Simplify and Streamline Trademark Requests & Renewals (Part 1)
Trademark Management
April 17, 2024
Trademark management can be a challenging task for any organization. Trademark teams often find it difficult to keep up with the large volume of back-and-forth emails and the many tasks involved in each trademark project. Renewal decisions can also be complex and often require constant follow-up to get decisions from each marketing or product team.
What You’ll Learn
In this post, learn five ways that your trademark team can streamline communication and collaboration with stakeholders and make the entire trademark management process more efficient using Trademark Management on the AQX® IP management platform.
1. Make it easy for marketing and product teams to initiate requests and check project status
Using AQX, clients such as marketing, brand, and product teams can easily enter trademark requests and upload all related images and documents via a shared portal (see Figure 1 below).
There is a standard trademark request form for the user to select the mark type, countries, etc. or your team can opt to configure more specific questions as needed. Each search request will automatically be forwarded to person(s) on your internal IP team or to outside counsel.
This centralized hub enables your team to:
- Avoid the confusion of back-and-forth emails – all communication is in one place
- Reduce data entry and coordination times
- Enable bulk requests to be entered easily
- Quickly see whether the search has been done previously
- Allow stakeholders to easily add or remove details in a search plan
Figure 1: The request process in AQX provides configurable workflows to meet the needs of your teams.
2. Stay organized and automate steps
On AQX, the process for starting your trademark search project is fully centralized and automated to keep everything progressing fluidly.
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- Easily check search history: As soon as the appropriate person on your team receives the trademark request, he/she can check to see whether a search has been done previously.
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- Automatically create a Clearance Record: Once the search request is accepted, AQX automatically creates a clearance record (which serves as a project record) and classifies the request within the desired brand family.
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- Start preliminary search and capture hits: Next, the trademark paralegal can initiate a search request in AQX for execution and analysis in CompuMark’s SERION®. All hits are recorded with related specifics in the project record, including the ability to add remarks. An application can be started from this point. The system will take all the information from the record and start the application. Once a preliminary knockout search has been completed, if you decides to move forward, simply select the countries to be searched. If you are using outside counsel, simply add law firms for each country as necessary along with instructions.
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- Post results and notify requestor: Once the search is done, the requestor is automatically notified of the search results.
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- Improve communication: Enable stakeholders to check the status of their trademark requests at any time by logging into the portal and making next-step decisions. Additional workflows and alerts can be created as needed.
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- Initiate the Trademark Application with one click: Once your company decides to proceed with a trademark application, simply click to initiate the process. AQX takes all the information from the search and creates the application. It will also link the record back to the family record so you can see the full search history.
Figure 2: This automated workflow assists in moving your project forward and tracking results
3. Validate Your Data Accuracy Quickly Using Public Data
Compare your application data with a quick visual side-by-side check against Anaqua Data Services to ensure the data in your system is accurate.
- Update information quickly with simple acceptance clicks
- Use either ad hoc data checks or scheduled data checks
4. Speed Up Trademark Renewal Decisions with Business Stakeholders
Deciding to renew a trademark in a specific country often involves decisions by various people within the organization. AQX facilitates that process along with making the renewal process simple to manage:
- Check status/forecasted costs: AQX’s Trademark Renewal panel allows you to check the status of the renewal, add renewal instructions, view forecasted costs, and more.
- Request bulk renewals easily: Search by various parameters and issue bulk renewal requests.
- Streamline stakeholder approval collaboration: Within the system, set up renewal “meetings” by selecting stakeholders and tagging the marks to be reviewed. Each business unit gets a user-friendly view of trademarks you need them to review, including links to any related IP assets such as licensing agreements.
- Sync up renewals: If your company uses Anaqua Trademark Renewal services, the renewal requests can automatically be acted upon by our payments team and renewal information automatically syncs to AQX.
5. View and Explore All Your Trademark Data and Activity Through Graphical Reporting
Figure 3 - AQX provides HyperView dashboards/graphical reporting to view and explore your trademark portfolio. Reports can be easily shared with other stakeholders.
AQX HyperView™ enables you to visualize your trademark activity and dive into specific areas. Use out-of-the-box trademark reports or create your own. Check your Renewals Forecast report, for example, to answer questions such as:
- How many applications are currently pending?
- In what jurisdictions are my renewals coming up?
- Have I budgeted enough to handle upcoming renewals?
In any area, you can click and explore details and review records individually.
For each step of the trademark lifecycle, AQX keeps your team organized and in close communication with the audiences your team services so that all parties are aware of the status of trademark projects and can make faster business decisions.
Centralize, Automate, and Streamline
AQX® Trademark Management brings structure to the trademark request process by serving as a centralized hub in which all requests, searches, and applications are handled and recorded in one place to facilitate decisions and speed up communication. Your team can use default workflows or configure their own to ensure that projects move forward fluidly and that the correct people review items and approve as necessary. The history of all trademark requests, searches, and decisions is maintained in the system and can be linked to all related business activity (such as conflicts or counterfeit tracking), products, and documents.
In Part 2 (available in May 2024), we will review how this process works for companies who use outside counsel.
Ready to learn more? Reach out today for a personalized demonstration.
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