for each activity to efficiently manage resources and reduce costs.
To schedule a demo, visit http://www.lecorpio.com/schedule-a-demo or call (408) 850-7260.
Image courtesy of aboveboardpatents.com
