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The Anaqua Difference

By Bob Romeo, CEO of Anaqua

Continuing Customer Focus Among Industry Changes

There’s been a lot of noise in the IP software and services industry again over the past few months as players in the space restructure along product lines and allude to ‘integration’ in product announcements and thought pieces.

Here at Anaqua, we continue to focus on the foundation and reasoning behind all of our strategic decisions, our customers.

This is why in last week’s annual Anaqua executive management offsite we focused on how Anaqua can continue to better serve clients and deliver an even more integrated experience among our software, analytics and services. Our customer-centric approach along with our deep software integration define Anaqua’s roadmap and, ultimately, are what differentiate us from others in the industry.

Client Success is in Our DNA

When the IP executives from British American Tobacco and Ford wrote what became the original specification for the ANAQUA platform, they defined a new class of enterprise software and set the stage for a company culture that empowers its clients with direct influence on product development. Fifteen years later, we continue to put customers first by working closely with our clients and seeking consistent guidance in developing solutions that make work easier and simpler. Our vision continues to be delivering solutions that enhance the way our clients manage IP and bring even greater value to the work they do.

At Anaqua, we are proud to partner with incredible innovators and brand stewards, helping them to manage the complexities of the IP lifecycle – from conceptualization, through evaluation and protection, to monetization. Our IP management software and services enable corporations to gain true competitive advantage from their IP assets, while helping IP law firms to distinguish their IP practices and create a competitive edge.

We partner closely with our clients in a structured manner through client committees and working groups to define our product roadmap, which in turn guides our acquisition strategy, targeting complementary capabilities to drive client value. Anaqua’s client working groups span 64 different companies and include more than 100 executives and senior IP attorneys working closely with our leadership to bring their vision to life. Simply put, if it is not in our clients’ best interest, then it is not in our product roadmap.

Since our client needs are ever-changing, so is our solution. Over the years, we’ve made it a priority in our product development to engage with customers and utilize their valuable feedback to help create the best IP software available on the market. This tradition has continued with the latest enhancements to AQX. We listened to our customers and have delivered what they wanted – a software platform with a simplified user interface, where users can quickly access integrated dashboards and IP analytics that, previously, would have taken an enormous amount of time to find. With AQX, organizations are now able to align their IP portfolio strategy with their business objectives.

Delivering an Integrated Solution from the Beginning

In response to early customer needs, Anaqua pioneered the development of integrated IP management systems, creating the first unified platform capable of managing and automating the full IP lifecycle of patents, trademarks, designs, trade secrets and contracts. We call it The Business IP Platform. It combines insights from big data analytics with critical tools, best practice workflows and services into one efficient, intelligent environment that helps IP professionals align IP strategy with business strategy (and vice versa), and enables them to make better, more-informed decisions faster.

Our technology leadership has been driven by a culture of customer engagement and empowerment, through which our customers have a direct influence on product development in line with their changing requirements and priorities. As a result, our functionality is shaped by expert practitioners. Our workflows, taxonomies and templates have IP expertise built into them.

Our client success business model compels us to provide the highest quality IP software and consulting services available. To accomplish this mission, we work closely with our clients to develop a long-term strategic roadmap where we identify gaps and opportunities (such as functional capabilities and talent), and then determine what elements we should build, buy, or partner with that will best support our platform, and most importantly our clients. This supports our strategic integrated approach in carefully and intelligently integrating new technologies that leverage the core strengths of our infrastructure, stability, security, and world-class workflow configuration. We only partner with technologies or layer in new tools that can enhance the platform’s UI/UX, performance and drive modernization.

And This is Only the Beginning

Time will tell how recent M&A and corporate restructurings in the IP industry will impact IP practitioners and end-customers. Until recently, the reasons to move to a new software provider have been limited, but now it is more important than ever to reevaluate your IP management solution provider and determine whether it is the right selection for your business. This year’s mergers and the widening value gap between traditional docketing products and the next generation of IP business platforms, such as AQX, are excellent catalysts for organizations to upgrade their IP solutions.

All in all, a great opportunity at value creation for innovative IP organizations and leading IP software providers alike, an exciting beginning to 2020! Any member of my executive team and I would love to talk with you as you navigate the changing IP industry landscape.