In busy IP teams, paralegals face a never-ending cycle of docketing data, preparation of formal documents, correspondence with stakeholders, and deadline management. Partnering with an IP administration specialist can provide the extra level of support they need to succeed.
While many companies and law firms already rely on external providers for business processes, such as customer services, human resources, IT, and document management, outsourcing IP support and administrative functions is still a relatively new concept for many IP leaders.
However, once IP departments and law firms begin to outsource IP administrative services, they quickly realize the benefits, emphasized Stacy Fredrich, IP Director at Rheem Manufacturing Company, in our recent webinar on 'Navigating Post-COVID Challenges: Streamlining In-House Processes for Enhanced Efficiency and Collaboration'. As she shared during the session with Thelma Acheriel, Director of IP Administration at Questel, IP administrative outsourcing can provide a vital layer of support for stretched IP departments by providing a dedicated resource who can work seamlessly as an extension of the internal team.
That dedicated resource may manage specific IP maintenance tasks as a full-time equivalent (FTE), as with Rheem Manufacturing Company, or provide IP support services for urgent one-off matters. For example, many organizations use Questel's IP Administrative Support Services to provide ad-hoc assistance for large or unexpected projects, such as data transfer, data validation, or file creation projects, or to help fill gaps in their team.
Here, we discuss six benefits of working with an external administrative IP support specialist, such as Questel, and four ways to optimize the arrangement.
Six Benefits of Partnering with an IP Support Specialist
- 1. A Reliable and Necessary Safety Net
Paralegals can face a continuous influx of emails, documents, and docketing responsibilities, and those tasks and deadlines must be managed effectively, irrespective of sickness, staff shortages, or another unavoidable emergency. Working with an external administrative IP support specialist provides an important safety net, while also freeing up internal resources to concentrate on other vital tasks, such as onboarding, training, and overseeing new recruits.
- 2. Flexible and Adaptable End-to-End Assistance
When companies think about IP support services, they might only consider tasks, such as proofreading, IP docket management, or document preparation. However, Questel adopts a consultative approach for our clients to design a solution that meets their exact requirements. This can cover everything from invoice management, compliance checks, and invention disclosure submission process management to providing a dedicated resource to manage annuity reviews, inventor award programs, document signatories, or internal reporting.
Please note that this is not an exhaustive list, as we endeavor to help clients with all their requirements.
- 3. An Extra Pair of Hands
When your email inbox is constantly inundated with inquiries from clients or different business units, it's helpful to have someone you can trust to keep day-to-day tasks moving and clear the backlogs that inevitably build up over time. Likewise, when a last-minute, urgent task lands on your desk or a team member becomes suddenly unavailable, working with an external partner can ease the pressure and responsibility of managing unexpected workloads.
- 4. Process Standardization & Industry Best Practices
Few busy IP teams have the time and space to implement strategies to document or standardize processes, even ones they believe to be necessary. By adding a dedicated external resource to your team, you can capture your preferred processes and standard operating procedures into a "playbook" or training manual, as well as review and update them to reflect industry best practices while eliminating the need for disruptive changes to your day-to-day workflows.
- 5. A Trusted Member of Your Team
Our IP paralegals can work directly in our clients' systems, so that everything stays in their internal ecosystem, facilitating collaboration and version control while ensuring confidentiality and data security. While they are employed by Questel, their instructions and responsibilities will be defined by you. Depending on the location of your preferred resource, they may operate in a different time zone. However, many clients prefer this arrangement as it enables work to be completed out of hours.
- 6. Transparent and Cost-Effective
Return on investment is critical to every outsourcing project, which is why Questel delivers full transparency at every stage. Even where a client has been assigned an FTE and assumes full responsibility for task allocation, we deliver weekly work summaries that capture every IP support project undertaken and completed, including the amount of time spent on each phase. This provides clients with an important overview of current and upcoming projects, as well as enabling them to check timings against their expectations and priorities.
4 Ways to Optimize Administrative IP Support Outsourcing
- 1. Set Up Regular Updates
We work closely with clients to onboard, assist, and optimize their outsourced IP resources, including scheduling regular feedback and reporting sessions alongside day-to-day task-driven interactions. We find these scheduled catch-up sessions help us and our clients to plan upcoming projects effectively while ensuring existing processes continue to run smoothly. Depending on your preferences, it can make sense to schedule these types of short updates every two weeks.
- 2. Work With a Provider That Matches Your Technology Needs
Naturally, if you have already invested in an IP management system (IPMS) or use your external counsel to manage your docket, you will not want to invest in a completely new tool as part of your IP administrative outsourcing arrangement. By choosing a system-agnostic partner, such as Questel, with experience on your preferred IPMS, you can choose to provide secure remote access to your existing tool.
Where this isn't possible, we also work with clients via remote desktops/virtual private networks (VPNs) and dedicated Questel or common mailboxes that route (or copy) all communication and correspondence to our teams. Some clients prefer to provide their FTE with a company-controlled laptop (once onboarded) while others use the outsourcing arrangement as an opportunity to migrate to one of Questel's Equinox IP management software systems.
- 3. Choose Your Team As You Recruit Your Employees
It is important to meet your team before onboarding but especially so if you are working with a specific individual as your FTE. While the arrangement may be with a third-party provider, you need to build a relationship with your dedicated resource just as with any employee. As importantly, they also need to comply with your recruitment policies and HR requirements, which is why Questel also undertakes background checks according to individual client policies.
- 4. Select an IP Specialist That Provides Integrated Support
One of the key benefits of working with Questel is that we deliver a wide range of IP support services and have a large team of subject matter experts working from our centers of excellence around the globe. This means that our IP administrative specialists have access to a wide bank of knowledge to help answer questions promptly and seamlessly, whether they be related to new filing protocols, formalities, or even the establishment of completely new rights, as with the launch of the unitary patent system and UPC opt-out process in 2023.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.