IPFolio is a part of Clarivate’s broad product line. Coupled with two other tools from Clarivate – FoundationIP and Innography – IPFolio offers a complete IP lifecycle management package.

IPFolio is designed explicitly for corporate teams that want greater control over their IP operations but with minimum effort. Within this realm, comprehending the diverse types of innovation is crucial for IP teams to align their strategies effectively.

Despite being a great choice, some innovation managers look for alternatives to IPFolio for their enterprise’s unique needs.

Like them, your quest for a suitable IPFolio alternative ends at this post.

By the end of this article, you’ll have a fair idea about five promising alternatives to IPFolio.

Let’s dive in!

Five Promising IPFolio Alternatives

Here are five alternatives to IPFolio:

Triangle IP’s TIP Tool^TM

Triangle IP’s TIP^TM Tool puts you in control of your patent mining process. The TIP Tool^TM simplifies patent management by offering an intuitive drag-and-drop interface to move and track ideas as they progress through the IP lifecycle. For organizations aiming to maintain efficiency, understanding ways to control patent costs without losing quality is vital.

The four stages of the lifecycle are Idea Capture, Internal Vetting, Patent Drafting, and Filed.

The short and simple idea disclosure form minimizes the friction from innovators engaging in the idea capture process. The seamless real-time collaboration facilitates thorough vetting of ideas. Automatic syncing with the USPTO on status updates of patent applications and patents reduces your legal bills.

Moreover, you can make more informed IP decisions based on the analytical insights that the TIP Tool^TM provides, like

• Patentability score and case health,
• End-to-end cost predictions,
• A holistic view of idea and patent pipelines

Top Features

Let’s take a look at the top five features to understand why Triangle IP’s TIP Tool^TM is an excellent IPFolio alternative:

Intuitive Idea Submission Form

Triangle IP’s TIP Tool^TM offers a short, simple, intuitive, and engaging invention disclosure form (IDF). This feature enables easy capture of ideas. Moreover, it encourages inventors to submit their inventions for patent protection to establish a competitive IP advantage.

Customizable Idea Capture Form

The TIP Tool^TM users can customize the invention disclosure form (IDF) per the enterprise’s needs. This feature offers a high degree of personalization and the ability to incorporate an enterprise’s internal nomenclature.

Tags to Ease Filtering

The TIP Tool^TM allows for segregating and filtering ideas easily. Users can utilize specific keywords to tag patentable ideas around a particular technology, product category, or business function.

Brainstorm Ideas With Stakeholders On A Real-Time Basis

Users can replicate face-to-face discussions using the TIP Tool^TM. It allows effective collaboration amongst all collaborators – managers, inventors, technical reviewers, and patent counsel – to brainstorm and refine ideas.

Effective Collaboration to Refine the Ideas

The TIP Tool^TM offers an editing functionality like Google Docs, allowing two or more users to edit idea summaries simultaneously. Moreover, team members can also add comments to the idea and its summary.

Access the Change Log

The TIP Tool^TM maintains version history to track and record any changes made to a disclosed invention. This feature is beneficial for visualizing the change path and rolling back specific changes.

End-to-End Tracking from Ideas to Patents and Beyond

The TIP Tool^TM offers complete patent pipeline visibility. It helps establish end-to-end tracking from ideas to patents and beyond. View the entire IP lifecycle, from

• Capturing the idea
• Evaluating and vetting the patentable idea
• Drafting the patent application
• Filed the patent application
• Managing the patent portfolio

The TIP Tool^TM offers visibility on all of these aspects.

Receive Status Updates on Ideas

The TIP Tool^TM lets all stakeholders stay updated on an idea’s status and the IP stage in which it resides.

Inventors can receive updates on comments from an idea’s reviewer. Additionally, they receive updates when their idea is filed for patenting.

Ease of Thorough Vetting

The TIP Tool^TM allows collaborators to quickly exchange thoughts over an idea or a patent draft by offering timely notifications of new changes. This ability makes it possible to vet ideas thoroughly. Ensuring high-quality invention disclosures is a critical aspect of this collaborative process.

Case Analytics

The TIP Tool^TM allows users to see the general ‘health’ of the patent application. Users can understand how other patent applications have fared in a particular domain.

Moreover, enterprises can view the patent counsel’s performance in handling their patent application.

Manage Patent Budget Wisely With End-to-End Cost Predictions

The TIP Tool^TM provides complete information on how much a patent will cost during its lifetime. Your enterprise can make budget allocations based on cost estimates, including drafting fees, office action response fees, and more. Enterprises can quickly narrow down ideas worth pursuing based on time and cost constraints.

Discover the Likelihood of Getting a Patent

The TIP Tool^TM offers a patentability score to predict the likelihood of getting a patent based on deep learning analytics.

Detailed Examiner Analytics

The TIP Tool^TM provides detailed analytics on your idea’s assigned examiner. This information assists your patent attorney in strategizing the patent prosecution.

Stay In-Sync With USPTO

The TIP Tool^TM drastically reduces costs paid to attorneys for receiving communications from USPTO. The TIP Tool^TM provides immediate updates regarding application status using USPTO PAIR (Public and Private both). It also provides notifications on any PTO rejections.

Dashboards for a Holistic View

With the TIP Tool^TM’s informative dashboards, innovation managers can obtain a holistic view of the idea pipeline at a glance.

Additionally, innovation managers can get a pulse of the quality of the ideas submitted, the probable roadblocks, and each inventor’s activity.

Key Differentiator

The TIP Tool^TM is designed explicitly for innovation managers from non-IP backgrounds to easily get and use patent portfolio-related information to manage ideas and patent pipelines effectively. 

User’s Perspective

A user on Capterra describes the TIP Tool^TM as intuitive for capturing and collaborating over ideas. A glimpse of the pros they’ve listed down

• Easy and intuitive inventor form.
• Ease of collaboration results in the thorough vetting of the ideas.
• Scoring the ideas helps in prioritizing ideas to be pursued for patenting.
• Drag and drop ideas from one stage to another.

Who is This For?

A medium-sized enterprise that needs a systematic patent mining process to manage its patent portfolio strategically.

Pricing

There is a free tier with up to 10 users, storage of 5 GB, up to 10 MB file size, and a single portfolio.

The premium tier costs $50/month and $495/year. Features include:

• Up to 100 users
• Storage 20 GB
• Up to 50 MB file size
• Three Portfolios
• Case Analytics
• Real-Time Collaboration
• Private PAIR Access

Our premium plans have the right features for a medium-sized enterprise. There’s also custom pricing for bespoke features.

Website

You can explore the TIP Tool^TM by visiting Triangle IP’s website.

Demo

The TIP Tool^TM offers a demo playground with pre-populated data to easily explore the tool’s functionalities. Sign up for an interactive product demo to experience the power of TIP Tool^TM’s features for yourself!

ideaPoint by Anaqua

ideaPoint is an end-to-end IP management tool offered by Anaqua. ideaPoint design helps enterprises capitalize on innovations of different originations—internal or external.

ideaPoint offers total management of the innovation lifecycle. Enterprises can strategically explore, assess, and seize various innovation prospects. In addition, the tool allows them to secure strategic partnerships and manage crucial requests, projects, and alliances.

Top Features

Here are ideaPoint’s key features:

Collect Ideas

To streamline the process of collecting ideas, ideaPoint provides a detailed idea submission form. The form contains fields such as

• Brief description
• Type of innovation
• Need/problem addressed
• Stakeholders

Effective Collaboration

ideaPoint has collaborative features that enable people to participate in the idea-refining process. Engage people by

• Inviting them to collaborate on an idea.
• Utilizing the message board for ad-hoc communications.
• Assigning evaluation of ideas to suitable people.

Gamification

ideaPoint provides an innovation board to gamify the innovation process. Users can introduce challenges and define problem areas and specific areas of interest.

Receive Status Reports

ideaPoint also provides users with reports and insights for their ideas. This reporting feature helps users to review, rank, and ultimately decide the path they want to take for an idea.

Key Differentiator and Benefits

• An intuitive idea submission form that contains all necessary fields.
• Message board for ad-hoc communications leading to smooth workflows without delays.

• Invite innovators to work together on ideas.
• Users can utilize Anaqua’s other services to manage partner collaborations resulting from the innovation process.

User’s Perspective

A review on G2 says ideaPoint is a simple-to-use software with many features. The user highlighted that the software integrates seamlessly with other spreadsheet-based systems and has excellent reporting functions. 

Who is This For?

Small businesses and enterprises specifically engaged in clinical trial data sharing and medical affairs programs.

Pricing

Users need to submit a request for ideaPoint’s pricing information.

Website

You can explore ideaPoint by visiting Anaqua’s website.

Demo

ideaPoint does not have a free demo video, but users can request a demo.

Accept Mission

Accept Mission is an end-to-end innovation management software enabling use cases such as innovation strategy, innovation program, innovation training, software implementation, and innovation campaign. Accept Mission’s integrated platform can get you through all stages of your innovation process.

Let’s look at its key features to understand Accept Mission better.

Key features

Manage Ideas Comprehensively

With Accept Mission, users can collect, manage, score, and select ideas. Accept Mission offers idea boxes to gather ideas on any topic. A script feature called Ideation lets you ask questions about ideas.

Score and Select Best Ideas

To help enterprises choose the best ideas, Accept Mission has some scoring features. These are

• Upvoting with likes and comments.
• Custom scoring criteria and weighted values.
• Algorithms that indicate exciting ideas.

Run Innovation Campaigns

Using Accept Mission, enterprises can run innovation campaigns to collect ideas from internal and external stakeholders. Further, Accept Mission allows tracking campaigns in the innovation dashboard called “Innovation Land.”

Gamify Innovation

At Accept Mission, the innovation process has been made fun with various gamification elements. These are

• Leaderboards showing the top 5 idea boxes, ideations, and boards.
• Undercover mode allows people to like, comment, and add ideas without revealing their true identity.
• Hackathon digitalization features that include selecting the best innovations by a jury.

Engage with People

Accept Mission provides a board feature that invites partners and employees to share and work on ideas. Users can follow, score, upvote, and share ideas. Tags and mentions offer notifications of updates to ideas.

Track Project Portfolio Progress

A separate section with all project information gives users a bird’s eye view of the portfolio. They can filter projects by status and department. Progress percentages track each project’s progress.

Utilize Reports and Dashboards

The innovation dashboard summarizes every innovation success on the platform. The idea funnels, top 5 projects, idea boxes, ideations, boards, and more offer a clear picture of all the progress. Using specific keywords provides the ability to get innovation trend reports.

Integrate Applications

Accept Mission is one of the only tools in this list that lets you integrate with essential business applications. You can integrate with the following:

• Microsoft Office
• Business Intelligence integration with tools like Tableau and Power BI
• APIs
• Custom Integrations

Key Differentiator and Benefits

• Undercover feature that lets people engage without feeling judged.
• Top 5 ideas, ideations, and board information that helps in making better decisions.
• Features like votes, likes, comments, and intelligent algorithm suggestions for idea scoring.
• Trends reports based on various keywords.
• Percentages show innovation progress for easy tracking.

User’s Perspective

A user on Capterra described Accept Mission as an “excellent solution to improve innovation in organization.”  Here are the highlights:

• It is easy to use, has a great design, and has many options.
• The customer care is friendly, responsive, and knowledgeable.
• The ability to convert an idea into a project and work on it is great.

Who is This For?

Medium to large enterprises that are actively engaged in the innovation process and looking to improve it.

Pricing

Accept Mission has a forever free plan that allows up to 25 users. Up to 2 campaigns and funnels can be activated with this plan. 

The paid plans are as follows:

• Basic at €60/month: 5 campaigns and funnels with up to 15 users.
• Pro at €98/month: Unlimited campaigns and funnels with up to 15 users.

Enterprise brands can get custom pricing with unlimited campaigns, funnels, and users.

Website

You can explore further by visiting Accept Mission’s website.

Demo

Accept Mission does not have a free demo video, but users can request a demo.

AppColl

AppColl is a user-friendly, automated cloud-based patent & trademark management system to increase productivity through collaboration. AppColl’s invention manager makes it easy to start, track, manage and report your patent management process.

Top Features

Let’s take a look at its key features to understand better AppColl’s invention manager:

Customizable and Comprehensive Disclosure Form

AppColl has a customizable idea disclosure that can include up to 48 questions. It allows setting text limits and making fields optional or required. The tool can also set up metadata, like keywords, products, etc., within the form. Moreover, inventors can drag and drop essential documents.

Filter Information Flexibly

Your IP team can filter information based on the data collected in the idea disclosure form—including the custom fields.

Generate and Customize Reports Limitlessly

AppColl allows generating of unlimited, customizable bar graphs and pie charts based on the ideas collected. To alter the appearance of the dashboard’s reporting view, users can drag, drop, and resize charts.

Trigger Custom Notifications

During the invention approval workflow, users can send email triggers to alert people about updates or required actions. AppColl also allows sending customized emails to people internal and external to your organization.

Integrate with Enterprise Software 

AppColl’s invention manager can be integrated with other business software. Regular HR data feeds can be automatically processed to ensure that contact and organizational information in AppColl is constantly current against your internal HR system. You can frequently send custom data feeds of AppColl data to your analysis tools.

Key Differentiator and Benefits

• You can set up single sign-on login so that users who have already logged into your internal network can access AppColl without having to input their login information again.
• AppColl allows tracking disclosures using unique tags based on product categories, phrases, or other custom criteria.
• Customizable reports that can be exported to spreadsheets and distributed via email or secure file transfer protocols. 
• AppColl supports automating inventor awards and other complex award systems.

User’s Perspective

A user on G2 described AppColl as the “best IPM system.” Here’s what they had to say:

• Simple and easy to use and learn.
• Flexible features that allow us to provide useful information to both clients and internal resources.
• Automation aspects save a lot of time.

Who is This For?

Patent firms and multinational corporate IP teams.

Pricing

USD 350 per month for the invention manager, check their pricing page for further details.

Website

You can explore further by visiting AppColl’s website.

Demo

You can contact AppColl to schedule a demo.Decipher

Decipher offers functionality for managing IP portfolios and disclosures of inventions. Together, these two products create an excellent innovation management system. This functionality allows you to increase innovation output, streamline collaboration, get a complete view of your assets and manage and control costs.

You have the following features to collect ideas:

• Automated workflow of invention disclosure, review, and decision-making.
• Collaboration features like automated alerts, permission controls, and KPIs.
• Customizable disclosure form for improved disclosure quality.

Top Features

Take a look at Decipher’s key features to better understand its IP portfolio management:

Establish IP Goals

You can also establish IP goals, track them and receive insights into the progress toward achieving them.

• Track innovation activity and IP assets to set and modify IP goals.
• Receive real-time insights with the help of built-in reports and analysis.

Set Innovation Challenges

To incorporate business strategy with IP processes, you can set innovation goals and track your progress toward them.

Receive Insights

You or your team can cross-reference your IP assets with associated products, expenses, business units, and people. For example, insights about whether to renew a patent or not can be seen by looking at usage and performance data.

Control Costs

Decipher enables cost-efficient decision-making with automated and powerful reporting. 

• You can avoid wasting resources by looking at IP and asset performance reports. 
• Automation and workflow features cut down on IP admin costs.

Receive Billing Information

All cost and billing information is available in Decipher patent management software. You can:

• Make a comprehensive report detailing all expenditures and actions taken by the enterprise in connection with pending patent cases.
• Make individual reports segmented by patent asset, legal counsel, tasks carried out, timekeeper, and other factors.
• Compare and identify the most effective outside companies for required legal services.

Key Differentiator and Benefits

• Automation and workflow processes help perform innovations within a budget.
• IP insights that help in making decisions regarding the renewal of patents and innovatively staying ahead of the curve.
• Assist you in tracking your IP assets and innovation activities to determine whether you are keeping up with business needs.

Who Is This For?

Mostly Fortune 500 companies.

Pricing

Pricing information is not provided on the website, but you can contact team Decipher.

Website

You can explore further by visiting Decipher.

Demo

Decipher provides a quick demo and the option to request a 30-day free trial.

Quick Comparison of all 5 IPFolio Alternatives

Parameter	IPFolio	TIP ToolTM	ideaPoint Anaqua	Accept Mission	AppColl	Decipher
Customizable Idea Capture Form	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Real-Time collaboration	Yes	Yes. Comes with asynchronous editing and change log	Yes. Offers invite and assign features	Yes. Allows using tags and mentions	Yes. Offers using custom trigger emails	Yes. Users can send automated alerts and permission controls
Establish Innovation Challenges	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
Case Analytics and Cost Estimation	Yes	Yes. Comes with lifetime cost estimates and success rate estimates	Status reports can be viewed, but no cost estimates	No cost estimates are available	No cost estimates are available	No cost estimates are available
Key Differentiator	Custom reports	Easy to use by people from non-IP backgrounds	Gamification elements	Comprehensive idea scoring	Automated inventor bonus programs	Highly customizable for specific enterprise needs
Suitable Company Profile	Corporate IP teams	Innovation-driven medium-sized enterprises	Businesses engaged in clinical trial data sharing and medical affairs programs	Medium to large enterprises that are actively engaged in the innovation process and are looking to improve it	Patent firms and multinational corporate IP teams	Mostly Fortune 500 companies
Pricing	Available on request	Starts at $0	Available on request	Starts at $0	Available on request	Available on request

Parting Thoughts

Effective patent mining necessitates systematic processes and made-for-purpose tools. The selection process, however, isn’t that simple. A suitable software solution must:

• Offers an invention disclosure form that minimizes the friction from innovators in idea submission
• Offers intuitive drag-and-drop functionality to progress ideas through the end-to-end IP life cycle 
• Allows stakeholders to seamlessly collaborate to refine an idea by facilitating simultaneous editing of the idea summary, adding comments to the idea summary, and more
• Provides actionable insights powered by deep learning of patent data for a more efficient patent prosecution
• Reduces dependability on outside counsel for fetching prosecution and portfolio-related information thereby reducing legal bills

About Us

The TIP Tool^TM by Triangle IP is an intuitive drag-and-drop tool that helps you manage the end-to-end IP lifecycle from ideas to patents. The tool underwent creation with the vision of democratization of patents. Usually, the patent process is not transparent, and many enterprises do not have enterprise-wide innovation capture systems and processes. The TIP Tool^TM is here to change that. With the TIP Tool^TM, anyone in the enterprise can submit and track the progress of their innovative ideas. The TIP Tool^TM also helps you manage your patent portfolios with deep learning to guide your patent strategy efficiently.

Disclaimer: The information in this article/review is sourced from the internet and may not be entirely accurate or up-to-date. We recommend visiting the respective software websites for the most current and reliable information. The opinions expressed here are those of the author and may not reflect the views of Triangle IP. We are not liable for any consequences that may arise from relying on the information provided in this article/review.