One of the greatest challenges to the business of an IP practice is the management of the core docketing process.  Since its inception, docketing has been manual, voluminous, complex and complicated.  Docket due dates are highly dependant on one another, and one mistake or offset can affect an entire portfolio.  The exposure and risk of error is tremendous, which is why malpractice insurance also levies a heavy premium on law firm prosecution practices. 

We’ve moved in recent years from paper-based manual docketing to technology-based manual docketing, but little has changed.  Most every IP group today still generates manual docket report (though some are emailed today), and clearance is even more paper-intensive (even though the paper is sometimes scanned).  I think in this world of Web 2.0 and advanced automated technologies, we should really challenge IPM system providers to step up their game. 

The New “Next Generation” IPM technology should be online, interactive docket reporting.  I’m talking about an automated enterprise that truly eschews paper, and allows the exchange of information to streamline and condense.  Here are the hallmarks of what I’d consider truly “next generation”:

Web-based docket reporting: Not just PDF’s available on the web, but true web-based reporting that provides contextually-relevant dockets to attorneys and their staff, and allows complete drill-down capabilities from the report into the IPM system for further review of the due date.  The reports should also be live and real-time.

Mobile docketing:  Web-based isn’t enough in our mobile economy.  A true leap would be the ability to provide just-in-time docket reports to practitioners through iPhone or Blackberry applications. And reporting isn’t enough – practitioners have to be able to review and act on docket items.

Automated clearance:  docket clearance is among the most manual of tasks in IP groups today. It’s generally time consuming, and information is never available in real time. If we can provide live, interactive docket reports, we should also be able to provide live, real-time clearance instructions.

Automated docketing:  the closest we have to this today are single-page docketing worksheets for our most adept data entry clerks.  But why couldn’t we synchronize our docketing packages with online templates, provided in the cloud?  That would be a real Value-added service.  What’s more, where are those PTO synchronization utilities we’ve been hearing about for years?  We just lob balls over the wall between firm and regulatory agency. Automated docketing vis-à-vis downloaded and synchronized docket packages from the PTO would be a true leap forward.

While I’m at it, it’s also about time that the USPTO and other IP regulatory agencies worldwide began to embrace and roll out technology to simplify filings, provide transparency, and streamline the prosecution process. We’ve been talking about it for years; the time has come.