Planview IdeaPlace (formerly known as Spigit innovation management software), with a 4-star rating, has gained widespread adoption among over 500 enterprises globally.

The tool’s patented algorithm aims to remove bias and subjectivity from the idea selection process – by leveraging user predictions regarding the potential costs, implementation time, and revenue generation associated with ideas.

Planview IdeaPlace also incorporates gamification elements such as game mechanics, virtual currency, and customizable incentives to increase employee engagement.

However, despite its widespread popularity, some innovation managers look for IdeaPlace alternatives for their enterprise’s unique needs.

In this article, we present five alternatives to Planview IdeaPlace, helping you make an informed decision when selecting the most suitable online idea and patent management platform for your enterprise.

However, first, let’s discuss what to look for in an alternative.

Features and Benefits to Look for in Planview IdeaPlace Alternatives in 2023

In your quest to find a suitable alternative to Planview IdeaPlace, it’s imperative to look for the following features and benefits to ensure a seamless transition.

Effective Patent Mining

The tool should offer an inventor-friendly and customizable idea disclosure form, promoting active engagement with innovators while streamlining the idea submission process. In this light, the importance of a comprehensive evaluation of idea management tools becomes evident, ensuring they meet these critical criteria.

Additionally, it should facilitate real-time collaboration among subject matter experts to ensure the thorough vetting of ideas to select only the promising ideas for patenting.

The tool should enhance innovator engagement by providing timely notifications as ideas transition through various phases, such as evaluation, patent drafting, and patent filing.

Furthermore, the tool should provide role-specific dashboards empowering all stakeholders to stay aligned with their KPIs and IP goals as an enterprise. 

Patent Analytics Powered Decision Making

The tool must predict the likelihood of allowance and patenting cost estimations besides examiner, patent counsel, and art unit analytics based on historical trends to assist in effective decision-making.

The tool must diligently monitor case health, issuing alerts for cases that require immediate attention, such as those taking longer than expected for prosecution. This allows the patent committee to implement corrective actions as needed.

Quick User Onboarding

The tool should provide an intuitive drag-and-drop feature that enables users to move their ideas through various stages, from idea capture, vetting, patent drafting and filing.

It should also have a product helpdesk to assist users with prompt responses – enhancing user experience.

Staying on Top of Enterprise’s Patenting Efforts

The tool should offer role-specific dashboards that provide a comprehensive overview of ideas submitted, inventor activity, manager activity, filed applications, and patent pipelines. Effective patent filing strategies are integral to managing this comprehensive overview.

Users should be able to efficiently tag patentable ideas with specific keywords, facilitating quick filtering for selecting ideas to patent within the current quarter. 

Additionally, the tool should simplify tracking metrics like the number of idea submissions and filed patents per innovator, enabling it to identify the top-performing inventors and managers within your enterprise.

Planview IdeaPlace Alternatives to Checkout in 2023

The TIP Tool^TM by Triangle IP is an idea and patent management software powered by patent analytics that helps businesses manage their growing IP portfolio. While planbox is an AI-powered innovation platform that helps teams collect, develop, and manage ideas from stakeholders. 

Furthermore, Sideways6 is good at driving employee engagement and innovation through its idea management software and services. IdeaBridge® provides strategic innovation consulting, helping businesses develop and implement innovative solutions for growth. 

And Ideawake excels in crowdsourced innovation, leveraging the collective intelligence of employees and customers to drive innovation.

Each alternative offers key differentiators to help you select the one that best suits your enterprise’s needs. Let’s dig deeper to explore each alternative comprehensively, beginning with the TIP Tool^TM by Triangle IP.

Planview IdeaPlace Alternative #1: The TIP Tool^TM by Triangle IP

The TIP Tool™, an intuitive drag-and-drop platform, facilitates effective enterprise-wide innovation capture and patent mining. Leveraging patent analytics aids in informed IP decision-making. Users particularly appreciate its role-specific dashboards and ability to enable real-time collaboration.

Source – Triangle IP

Key Benefits of Using The TIP Tool^TM by Triangle IP

The TIP Tool^TM by Triangle IP is an extremely affordable alternative to Planview Ideaplace looking at the numerous benefits it offers. Moreover, the team is open to custom development for your specific requirements.

1. Streamlined Idea Management 

Many enterprises struggle to keep innovators engaged and their innovation funnels full. To solve these challenges, the TIP Tool™ offers:

• A user-friendly invention disclosure form engages innovators across the enterprise – be it front-line employees or the R&D department.
• A customizable idea submission form, enabling unique field additions, edits, deletions, or concealments as per enterprises needs.
• Secure, enterprise-wide participation in innovation management, safeguarding IP-related data.
• Capability to tag ideas with technology-related keywords, product categories, or business functions for easy filtering.
• An option for innovators to attach supplementary materials like documents or slide decks to better represent their ideas.
• Innovators are notified as their ideas progress through different stages for greater engagement.
• Real-time collaboration, just like Google documents, for thorough vetting of ideas.

2. Selection of the Most Promising Ideas for Patenting

Innovation teams and subject matter experts often face challenges when collaborating and communicating effectively in real-time – especially when working remotely. 

The TIP Tool^TM addresses these challenges by facilitating real-time collaboration, just like Google Docs, with features such as commenting, tracking edits, etc. 

The tool also helps you keep track of modifications with version history, allowing easy visualization of changes and the ability to revert specific alterations.

By empowering your team with the right collaboration tools, the TIP Tool^TM enables thorough vetting of ideas, helping you to select the most promising ones for patenting. 

Also, check this video where Thomas Franklin, founder of Triangle IP, shares How to determine if your idea qualifies for a patent or a trademark or other legal protection?

3. Patent Analytics Powered Prosecution Strategy

Most patent applicants find the patent prosecution process opaque, heavily relying on their patent attorney’s expertise and chance for success. However, the TIP Tool™ offers valuable data and insights on the patent counsel and examiner linked to an applicant’s case.

Furthermore, the TIP Tool™ allows for comparisons with similar cases within the same art unit, under identical examiners, or represented by the same patent counsel.

This tool lets applicants to closely track their patent application’s journey throughout the prosecution process, providing enhanced visibility and control.

The insights garnered from the tool can inform decision-making and guide the next steps with their patent counsel.

The TIP Tool^TM also enables applicants to get end-to-end patenting cost estimates by considering statistics such as expected rounds of arguments. 

Here’s a quick video that explains how the TIP Tool^TM can help you improve your patent prosecution efficiency.

4. Informative Dashboards

Innovation managers struggle to keep track of idea and patent pipelines. Additionally, identifying which innovator is working on which idea has been a daunting task for them.

Nonetheless, the TIP Tool^TM’s user-friendly dashboard provides a comprehensive overview of an enterprise’s idea and patent pipeline. 

The tool helps innovation managers to monitor the progress of their team’s activities, including the number of ideas submitted and patents filed. 

By using the TIP Tool^TM, managers can also identify potential roadblocks, such as ideas lingering in the ideation and vetting stages for too long. 

The tool offers role-specific dashboards – enabling inventors and managers to track their intellectual property (IP) activity and align it with their key performance indicators (KPIs).

Such information helps streamline innovation management, helps in collaboration, and enables enterprises to identify and reward their most promising inventors and managers.

5. Patent Family Tree Generator

Patent lawyers or paralegals must read a patent’s priority claims and manually construct a family tree – this process is time-consuming and prone to errors.

However, the TIP Tool^TM’s patent family tree generator helps users to generate two visualizations for patent family trees – Traditional and Gantt Chart.

• Traditional Patent Family Tree Visualization

Traditional patent family tree visualization uses arrows to illustrate relationships between parent and child patents, depicting connections from parents to a selected patent and extending from the selected patent to its offspring.

• Gantt Chart Style Patent Family Tree Visualization

A Gantt chart visually represents the relationships between applications using colored bars. 

Each bar represents a separate application, indicating the priority date, filing date, pendency period, issue date, and time overlap. Colors differentiate application phases, while bar length indicates patent expiration and pending application expiration if issued.

Such visualizations make it exceptionally easy and intuitive for patent attorneys to view all patent family members that are public, US-based, and non-US-based family members and the patent family members from the private PAIR.

6. Affordable Pricing and Custom Tier

The TIP Tool^TM offers a range of attractive packages, including free, paid, and custom options, catering to diverse needs. 

The free package allows up to ten users to experience the basic features. While the paid package is for 100 users maximum – it unlocks advanced functionalities for $50 per month or $495 per year. And the custom package offers tailored solutions to meet specific requirements. 

7. The TIP Tool™ Helpdesk

If you encounter any issue while using the TIP Tool™, there is a product helpdesk for quick assistance. It’s well-documented with intuitive search options.

8. Freemium Model

Evaluating ideas and patent management software based on marketing materials alone can be challenging. Triangle IP’s TIP Tool™ offers a free plan for up to 10 users to mitigate this, allowing potential customers to experience its functionalities.

Furthermore, it incorporates a sample patent portfolio, facilitating a seamless exploration of the tool’s capabilities.

Sign up here to experience the TIP Tool^TM right now.

Customer Review

A review in G2 highlights the TIP Tool^TM as highly user-friendly. The customer praised its drag-and-drop feature for effortless idea movement between stages. Additionally, the simple and intuitive idea form facilitates easy completion for innovators.

Source – G2

Also, read  – Hype Innovation Alternatives You Must Try in 2023 (+ Reviews)

Planview IdeaPlace Alternative #2: Sideways6

Designed for large enterprises with 1,000 employees or more, Sideways6 is an innovation and idea management platform that facilitates sourcing and managing employee ideas. 

Sideways6 integrates with popular platforms like Microsoft Teams, Yammer, Workplace, and Slack to enhance the idea generation and collaboration process within companies.  

Source – Sideways6

Key Benefits of Using Sideways6

Customers love using Sideways6 because of its integrated approach, time-saving features, ease of use, and tangible results. Here are some of the key benefits worth noting:

• Streamlines idea submission for employees by seamlessly integrating with their regularly used software solutions, such as Microsoft Teams, Yammer, Workplace from Facebook, and Slack.
• Helps you identify the most promising ideas by allocating and sending ideas to relevant in-house experts for review.
• Keeps everyone informed throughout every stage of the innovation journey, resulting in more motivated innovators.
• Enables you to measure the success of your innovation initiatives. By identifying key trends, understanding the business impact of ideas, and creating custom reports, you can effectively showcase the return on investment (ROI) and make data-driven decisions to drive continuous improvement.

Customer Reviews

Here’s a review screenshot highlighting how Sideways6 enables 16,000+ employees to contribute, driving enterprise-wide innovation and collaboration. To read more such reviews, click here.

Pricing

It’s free for up to 10 users. Teams with more than 10 users (11 – 500 users) can avail the service for $3 per user per month.

Large companies can inquire about custom pricing by contacting the sales team at Sideways6 for further information.

Also, Read – 5 Best Free Idea Sharing Platforms to Try in 2023

Planview IdeaPlace Alternative #3:IdeaBridge®

IdeaBridge, with its expertise in crowdsourcing and open innovation, is the go-to platform for global enterprises aiming to invent new products and services, manage costs, and elevate employee engagement.

Source – IdeaBridge

Key Benefits of Using IdeaBridge®

Customers prefer IdeaBridge due to its array of features that facilitate the effortless management of employee ideas. These features include a user-friendly interface, seamless integration with existing collaboration tools, and efficient idea management capabilities.

Let’s delve into some important benefits that are worth exploring:

• Enables you to effectively predict the return on investment (ROI) by quantifying the revenue, cost, and timeline of ideas. 
• Helps you leverage hackathons to bring together employees and teams with diverse skills and expertise, enabling collaborative problem-solving to overcome challenges.
• Helps you to maximize productivity with customized designs that effortlessly align with your internal processes, enabling highly configurable workflows.
• Empower your enterprise to redefine custom workflows, tailoring them to suit your enterprise needs and streamlining operations for enhanced productivity.

Customer Reviews

Here’s a screenshot of a review showcasing the IdeaBridge® ability to create custom workflows effortlessly. To read more such reviews, click here.

Pricing

Pricing is unavailable-contact Ideabridge for more details.

Also, read – Top 3 Brightidea Alternatives You Must Know in 2023 

Planview IdeaPlace Alternative #4: Ideawake

Ideawake is an idea management software that enables businesses to create challenges, outline specific goals, gather ideas from employees, customers, and suppliers, and drive innovation in areas identified for innovation.

Source – Ideawake

Key Benefits of Using Ideawake

Customers appreciate Ideawake for its user-friendly interface. Ideawake’s features, such as discussion threads, idea ranking, voting features, project tracking features, key metrics, and participation, save enterprises valuable time and eliminate any obstacles that may hinder the idea submission process.

Let’s explore a range of notable benefits worth delving into:

• Ideawake empowers users to create customized scorecards, evaluating ideas against custom criteria aligned with business objectives. 
• Ideawake enables users to gain valuable business insights through an analytics dashboard, offering graphical reports on employee engagement, innovation health, and other vital metrics.
• Utilize Ideawake’s collaboration tools, like real-time chat, file sharing, crowd voting, and assigned user groups, to benefit from enhanced teamwork. 
• Helps you to motivate participants by leveraging Ideawake’s gamification tools, such as leaderboards. 

Customer Reviews

According to customers, Ideawake fosters enhanced collaboration among teams, fueling creativity and facilitating the generation of more innovative ideas within the enterprise. Here’s a screenshot of one such review

Pricing

Ideawake pricing plans are not displayed publicly. However, you can contact them here to enquire about it.

Also, read – IPFolio Competitors and Alternatives: Choosing the Best Patent Management Software for Medium-Sized Enterprises

Planbox

Planbox, an innovation management software, creates an ecosystem for crowdsourcing ideas, aligning with corporate strategy, and streamlining the workflow process for evaluation, development, prioritization, and implementation. 

Source – Planbox

Key Benefits of Using Planbox

Customers love using Planbox because of its innovation ecosystem, efficient agile innovation management, and advanced idea management capabilities. These features greatly assist enterprises in generating and fine-tuning ideas, effective communication of challenges and opportunities, and enhanced management of their innovation activities.

Let’s explore a range of notable benefits worth delving into:

• Planbox uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to help users search for information from different places, both inside and outside an enterprise, and use that information to create new and interesting ideas without needing a person to do it manually.
• Planbox provides a simple yet effective dashboard with graphs, progress assets, and scoreboards, allowing users to see the latest activity quickly.
• Planbox’s built-in gamification system helps boost participation rates while providing recognition and rewards, validating individual efforts.
• Helps you to discover and develop winning ideas with Planbox’s integrated opportunity and problem discovery methodology. 

Customer Reviews

Customers appreciate Planbox’s visual dashboards, offering real-time project updates. Here’s a review showcasing the appreciation.

Pricing

Planbox has not disclosed its pricing plans publicly. Contact them here for details.

Also, read – Top 5 IdeaScale Alternatives You Must Know in 2022

The TIP Tool^TM – A Promising Planview IdeaPlace Alternative

When finding an alternative to Planview IdeaPlace, the good news is you can’t go wrong with any of the above listed idea management software options. They are the best in the industry.

However, the best way to get to know the ones that seem appealing is to take advantage of their free trials.

While larger enterprises can benefit from several of the Planview IdeaPlace alternatives mentioned above, when it comes to startups, enterprises, individual inventors, and patent practitioners, the optimal solution for managing idea and patent portfolios is undoubtedly the TIP Tool™ by Triangle IP.

Take patent mining to the next level at your enterprise with the TIP Tool™. 

Click here to try it for free.