The Patent Group within Microsoft Legal and Corporate Affairs coordinates thousands of patent applications every year. To improve productivity, it deployed a Microsoft Access Services solution that delivers patent-tracking data to a Microsoft SharePoint 2010 site. With browser-based access to all their information, employees have better visibility into the progress of patent applications, so they can work more efficiently and avoid late filing fees.

Business Needs
Within Microsoft Legal and Corporate Affairs, the Patent Group identifies and patents new technologies. To ensure that Microsoft remains at the forefront of the technology innovation ecosystem, the Patent Group must efficiently process or “prosecute” thousands of patent applications every year.

“We oversee tens of thousands of issued and pending U.S. patents annually, with a growing portfolio of international patents,” says Malori Dahukey, Associate Paralegal at the Patent Group, Microsoft Legal and Corporate Affairs. “This amounts to between 50 and 100 new matters every month for each of our 50 attorneys. Patent data and metadata is stored in our Anaqua patent database.”

It can take years from when the group files a patent with the U.S. Patent Office until it is either included in the Microsoft patent portfolio or abandoned. For each patent, a Microsoft attorney assigns an outside lawyer to handle the documentation between the U.S. Patent Office and the inventor. The two attorneys comanage the many stages in the prosecution of each patent, using email to communicate.

“Attorneys could miss important email messages in their overflowing inboxes,” says Dahukey. “This situation could result in missed deadlines, incurring late filing fees or the loss of patent rights to a technology. With so many patents and email messages, it was difficult to track and report on the progress for each patent.”

Attorneys and support staff also wasted time searching the Anaqua database for documents and status reports on their prosecutions. “We needed a single place for everyone to access the information they need to do their work, and a standard, transparent process for everyone to follow on all their prosecutions,” says Dahukey.

Solution
The Patent Group supports some patent leads for the company’s own Microsoft Access 2010 Database Team, so the Patent Group turned to this team for a solution. Called the Patent Tracking Web Database, the solution uses Microsoft Access 2010, Microsoft SharePoint 2010, and Microsoft Access Services to provide a single SharePoint site from which everyone in the Patent Group can access patent tracking data from their web browser. The site organizes each attorney’s current workload into easily searchable lists they can use to track progress on each patent.

Since using our Microsoft Access Services solution for easy access to data, streamlined workflows, and better visibility into prosecutions, we’ve seen a paradigm shift in productivity at the Patent Group. Malori Dahukey Associate Paralegal at the Patent Group, Microsoft

It took less than a week to build the Patent Tracking Web Database, and the technology is so user friendly that Dahukey quickly learned how to administer the solution for all 80 employees of the Patent Group.

Dahukey runs a report twice a week to extract new patent information in Anaqua by using relevant metadata, and stores it in an Access database. The solution uploads and synchronizes patent data to a SharePoint list where it is available to edit or report on. “Instead of a barrage of email messages, outside counsel now sends information to our docketing team so they can dock the task in Anaqua,” explains Dahukey. “My report captures new tasks and any metadata associated with the case for uploading onto the SharePoint site. Our administrative assistants can upload documents to the SharePoint site from the U.S. Patent Office, so everything is in one place for the attorneys.”

After attorneys review their matters and write instructions for outside counsel, the solution sends email notifications to outside council. By utilizing the technology this way, the group is able to use the Access database as a record of all patent prosecutions, providing rich data for reporting on the entire patent portfolio.

Benefits
The Patent Group has experienced significant cost savings and productivity improvements since deploying the Patent Tracking Web Database. “After using our Microsoft Access Services solution for easy access to data, streamlined workflows, and better visibility into prosecutions, we’ve seen a paradigm shift in productivity at the Patent Group,” says Dahukey. “Now, we can handle the growing number of patent applications in the United States and abroad with existing resources.”

Better Visibility into Patent Status
Dahukey runs reports off the Access database, loading up-to-date information directly onto the Patent Group SharePoint site. Employees can easily track the history of their instructions and modifications for each patent. “Now everyone can see their pending action items and filing deadlines, and even ensure that outside attorneys are keeping up with the prosecutions,” says Dahukey. “Today, nothing is falling through the cracks.”

Cost Savings
With improved patent tracking, everyone can take the appropriate steps to avoid the pitfalls of missed deadlines, which incur late filing fees and can even cause the loss of patent rights. “The Patent Tracking Web Database has helped us avoid late filing fees of close to a million dollars,” says Dahukey. “We are saving money, because now we can see if the late fees are incurred by our lawyers or by outside counsel, who would then be responsible for payment. With improved understanding of the portfolio as a whole, we can make more-informed decisions about abandoning patents that are no longer relevant and save money that way, as well.”

Improved Productivity
Dahukey estimates that she is saving 75 percent of her time because she’s no longer managing inefficient processes. Now that attorneys and support staff work through a standardized series of steps, everyone is more productive.

Concludes Attorney Tony Azure, Intellectual Property and Licensing, Microsoft Legal and Corporate Affairs, “The SharePoint site has increased my efficiency and streamlined my workflow, as all information and documents needed for reviewing Microsoft prosecution are centralized in one place and are easy to access.”

For more information about Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010, go to:
www.microsoft.com/sharepoint