Intellectual Property Management Software – or better: How do I achieve real IP management with software?

Intellectual property management software

The requirements for good Intellectual Property Management Software (IPMS for short) are extensive and at the same time face major challenges.

Changing requirements for IP management software

The greatest challenge is, on the one hand, to meet all the requirements that have existed since the beginning of software use, and, on the other hand, to accompany IPMS users into the modern world of digitalization and the associated demands with the best possible know-how and tools. In doing so, some older requirements sometimes conflict with some newer ones of digitalization.

What are the requirements for IPMS that seem to be mutually exclusive?

On the one hand, a company's most sensitive data, especially in the IP area, should be protected from any unauthorized access. On the other hand, a considerable proportion of communication with external parties still takes place via email exchange. In order to circumvent the insecure medium of email transport, either the emails or their attachments are encrypted and/or emails with attachments are generally blocked, and many other measures are taken.

On the one hand, expectations of being "informed" are higher than ever today, and on the other hand, IPMS users (and not only them) are faced with an almost unmanageable flood of information, the bundling of which is a major task, which is largely done incidentally and in most cases leads to continuous overburdening of those affected.

On the one hand, the perception of centralized data availability is growing to unprecedented dimensions (because technological possibilities simply allow it). On the other hand, especially in the IP world, the distribution of diverse data across diverse data sources (silos) is very common. Tools capable of connecting diverse data silos and mapping unified central information sources are rare.

In the IP world, the whole process is, of course, further complicated by the existence of a wide variety of offices, patent offices, courts, and competent bodies, depending on the country of application, procedural status, and application case, all of which have varying degrees of influence on the data to be managed and are of crucial importance. Many, if not all, of these authorities are cooking their own soup when it comes to data availability. A common, consistent interface across all authorities is still a bold vision today, one that seems almost absurd.

What is the solution to this dilemma?

Why is it so difficult to understand what IP management software should really be?

"Solution" marketing is available everywhere

It's everywhere, omnipresent. Various buzzwords, from countless manufacturers. Why are so many manufacturers concerned with DIGITALIZATION, TRANSPARENCY, and COLLABORATION when, if we're honest, they're only using makeshift solutions that lead to the goal, but not directly. They do lead to the goal, but sometimes take longer than if it were done manually. Our economy and way of working are far from digital transformation, and this is influenced by many factors, least of all the lack of technical capabilities, which have been pushed into the background since the advent of true cloud solutions.

The surprising practice shows that the use of software can sometimes lead to delays instead of shortcuts

Yes, you wouldn't believe it. Only, few people see it, and many don't even focus on it. When was the last time you considered whether, using a certain software, you might have achieved your goal faster if you had done it the traditional way without software? That's certainly not the typical direction of your thoughts. Some time ago, I spoke with an excellent, elderly accountant who, with her many years of experience, had used various accounting programs countless times. She was convinced that "back when there was no software," she achieved her goal faster and more precisely, with "more correct" results. For a long time, I couldn't put this thought aside and often compared the extent to which this statement might also apply to the various patent management programs or trademark management programs. To this day, I am convinced that this statement doesn't apply to IPMS, but couldn't it be of much greater importance to use IPMS? Or to put it another way, shouldn't it be much clearer that the use of IPMS leads to significant time savings and a dramatic increase in the quality of information transfer?

The direct benefit of using software for specific use cases must always be clearly recognizable

Every software developer should ask themselves this question whenever they program a piece of software, a feature, a new possibility.

Afterwards, it must be clarified what else can be optimized

Once this question has been clearly answered, it's time to go one step further. Which steps can be (further) eliminated? How can you maintain an overview at all times? Are all the possible questions a user might have in the context they're currently working in actually answered?

This procedure is not easy but leads to brilliant results

It is an art and requires a high degree of professionalism to work this way. We often asked ourselves whether it was worth the effort to examine these aspects in depth with every program change. We came to the conclusion that, as a manufacturer of IP management software in the cloud, which is not limited to the pure management of intellectual property rights, but enters the market with the mission of enabling truly efficient collaboration and strategic decisions to be able to easily follow or make decisions at any time, that with this claim we have the success of our company in our hands. 

Customer benefit is essential

The Customer Gets to the point. At the push of a button. Bring the data and put an end to endless searching and semi-manual compilation of information overviews combined from paper information, official information from the authorities online, and your own IP management software, and – in the worst case – previously printed lists that are long out of date but are still being tried to ensure details are not overlooked. And we live by this as a software manufacturer.

By the way, this is real practice and not a product of our imagination!

Our customers have extremely fast results

Yes, it's possible. You can easily access your own expertise, your portfolio, and your overall overview from a single source.

The prerequisite is the experts who are responsible for the software

But that requires experts like us. Because we sit there, laboriously brainstorming, over and over again.

The task is always:

How do we take away the customer's pain?

Is what we offer really effective or is there an easier, faster way?

We consider what leads to real transparency,

which leads to efficient work,

which leads to fast, valid and complete results,

where the pitfalls are or could be,

why you don’t get to the goal more directly and

what you can do to achieve this direct goal effortlessly and effectively.

At the end of the day, user feedback must confirm the approach, we call it "crowning"

You have to make it your mission, you have to have the people who can do it, and you have to see if the user feedback is what you want.

Efficient software use is efficient when the customer can confirm that each individual customer

If all of this is true—and only then—can we speak of efficiency in software. Only then will we be able to achieve the kind of software we offer. It must be a task in itself, a task that is lived and not (just) "marketed."