What are the challenges of IP processing today?

Digital transformation AND collation of information in paper files

The modern drama in IP processing: a constant juggling and merging of data with a high expenditure of time.

The day-to-day work of most IP departments, patent law firms and IP law firms still consists of a mixed world between digitization and traditional "paperwork". Both worlds, paper and digitalization, have or had their advantages, some of which are dictated by case law and some of which still exist for historical reasons.

It is important to recognize this: What is practiced today, namely the parallel operation of both worlds, leads to a considerable additional workload compared to the previous world, which, because it has become a matter of course, is no longer regarded as problematic and is therefore accepted as normal by many companies.

Particularly in the IP world, you have to remain extremely focused when processing intellectual property matters, as essential information is continuously exchanged and documented. Not only that, this essential information is sometimes "fished out". Sometimes in old files, other times from the heads of experts, then again from various digital sources, internet sources, etc. Gathering and keeping a complete record requires a high degree of concentration, perseverance and discipline.

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In addition, there are always new challenges that a progressive company that wants to have satisfied employees and satisfied customers should consider. These challenges, such as the increasingly important work-life balance, the desire to reduce working hours and sensible solutions for dividing up individual areas of responsibility among different employees, require the greatest possible flexibility and structure in order not to jeopardize the company.

It is very important to be able to access external employee resources when required in order to support the flexibility and structure of your own company as much as possible.

The good thing is that external helpers can be hired if necessary and can be placed around the internal employees to flank them, so to speak, which further stabilizes the company's own workforce and at the same time ensures flexibility.

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In the dynamic, modern world of IP processing, IP departments and patent law firms are subject to constant change.

A high level of documentation, absolute traceability, revision security, tight deadlines, some of which cannot be postponed, complex processes and a correspondingly high workload characterize everyday life. In this challenging situation, the support of a professional software company that not only provides software but also IP services through its own patent clerks can be a valuable relief, especially when it comes to balancing out peaks.

At Continux, we select the right employees for you. All our employees who work on your behalf are permanently employed by us. We attach great importance to appropriate training and expertise and ensure the quality of the work to be delivered. We train and develop our employees so that the necessary expertise is always up to date for you. Because we know that excellence does not come from words, but from deeds. Of course, our Continux software supports us in this, but Continux software is not a must in this case. We also serve other structures and contribute as consultants to the success of your company.

The Continux team of experts takes on a wide range of IP management tasks for you:

Our patent clerks, IP officers and patent clerks have a wide range of skills and can provide support in numerous areas.

Among other things, we offer cooperation in the following activities:

- Formal revision of pleadings: Drafts of patent applications, oppositions, search reports and other documents,

- EP patents: Validation of EP patents,

- Coordination of unitary patents,

- Nationalization of PCT applications,

- Translations,

- Appointment of foreign lawyers on your behalf,

- Data qualification and control,

- Deadline monitoring and coordination,

- Support in the processing of resubmissions,

- Maintenance of the patent management software,

- Maintenance of the brand management software,

- Organization of annual fee payments,

- Checking the bibliographic notices,

- Semi-automatic data reconciliation with the authorities and report on subsequent steps,

- Search and analysis of patents, utility models and other intellectual property rights,

- Analysis of priority documents,

- Determination of the state of the art,

- Case processing, including support from file creation to communication with the patent office,

- Depending on the client, correspondence with clients or patent attorneys, offices and other parties involved,

- Project management including cost management and coordination of projects,

- Creation and preparation of statistics, increasing readability according to user group,

- Preparation and coordination of IP review meetings,

- and much more, let us know your requirements!

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What are the advantages of using external employees?

‍Flexibilityand expertise

Freelance patent clerks are flexible and can adapt their working hours to the needs of the company. They have expertise in various technical fields and legal knowledge of patent law, trademark law and industrial property rights.

Advantages for your IP operation

Working with a freelance patent clerk offers numerous advantages for patent law firms and IP departments in industry:

• Cost savings: From a business perspective, freelancers are often more cost-effective than permanent employees, provided the hourly fees are at a reasonable level. This is simply due to the fact that freelancers can be deployed on a temporary basis to cover peaks or as substitutes. The costs incurred by freelancers in the company can be calculated precisely for certain processes. These processes are usually works that can be processed autonomously, the benefits of which can be calculated within the company and therefore the bill can be easily presented when using an external employee.

• Relief for employees: With the support of a freelancer, permanent employees can concentrate on their core competencies and receive support in times of excessive workload. Vacation replacements, maternity, parental leave, illness and other absences, such as business trips, can also be used to relieve the employee and not lead to constant overload.
• Outsourcing unpleasant tasks that require a lot of time and effort: As an employee-oriented company, you should definitely think about assigning one or two tasks that unnecessarily slow down internal employees to an external employee. This significantly increases the motivation of your own employees.

• Increased efficiency: Work processes become more efficient and productive when you have external staff working on them. This is demonstrably due to the effect that arises when certain work is packaged in order to allow an external employee to carry out this work. The side effects are often that unnecessary internal procedures that have crept in over the years are thrown overboard. The external employee also sees the processes from a distant perspective, which contributes to the impetus to leave well-trodden paths and "turn off" onto shorter, more efficient paths together with the external employee.

• Flexibility: Freelancers can be called in at short notice if necessary to avoid bottlenecks. This is simply a very effective tool for supporting your own employees and keeping the business running.
• Specialized knowledge: Freelancers often have specialist knowledge in certain technical fields that may not be available in depth within the IP company. However, it does not matter whether an IP company necessarily has to cover all areas internally, as the pool of external experts means that it can draw on them at any time without having to maintain every aspect of expertise internally, which may not be needed as often.

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