9 Best Intellectual Property Management Software For Businesses In 2022

Tracking your Intellectual Property from the idea stage to the commercialization stage is an ordeal, involving high risks with no room for inadvertent errors. Storing confidential Intellectual Property-related information on generic systems like spreadsheets is susceptible to data breaches and inefficient.

To earn a competitive advantage in business, organizations need to be on top of their IP game. Having a systematic business process for managing ideas will help your organization in identifying patentable and commercially viable inventions. Today there are various tools and software that allow you to keep track of your Intellectual Property at every stage. They are easy to use and you can choose the software best suited to your company’s needs. Intellectual Property management softwares help you capture the most promising ideas and track their progress till these become IP assets. 

Let’s look at the 9 best Intellectual Property management software for businesses to use in 2022:

#1. The TIP Tool™ by Triangle IP

The (TIP) Tool makes your patent mining process transparent and easy. It is an intuitive and engaging platform, with a drag and drop workflow. It helps with the idea capturing and internal vetting, where approval for drafting a patent is sought. The draft patent applications can be stored and exchanged securely by the prosecutor. Upon filing the application, the serial number and filing date are added along with a copy of the final application. You can also get the patenting cost estimates, case statistics, and examiner analytics, and stay in sync with the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO). It is a reliable way to ease your headache of complex Intellectual Property management at your enterprise. 

Key Benefits:

Improve the quality of invention disclosures ​- Get more invention disclosures using a simple & intuitive invention disclosure form

Best Intellectual Property Management Software - Triangle IP's Invention Disclosure Form

Gain patent pipeline visibility – Track your idea through various stages of the process whether it is being evaluated at your end or passed to your counsel for drafting and filing

TBest Intellectual Property Management Software - riangle IP's patent pipeline visibility

Brainstorm ideas with stakeholders on a real-time basis – Brainstorm and discuss ideas with inventors, prosecutors, managers working in remote locations and collaborate on a real-time basis

Best Intellectual Property Management Software - Triangle IP's real time collaboration feature

Case analytics and cost prediction – Know the probability of getting your idea patented or a prediction on how much getting a patent may cost over the years

Triangle IP's Case analytics and cost prediction

USPTO status updates – Automatic application(s) status update with USPTO for your published as well as unpublished applications

Triangle IP's USPTO Status Updates

Patent counsel and examiner statistics – Make informed decisions with your patent counsel and examiner analytics by knowing more about the law firm &  examiner handling your application 

Patent counsel and examiner statistics

A holistic view of your patent pipeline at a glance – Identify the bottlenecks in your innovation pipeline by gaining visibility into your entire IP lifecycle through various dashboards

A holistic view of your patent pipeline at a glance

Additional Benefits:

  • Approving ideas – Lock approved ideas to enhance protection
  • Merge multiple ideas – Drag & drop multiple ideas into a single filing
  • Scoring – Prioritize your ideas with the value score
  • Magic link – Passwordless login with single-use email link
  • Archiving ideas – Archive low priority ideas so as to focus on other unfiled ideas
  • Tagging – Use tags to group and filter ideas
  • Nurturing – Strengthen collaboration by notifying stakeholders

Pricing:

​​Free TierPaid Tier ($495 Per Portfolio, Yearly)
User limit – 10User limit – 25
Storage –  5 GBStorage – 20 GB
Maximum file size – 10 MB Maximum file size – 50 MB
Portfolios – 1Portfolios – 3
Private Pair Access
Case Analytics
Portfolio Manager
Family Trees
Customizable Idea Form
Real-Time Collaboration
Enhanced Nurturing
First Month Free – SignUp Today

Deployment: 

Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based.

Who Needs this Software

The person responsible for managing intellectual property at a small-to-medium-sized enterprise that files 5+ patents per year. The enterprise needs a systematic business process to capture innovations and track the progress from ideas to patents. 

Users’ Perspective

One of the users of TIP Tool reviewed it as “Quite a useful tool to manage overall ideas”. 

  • The tool is easy to use and understand, even for a person who is not from a patent background
  • Gives a smooth platform to store ideas in one place and track them through a complete IP lifecycle
  • Role-based access – admin, inventors, managers, patent prosecutors with different permissions

Product Demo Video/Snapshots

The TIP Tool comes with the power of patent analytics. Watch the video to know how analytics can help you make informed IP decisions

#2. AppColl Prosecution Manager

AppColl Prosecution Manager is a cloud-based Intellectual Property management software and docketing platform. The service allows access to all documents from any web browser, anytime, and communication between all parties associated with filing a patent in the US and internationally.

Key Features:

  • Offers 9 interdependent modules for tasks, matters, prior art, files, billing, reports, contacts, invent, and conflicts
  • Automates many of the docketing and workflow activities
  • Provides the complete prosecution history of patent and trademark matters through data retrievals from the USPTO’s Private PAIR and TSDR reporting systems
  • Keeps track of fees and expenses

Pricing: 

Free trial for 30 days. 

It has two versions of the tool, pro at 100 USD per month and plus at 130 USD per month.

Deployment: 

Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based.

Who Needs this Software

Suitable for law firms to assist in the patent prosecution stage of IP lifecycle.

Users’ Perspective

A patent lawyer based in California has reviewed it as “Destroys big law firms for pennies on the dollar”.

  • Affordable and scalable

Product Demo Video/Snapshots

Appcoll’s YouTube channel has many videos to give you a fair idea of how the product works.

#3. Minuet 

Minuet is an IP management software solution from Inteum Company to help you manage your IP portfolio. It helps to streamline the entire technology supply chain, from Intellectual Property to monetization.

Key Features:

  • Custom dashboards, dynamic charts, and analysis
  • Patent Intelligence Suite automatically updates patent records & search for patents 
  • Activity Management
  • Technology Publisher 
  • Inventor Portal

Pricing:

Offers a free trial.

Deployment: 

  • Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based
  • Desktop – Mac, Windows, Chromebook

Who Needs this Software

Innovative organizations that create or manage intellectual property. Also suitable for tech transfer offices in research institutions and IP departments at companies.

Users’ Perspective

“We migrated to Inteum just over a year ago from a bespoke database”

  • Good CRM functionality
  • Quickly accessible during the meetings
  • The ability to create user-defined fields on one’s own is great

Product Demo Video/Snapshots

Best Intellectual Property Management Software

Source: Inteum

To get more insights watch the dashboard demo by Inteum 

#4. FoundationIP

FoundationIP by CPA Global checks bibliographic data automatically, providing real-time discrepancy management. It is a one-click docketing system that automates USPTO office actions from private PAIR to save time and reduce the likelihood of error. It includes dashboards to create and share visualizations to align your IP with the wider business strategy.

Key Features:

  • Efficient workflows
  • One-click docketing
  • Insightful dashboard
  • Expert Support
  • Security
Best Intellectual Property Management Software

Source: Foundation IP

Pricing: 

Per feature pricing model.

Deployment: 

Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based.

Who Needs this Software

Suitable for law firms and corporate IP departments of all sizes as it is scalable and can grow and mature with your business as needed.

Users’ Perspective

“Foundation IP – Great docketing system”

  • Easy to use
  • Customizable 
  • Frequent updates to make the docketing experience better

Product Demo Video/Snapshots

You can find an overview of the FoundationIP software here.

#5. PatentCAM

PatentCAM by IP Checkups is a collaborative, patent management software for R&D, legal, and business teams to make strategic business decisions. It lets you analyze patent search results, mitigate legal risk and determine marketability. It was created to categorize, archive, and monitor essential, technical information.

Key Features:

  • IP portfolio management
  • Patent tracking
  • Easy-to-use interface
  • Monitor competitor activity – daily, weekly, or monthly alerts
  • Customizable & searchable fields

Pricing:

Free demo available.

Deployment: 

Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based.

Who Needs this Software

Suitable for the R&D, legal, and business teams of companies of all sizes. 

Users’ Perspective

“PatentCAM: Powerful and adaptable tool for IP peace of mind”.

  • Technical support and analysis by IP Checkups is topnotch
  • User-friendly and logical
  • Having information in an off-site safe place gives peace of mind
  • If you ask for a feature, they will try to build it

Product Demo Video/Snapshots

You can find a webinar on PatentCAM uploaded by IP Checkups on YouTube.

#6. Sophia 

Wellspring’s IP Management software, Sophia delivers automated docketing processes, easy invention disclosures, streamlined workflows, and visibility on contract obligations. It is a full-service Intellectual Property management software that helps to manage your growing IP portfolio.

Key Features:

  • Configurable
  • Patent tracking
  • Docket management
  • Integrated online disclosures
  • Manage contracts & licenses

Deployment: 

Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based.

Who Needs this Software

Best for in-house or corporate patent counsels across all industries. 

Users’ Perspective

“More than a place to store information – Sophia as SOP and long-term institutional memory”

  • Provides ease of use and logic between the different modules of Intellectual Property Disclosures
  • Scalable and ease of adding other departments as users
  • Keeps us on track in all tech-transfer matters, Intellectual Property management, and agreement processing

Product Demo Video/Snapshots

Source: Wellspring

#7. AcclaimIP 

AcclaimIP from Anaqua helps create better patents, assess the competition’s patent portfolio, and identify the most valuable patents in any portfolio. It provides a collection of search and analytics tools giving you the ability to research patent information faster, with more precision.

Key Features:

  • Speed, ease of use & global patent data
  • Quantitative patent scoring
  • Prosecution analytics

Pricing:

Offers a free trial and Customizable fee structure.

Deployment: 

Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based.

Who Needs this Software

Suitable for patent owners, patent researchers, and intellectual property law firms that require patent information research and analysis. 

Users’ Perspective

AcclaimIP has been reviewed as:

  • Intuitive and efficient
  • Search outcomes can be configured in a variety of options
  • Database updates are performed timely
  • Easy to use

Product Demo Video/Snapshots

You can learn more about AcclaimIP here in just two minutes.

#8. Innovator Enterprise

The MindMatters Solutions’ Innovator Enterprise software system is an Intellectual Property management software solution and tool designed to manage, safeguard and protect your intellectual property assets from their inception. Once entered, your invention disclosures are safeguarded within their Intellectual Property management software solution and routed only to those individuals authorized within your invention and patent review decision process to review, analyze, and decide on patent application or trade secret status. It allows you to easily manage the product-to-patent relationship so that new patents are automatically added to product descriptions and bar codes.

Key Features:

  • The snapshot feature allows users to take a “snapshot” or picture of the intellectual property at any point in time to make a permanent record of the document as of the snapshot date
  • The activity log tracks every change made to an invention disclosure or intellectual property record to provide an accurate audit trail for management 
  • Advanced security features govern the departments, locations, and individuals that have access to various types of intellectual assets 

Who Needs this Software

Suitable for corporations and universities involved in innovation, which require their entire innovations and invention process to be managed from the stage of idea inception to obtaining IP protection.

Users’ Perspective

Respironics claimed that their R&D idea submissions have tripled over the whole of the previous year with the use of Innovator Enterprise.

Product Demo Video/Snapshots

Source: MindMatters

#9. DocketTrak

DocketTrak by Decision Design Corporation is a professional docketing system. The software detects any new application you file and creates your DocketTrak record automatically. It receives USPTO e-Office action emails directly into DocketTrak. It also helps to auto calculate patent maintenance fee dates and patent expiration dates.

Key Features:

  • Easy to use
  • DocketForm form letter technology for customized email and word form letters
  • Seamless USPTO and Private PAIR integration with PAIR Connect 3.0
  • Customizable auto docketing
  • Unlimited IP records and client users
  • A daily reminder email of upcoming dockets
  • Integration with USPTO patent e-office action emails

Pricing: 

Offers a free trial.

75 USD per month. 

Deployment: 

Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based.

Who Needs this Software

It is useful for law firms and corporations which require cloud-based intellectual property management & docketing systems including reminders.

Users’ Perspective

“A great easy to use IP docketing program”

  • Automatically updates deadlines in the docket without the need for manual input
  • Email notifications with upcoming deadlines
  • Form generation

Product Demo Video/Snapshots

You can take a tour of the DocketTrak software here.

Wrap Up

The true value of your Intellectual Property depends on how well your organization can manage and leverage it for successful commercialization. Using these best Intellectual Property management software makes it easier to keep track of your IP filings and avoid unnecessary errors. It also provides you with insight into patent pricing and filtering ideas to eliminate wasteful ideas and focus on commercially viable inventions.

You can organize and manage your IP by selecting one of the tools above, depending on the needs of your organization, making the process quick, easy & hassle-free. As we say here at Triangle IP ‘Say goodbye to complex IP management, say hello to the TIP Tool.’.

Best Intellectual Property Management Software

Salesforce and Jira Alternative for IP Management

“Using Excel, Jira or Salesforce for IP Management is like using a handkerchief in place of a specially designed protective mask to keep the virus away”

Many small to medium-sized enterprises who are just beginning to set up a systematic process for capturing innovation and tracking them through a complete IP life cycle often fall for make-do arrangements like:

  • Excel spreadsheets – Just because it’s versatile, you can arrange the data in tabular format and employees are familiar with its basic functionality
  • Jira – Just because it offers features like workflows, dashboards, reports and the enterprise already has some company process implemented using Jira 
  • Salesforce – same reason as Jira

What you need is not a generic tool but a specific one… 

A tool that’s affordable and tailored to assist enterprises with the patent mining process. The good news is such a tool exists. Before you explore the recommended Jira alternative for IP management let’s understand why do you need to switch.

Also read: Why managing IP using Excel spreadsheets is a bad idea?

Jira for IP Management | Shortcomings

Jira is surely customizable and may be configured to suit the specific needs of any enterprise, including marketing, finance, HR, and legal. It also has all of the features of workflows, dashboards, and reports. These features offered by Jira may be adopted or customized to aid the tracking of innovative ideas within an enterprise.

However, when it comes to IP management, beyond innovation capture, Jira does not cater to IP specific needs as listed below:

  • No intuitive intelligence for managing IP
  • No automatic syncing with the USPTO
  • Too expensive for startups
  • Too complex to use

No Intuitive Intelligence for Managing IP

Being a generic software that can cater to multiple business processes, Jira has no intuitive intelligence for patent management. For example, Jira cannot predict the likelihood of getting a patent, or an estimated time to get the patent granted. 

No Automatic Syncing with the USPTO

Jira does not integrate with the USPTO’s Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system, to enable you to view the status of your patent applications in real-time.

Too Expensive for StartUps

Jira may be expensive for a startup or other small or medium-sized enterprise. With Jira’s pricing model, a startup may incur significant monthly or annual costs. Also, a startup may have to recruit a developer to assist with the setup, customization, and management of the software.

Too Complex to Use

According to Hubstaff, Jira’s complexity is the most common complaint amongst its users. 

Salesforce for IP Management | Shortcomings

Salesforce is a customer relationship management (CRM) software at its core. However,  an advantage of Salesforce is that it can be customized for different internal needs of an enterprise. The ease of customization makes it a flexible tool that may be adopted for IP management. 

However, similar to Jira, Salesforce was not designed to assist enterprises with IP management, therefore the suitability of its features may not be compared with a tool specifically designed for IP management.

Expensive to Customize

Customizing the tool to suit an enterprise’s needs takes tens to thousands of hours and comes at an additional cost. In addition, the purchase of a Salesforce license comes at a very heavy cost. With its per-user pricing model, Salesforce may be more suited to larger enterprises that rely on the software daily for the management of current and prospective customers. It may not be suitable for a startup, a small or medium-sized enterprise desiring to manage IP.

No Integration with the USPTO PAIR

Like Jira, Salesforce also does not integrate with the USPTO’s Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system, to keep track of patent application updates like issuance of office actions.

The TIP Tool – Best Salesforce, Jira Alternative 

The TIP tool is an intuitive drag-and-drop tool to simplify the IP management process. It assists enterprises to convert their best ideas into patents, by enabling them to capture innovative ideas, vet the idea for patent registration, facilitate the secure exchange of patent drafts with patent prosecutors, and manage a patent portfolio. It is an excellent Salesforce and Jira alternative for IP management.

The TIP tool comes with a variety of useful features and functionalities. To name a special few:

Patent Analytics for Informed IP Decisions

The TIP tool comes with patent analytics that assists enterprises in managing their IP budget wisely. With the TIP tool you can easily figure out:

  • Likelihood, associated costs, and expected time of getting a patent
  • What can work with an examiner to progress the patent application towards grant
  • How is your patent application faring at the USPTO

Such insights come really handy in crafting your patent strategy.

Patent case analytics available in the TIP Tool - a Jira alternative

Also Read: The 12 Essential Features of an IP Management Software

Real-Time Collaboration

The TIP tool also permits team collaboration on ideas in real-time. For example, when an inventor and attorney are discussing the patentability of an idea, the TIP tool allows them to edit the same piece of text within the software with their thoughts and inputs, in real-time.

Real-time collaboration available in the TIP Tool - a Jira alternative

Intuitive Invention Disclosure Form

Long and complex invention disclosure forms discourage inventors from submitting inventions for patent protection. The TIP tool offers an intuitive invention disclosure form that increases engagement from innovators. In fact, you can also customize the TIP tool’s idea capture form to suit your enterprise’s internal needs.

Intuitive Invention Disclosure Form available in the TIP Tool - a Jira alternative

Role-Based Access

Furthermore, with the TIP tool, an enterprise may keep certain strategic patent portfolio data confidential, by using the role-based access feature in the software. Therefore, an innovator who is also an employee within the enterprise may be restricted from accessing ideas developed by other innovators in the enterprise.

Role Based Access available in the TIP Tool - a Jira alternative

Presented below is a table that gives you a fair idea of the benefits that come with the TIP tool – a preferred JIRA alternative.

Jira v. Salesforce v. The TIP Tool

FunctionalityJiraSalesforceThe TIP Tool
Provides an intuitive invention disclosure formCan be implementedCan be implementedYes
Tells you the likelihood of getting a patentNoNoYes
Predicts the end-to-end patent costsNoNoYes
Helps you track ideas through a complete IP lifecycleCan be partially  implemented, with no automatic updates from the USPTO Can be partially  implemented, with no automatic updates from the USPTO Yes
Automatically stays in sync with the USPTONoNoYes
Provides specific details on patent statusNoNoYes
Tells you how your application is doing at the USPTONoNoYes
PricingExpensiveExpensiveFreemium model, ~ $40 per month

Conclusion

At Triangle IP, we very well understand the needs and constraints of small to medium-sized enterprises for managing IP. The TIP tool is an intuitive drag and drop tool specially designed to aid intellectual property management, from idea capture to portfolio management. It is a must-try Jira alternative for IP management. Happy to share that we recently released the TIP Tool version 2.0 – Would you like to be an early adopter? Join us, try out the tool, share your valuable feedback with us!