EP Management Best Practices, with a Use Case from noventive

Tech-driven solutions for European patent (EP) management are reaping efficiency and cost gains for companies and law firms. In this article, we explore the top five EP portfolio management challenges and the technologies and cost-cutting strategies that can help resolve them, with insights from technology company and patent law firm noventive.  

European patent (EP) management doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. Thanks to tech-driven solutions, companies and law firms can streamline their processes, cut costs, and improve efficiency.  

Our recent webinar ‘Streamlining European Patent Management: Insights from noventive’s Experience with Questel’s Digital Solutions’ shared how Questel’s all-in-one solution enhances accuracy and security while saving time and money. Here we summarize the key points from that discussion—including the five key challenges our solution was developed to address. 

Five Administrative and Financial Challenges for EP Portfolio Managers

From translations to payment deadlines, EP management can be a highly administrative, complex, time-consuming, and costly process—especially, if you deal with multiple service providers. 

• #1 Time 
  Estimating, instructing and monitoring deadlines of patent grant formalities, UP filings, UPC opt-outs, EP validations, and annuities is time-consuming.
• #2 Cost 
  The cumulative cost of translations, agent and official fees, and annuity payments can be excessively high.
• #3 Complexity 
  Fragmented workflows and single providers add administrative time and headaches to an already resource-heavy process.
• #4 Risk 
  Manual processes increase the risk of human error and oversights.
• #5 Resource Heavy 
  The overall result is less time to focus on higher-priority or more profitable projects. 
   

By choosing Questel's “one-stop” solution, you will benefit from access to a European patent ‘toolkit’ that will support you as you make key decisions across the life cycle of your rights, reducing these five administrative headaches and helping you achieve peace of mind. 

As importantly, our EP solution answers four critical questions IP owners and their legal advisors face when selecting suppliers: 

• 1. Service—Am I getting value for money?
• 2. Efficiency—Am I wasting time and resources?
• 3. Fees—Am I clear about what I’m paying for?
• 4. Invoices—How can I get control and check compliance?
   

Our approach is structured around two fundamental drivers that directly impact EP management challenges: (1) efficiency & processes and (2) cost. In our experience, these are the primary factors that influence our clients' bottom lines and operational efficiency. That's why we aim to optimize both through our tailored solutions. 

How noventive Cut Costs, Saved Time, and Optimized EP Management with Questel

As Alexander Füg, CEO and Co-Founder, and Jens Reinhard, Patent Attorney and Co-Founder, of technology company and patent law firm noventive shared in our webinar on EP management best practices, the IP sector oversees a highly taxing administrative burden of day-to-day IP work. Indeed, an estimated 75% of the effort of IP law firms is accounted for by administrative activities, distracting attorneys from their most valuable tasks: legal advisory work. 

Our client noventive saw the opportunity to harness workflow digitalization and service integration to free up its scalable pool of 40+ highly specialized attorneys to focus on value-added tasks for clients, providing direct access to responsible attorney and transparent fixed prices. 

“With Questel we have complemented our value chain end-to-end. We focus on substantive legal work and end-to-end process automation. We were looking for a partner with the same digital mindset plus a wide solutions and services portfolio. Questel complements our journey with its specialized IP services portfolio and the same OpenAPI approach.” 

Questel and noventive share the vision of transforming IP management through technology-driven innovation and strategic partnerships. By integrating Questel's tech-driven solutions with noventive’s fully digitalized workflows, the technology company and patent law firm achieved: 

• Streamlined Processes: Reducing administrative complexity and operational burdens.  
• Enhanced Efficiency: Enabling teams to focus on high-value, strategic IP activities.  
• Cost Optimization: Significant savings through automated processes and competitive service offerings.  
• Seamless Integration: Leveraging OpenAPI for transparent and efficient collaboration. 
   

Discover the full use case from noventive by watching our webinar ‘Streamlining European Patent Management: Insights from noventive’s Experience with Questel’s Digital Solutions.’ 

Discover how Questel’s integrated services and efficient workflows could help you save time and money, while enhancing accuracy and security, by contacting our subject matter experts today.