Streamline Outside Counsel Collaboration on Trademarks and Track Firm Performance with AQX®

In an earlier blog post, we addressed how trademark teams that handle all their work in house can use AQX to streamline incoming requests and subsequent communication to save time and avoid errors that could put trademarks at risk.

In this post, we look at how companies who work extensively with outside counsel on trademarks can greatly improve collaboration and make processes more efficient, as well as gain insight into law firm productivity.

 

Save Time and Effort with Centralized, Streamlined Collaboration

With AQX, your trademark team can work together with outside counsel/agents in a centralized online location to communicate and move tasks forward – quickly, conveniently, and securely. This approach also reduces risk and allows for improved oversight and reporting.

AQX is not only a system of record, but also a system of collaboration which enables you to get all stakeholders and parties come to the data, allowing you to control data flow behind your firewall. 

Use the platform to:

• Enable your outside counsel/agents to log into your docket on AQX. Distinct role-based security enables your team to control which areas and fields each outside entity can see. Each law firm sees only those records assigned to them.
• Collaborate easily with outside counsel/agents using the at-a-glance AQX Calendar view, which shows all the deadlines associated with your docket.
• Make email communication more efficient by bringing people into the system to record data, make decisions and trigger review workflows rather than use manual methods.

AQX Trademark Workflows from Your Team’s Perspective

Figure 1: The Trademark Calendar View

 

The Calendar View (shown above) is the easiest way to collaborate directly with outside counsel on deadlines.

From within the Calendar View, you can:

• Build your docket by easily adding fields such as record ID, referenced number, dates, country, status, instructions, and image.
• Make decisions and instruct outside counsel r. The tool is available for both parties to instruct and review/respond to comments as well as any documents that have been uploaded. You can communicate directly within the calendar and within a record.
• Send emails directly from the docket. A link in the email will allow counsel to directly access the record.
• Upload documents

When you are in a matter you can:

• Send ad hoc emails or choose from a template that dynamically incorporates details for the matter you are working on.
• Easily transfer records to a new outside counsel with a transfer date. This functionality also keeps the history of at what point a particular law firm was handling the matter.

For records such as Trademark Applications:

• Track the file’s entire history, communication, internal/external documents stored against a particular record. From here, you can also send instructions using the stored email templates to save additional time. Dynamic fields pull the data directly from the record into the email.

For Search and Clearance activity:

• Instruct searches from AQX and allow outside counsel to record the results in the AQX search request
• If the search is favorable, outside counsel can create the Trademark Application record if desired. It automatically inherits all the information from the Trademark Search record.

 

AQX Trademark Workflows from the Outside Counsel/Agents’ Perspective

Upon logging in to AQX, outside counsel see only the menu items you want them to see and only the records assigned to their firm

• From the Calendar View, they can acknowledge your request and view any special instructions.
• Outside counsel can upload documents such as office actions with reminder dates and close tasks with dates. Closed tasks will be removed from the docket but remain in the archive history.
• As with the company-side capabilities, outside counsel can quickly create emails from a form template library that dynamically pulls in data fields to speed up work.

 

Keep Tabs on Outside Counsel Performance and Compare Firm Productivity

Figure 2: Outside Counsel Performance Metrics HyperView™ Dashboard

The data collected in AQX during the outside counsel prosecution and filing process can be accessed as an excellent way to assess and compare performance.

The Outside Counsel Performance Metrics Dashboard provides users the ability to evaluate law firms based on true IP KPIs such as:

• Allowance Rate
• Pendency
• Average Time to Draft & File
• Average Time from Instruction to Acknowledgement
• Average Number of Office actions
• Average Spend Per Firm/Docket

Reports can be sent via links to other AQX users as well as outside counsel.

Summary

Using AQX to complete trademark management work with outside counsel will not only save hours of time in collaboration and result in faster decisions, but also empower your team to measure and assess dollars spent on getting the work completed.

 

For additional information on Trademark Management:

• Simplify and Streamline Trademark Requests & Renewals (Part 1) - Anaqua IP Management Software and Services
• 5 Ways to Manage Your Trademark Portfolio More Efficiently - Anaqua IP Management Software and Services
• Trademark Management on AQX Corporate
• At-a-Glance Video: AQX Trademark Management - Anaqua