Maximize IP Docketing Efficiencies by Utilizing PATTSY WAVE Communication Features

Managing IP docketing at IP law firms is a highly time-consuming process that involves back-and-forth communications between stakeholders and staff throughout the day. IP operations managers are constantly looking for ways to improve efficiency in managing these communications, whether they are internal communications or correspondence received from PTO’s or outside agents.  Without efficient IP management software, your firm’s data can be susceptible to errors and communications with your clients can become an unnecessary drain on your firm’s resources. 

 

Read this blog to learn how proper utilization of PATTSY WAVE® can help improve communication between your IP professionals and your docket teams, in ways that will maximize the efficiency of your IP docketing workflow.   

 

1. Manage Communications with Drag & Drop  

To maintain a reliable docket, IP operations teams must manage a daily influx of hundreds of emails from PTOs and foreign associates. This is a time-consuming and difficult task that can be fraught with inefficiencies.   

 

PATTSY WAVE’s Drag & Drop functionality allows your docketing team to efficiently file documents with appropriate matters and make them accessible to responsible parties where and when they need to see them.  

 

Here is how you use the Drag & Drop functionality to improve your document and communications processes: 

 

1. Direct communications from foreign agents or clients to a centralized email address in PATTSY WAVE. This helps the docketing team quickly call up records and docket necessary deadlines and reminders.

 

2. Drag and drop emails and attachments to link to newly docketed actions in PATTSY WAVE or upload documents and emails to automatically sync to the corresponding workspaces in your document management system (DMS). 

 

3. Forward any new event or document to responsible attorneys or clients with a click using the Email Collaboration tool. Plus, grant your team access to the Interactive Docket Reports directly from their to-do lists and allow internal staff or clients access to virtual file folders in any matter. 

 

Figure 1: Upload your document easily and link to the newly docketed action using the Drag & Drop feature.

 

When fully implemented, the Drag & Drop feature connects the different parts of the docketing process and streamlines document review processes for the benefit of the entire practice. 

 

2. Streamline Reporting and Communications  

 

Law firms with multiple offices often have disparate docket teams located in different cities or countries. These teams are responsible for different parts of the firm’s portfolio. To coordinate effectively, incoming communications need to be directed to the appropriate team in the appropriate office location.  

 

The latest version of PATTSY WAVE allows firms to designate certain users as ‘docketers’ and associate individuals with their offices. In addition, centralized email addresses can be defined for each office. When your IP operations team sends communications to professionals at their firm, the responses to those communications will be automatically directed to the appropriate centralized email address. This reduces time and effort for your docketing team and helps ensure that communications are automatically routed to the proper individual or repository.    

 

3. Save Time and Improve Efficiencies with Interactive Dockets and Docket Instructions 

  

Traditionally, attorneys and paralegals worked from docket reports that were generated from a firm’s centralized docket system. Then automation was added so docket reports could be automatically emailed to responsible parties daily, weekly, or monthly.  

 

Despite that automation, there wasn’t a standardized mechanism to communicate responses back to the docket team. This led to hundreds of emails being sent back and forth daily. And created significant inefficiency and data integrity issues, as the docketing team had to transcribe notes from each report and email them to the appropriate matter in the system. 

 

The Interactive Docket feature in PATTSY WAVE provides a central location where your team members can view the most up-to-date docket information, view corresponding documents, and communicate with colleagues and clients on the fly. Beyond those capabilities, attorneys and paralegals can utilize the Docket Instructions to communicate instructions to the docketing teams directly from their Interactive Docket. With the support of these features, your team can: 

 

• Improve efficiency: Manage your personal dockets and add instructions received by your docketing team on the fly. 

 

• Increase visibility and collaboration: Run firm-wide or office-wide dockets, consolidating instructions from across the firm into a single report, and act on those instructions directly from the Interactive Dockets.  

 

• Track and save your communications: Store instructions that can be referenced at any time, so you can always see why certain updates were or weren’t made for an event.  

 

 

Figure 2: Add, view or act on the docket instructions on the fly using interactive docket feature

Tools such as these are key components of the overall work process within a firm, where processes are defined for managing incoming correspondence – from the time it enters your office to when all follow-up activities are completed.  

 

Deliver Value to Clients 

 

PATTSY WAVE is designed to help you run your IP operations more efficiently, reduce risk, improve accuracy, and deliver more value to your clients. Ongoing collaboration and feedback from PATTSY WAVE clients help us innovate and build new features to better serve your diverse needs and maximize your value. Stay tuned for the next release of PATTSY WAVE with more powerful automation capabilities for your IP operations team.  

 

Contact your PATTSY WAVE representative to see how these features can fit into your firm’s work processes to help take full advantage of these capabilities or to request a demo. 

 

Interested in learning more?

Please reach out to Michael Frechtman at mfretchman@anaqua.com. 

Michael Frechtman is Senior Director, Sales and Accounts at Anaqua. Michael Frechtman has worked with IP management software for over 25 years and became part of the Anaqua family when PATTSY WAVE was acquired in 2020. 

 

 

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