Ditching Excel or other makeshift methods for a specialized invention disclosure tool is a crucial pivot toward refining your patent strategy. Yet, it’s not a decision to be taken lightly. The market is teeming with options, each with its own features designed to streamline the innovation capture process across your organization.
You’ll find platforms that boast inventor-friendly, customizable forms designed to boost engagement among your innovators. Others highlight dashboards that provide a clear overview of your idea and patent pipeline, including detailed insights into patent portfolios and the activities of inventors and managers.
Some solutions are tailored to foster innovation directly, enabling you to target specific challenges with campaigns that solicit creative solutions. And there are those that integrate patent incentives right into the software, making it easier to reward and motivate your team.
With such a diverse array of tools at your disposal, the key is to identify what aligns best with your organization’s objectives to fortify your patent program. To help you navigate this selection, here’s our insight on the top 5 invention disclosure software options to consider.
Features to Look For in Any Invention Disclosure Software
In 2022, the rush to secure intellectual property rights peaked, with global patent applications topping 3.46 million, as reported by the World Intellectual Property Indicators (WIPI) 2023. This surge underscores a global trend: companies eagerly seek to protect their groundbreaking innovations, keen on cementing their market dominance.
The frontrunners in this race are those equipped with streamlined processes and the optimal tools.
Before diving into our top software picks for invention disclosure, it’s crucial to understand the selection criteria. Here’s a breakdown of key factors to guide your decision-making process:
Ease of Use
The effectiveness of invention disclosure software is profoundly impacted by its user-friendliness.
Software with an intuitive interface dramatically reduces the need for extensive training, promotes regular engagement, and smoothens the journey of logging new ideas.
Aim for solutions that streamline the submission workflow with clear, concise instructions, allowing inventors to concentrate on their innovations rather than navigating the complexities of the tool.
Enterprise-Wide Innovation Capture
To effectively capture innovation throughout an organization, invention disclosure software must be easily accessible to employees in all departments.
The software should feature role-based access, which is crucial to ensure that the user sees only the information he should have access to. Role-based access permits individual inventors to generate and edit their ideas, department heads to oversee and evaluate all submissions, and legal or IP teams to have exclusive access to sensitive information.
Implementing this setup safeguards confidential data and promotes a culture of innovation that is both inclusive and secure.
Collaboration on Idea Development
The software’s ability to support and enhance brainstorming sessions is non-negotiable. The ideal software should enable seamless collaboration among team members, incorporating features such as real-time commenting, discussion threads, and recording keeping for changes in the idea summaries.
These interactive features are essential for facilitating a dynamic exchange of ideas, allowing participants to engage in constructive dialogues, share feedback, and collectively refine concepts, irrespective of geographical barriers.
Moreover, the software should offer capabilities like version tracking, categorization of ideas, and linking related concepts or documents to maintain a structured brainstorming process and aid in revisiting and refining ideas over time.
Tailored Customization Capabilities
Customization in invention disclosure software is paramount, enabling organizations to tailor the software to their unique workflows, terminology, and specific innovation capture nuances.
This adaptability allows for adding, deleting, or editing fields, using diverse field types, and implementing conditional logic for a streamlined and efficient disclosure process.
With features like customizable templates, branding options, controlled access to customization, and integration capabilities with existing enterprise systems, the software ensures that it can evolve with your business, maintaining relevance and effectiveness.
Advanced Idea Filtration
A vital functionality in any invention disclosure software is the ability to filter through the myriad of captured ideas effectively.
The ideal software should provide comprehensive filtering options, enabling users to efficiently organize and sift through ideas according to key parameters like development stage, technical domain, potential market uses, or the department of origin.
Data-Driven Actionable Insights
The software should have sophisticated analytics and reporting capabilities, including insights into the likelihood of patent allowance and detailed examiner analytics, which can significantly reduce obstacles during the patent prosecution process.
Such advanced features enable organizations to craft evidence-based patent prosecution strategies by leveraging data on past patent outcomes and examiner tendencies.
Tool Helpdesk and In-App Support
In-app support is crucial to ensure that your team can accomplish the purpose of investing in invention disclosure software.
The TIP Tool™ incorporates ‘i’ buttons within the software. These buttons provide instant explanations and useful information about various features and functionalities of the tool, enabling users to understand and utilize the tool more effectively without external assistance.
In addition to the in-tool support, Triangle IP offers a robust help desk platform. This platform is a treasure trove of learning materials, including video tutorials and written guides, covering various topics, from adding and editing ideas to navigating the dashboard and much more.
These resources are designed to empower users to fully explore and leverage the tool’s capabilities to support their innovation and patent management processes.
Also Read: 7 Surefire Ways To Get More Invention Disclosures
5 Best Invention Disclosure Software to Look for in 2024
Selecting promising ideas for patenting lays the foundation for a strong patent portfolio. Thus, capturing innovation goes beyond mere documentation; it involves assessing the idea’s potential, aligning it with business strategies, and ensuring intellectual property protection.
The effective invention disclosure software streamlines this process, making idea submissions more efficient, improving evaluation methods, and fostering collaboration between legal and technical teams.
However, selecting the most suitable software demands an understanding of its features, cost, and user reviews. To decide which one to pick for integrating into your patent mining process, let’s explore the top choices:
1. The TIP ToolTM by Triangle IP
The TIP Tool™ streamlines patent management by offering an intuitive drag-and-drop interface for capturing and tracking innovation across an organization. It enhances the patent lifecycle management through detailed patent data analytics.
Key Features and Benefits of the TIP ToolTM
Triangle IP’s TIP Tool™ democratizes patent portfolio management by offering user-friendly features and actionable insights into costs and patentability. It ensures role-specific access for all stakeholders within the organization, providing real-time updates and frequent communications from the patent office.
The TIP Tool™ transforms the overwhelming complexity of patent information management—often reliant on external counsel—into a streamlined process where users are empowered with the knowledge to make informed decisions. Its simplified analytics make strategic planning straightforward.
With the TIP Tool, strategic management of a patent portfolio becomes as familiar and accessible as managing any other standard business process.
Here is a quick walkthrough of its features to show how the tool delivers on its promise:
- Tracking of Ideas through Patents to Engage Stakeholders
The TIP Tool™ enhances patent pipeline visibility by updating users as ideas progress through stages such as ‘Idea Capture,’ ‘Internal Vetting,’ ‘Patent Drafting,’ and ‘Patent Filing.’ Users can move the ideas from one stage to another with easy-to-use drag-and-drop functionality.
- Intuitive Invention Disclosure Form to Boost Disclosures
The tool’s intuitive invention disclosure form boosts the number of captured disclosures. Plus, for businesses preferring controlled access, the idea capture form comes in both Word and Excel formats and is easily integrated back into the tool.
The form’s customization allows for the organization-specific tailoring of fields, enhancing relevance and focus during different stages of idea development.
With capabilities for tagging ideas by technology or business function and attaching supplementary materials, it streamlines the process of filtering and illustrating innovations, making it a versatile tool for capturing patentable ideas efficiently.
- Real-time Collaboration for Thorough Vetting of Ideas
The TIP Tool™ facilitates real-time brainstorming amongst stakeholders present across numerous remote locations. This seamless collaboration supports a thorough vetting process, enhancing the selection of potential ideas for patenting.
Features like editing idea summaries, adding tags, and reviewing comments streamline capturing collective insights, similar to using Google Docs. Plus, it meticulously tracks all changes and the details of individuals responsible for every action, ensuring transparency and accountability in idea development.
- Role-based Access for Enterprise-Wide Innovation Capture
The TIP Tool™ promotes enterprise-wide innovation capture as breakthrough ideas can come from anywhere in the enterprise (not just the R&D department) by facilitating role-based access. Role-based access ensures widespread participation in innovation capture programs while keeping the enterprise’s IP data confidential.
- Case Analytics and Cost Prediction for Informed Use of IP Budget
The TIP Tool™ facilitates strategic IP budgeting by offering analytics on the likelihood of patent allowance and associated end-to-end patenting costs.
It evaluates patent applications to determine their chances of success at the patent office and provides statistics on patent counsel and examiners handling the cases. This guidance helps direct investments towards ideas with higher chances of approval.
The estimated costs cover filing, attorney, and maintenance fees for both provisional and non-provisional patent applications. Plus, it forecasts future expenses, like a maintenance fee due next month, helping you smartly plan your IP budget.
- Patent Application Status Updates to Stay in Sync With the USPTO
The TIP Tool™ automatically stays in sync with the USPTO, keeping users informed about their patent applications without requiring the help of an external legal counsel. It offers instant notifications on actions required by the USPTO and includes a private PAIR scrape feature for accessing the status of yet-to-be-published applications, enhancing transparency and control over the patenting process.
Pricing
Pricing for The TIP Tool™ includes a free tier for up to 10 users, a premium tier at $50 per month or $495 per year, and a custom tier for tailored needs.
The tool also provides a demo playground featuring pre-populated data, allowing for an easy exploration of its functionalities. For more details, visit its pricing page.
Customer Review
The tool has an impressive rating of 4.5 stars on G2. Here’s a review by a trusted customer:
2. Onit Invention Disclosure
Onit Invention Disclosure Software offers a comprehensive electronic process for the management of intellectual property (IP) from research to commercialization. It’s designed to guide inventors through the process of documenting and evaluating their inventions for potential market value, ensuring that every step towards protecting and commercializing IP is thoroughly covered.
Source- Onit
Key Features Offered by Onit Invention Disclosure
Onit Invention Disclosure guides staff through the stages of exploiting IP, providing a means to examine commercial applications of inventions and identify inventorship. Here are some key features of the tool:
- Guided Invention Disclosure Process
This feature navigates staff through the complex stages of IP exploitation, offering a structured pathway from initial idea to potential commercialization. It ensures that all necessary steps are taken to protect the intellectual property effectively.
- Event-Based Workflow
The tool establishes a detailed timeline and description of an invention using an event-based workflow. This helps in documenting how the invention was created and can be reproduced, highlighting its significance, improvements over existing designs, and its distinctiveness from prior art.
- IP Capture and Commercial Viability Analysis
The software enables IP teams to capture and track new inventions from the outset, assessing their commercial viability. This functionality is crucial for making informed decisions regarding IP protection and the commercialization process, thereby enhancing the strategic management of intellectual property.
Pricing
The price of the software is not available publicly.
Customer Review
Source- G2
3. Discovery by Rowan Patents
Discovery by Rowan Patents is designed to streamline the invention disclosure and patent drafting process, focusing on efficiency and clarity. It provides tools to help patent practitioners and inventors quickly identify and document patentable inventions, ensuring high-value work takes precedence.
Source- Rowan Patents
Key Features Offered by Discovery
The Discovery by Rowan Patents aims to speed up the drafting and filing of patent applications by facilitating the right queries for building inventive concepts, as well as offering the following suite of features.
- Drafting Process Simplification
The software provides a user-friendly interface that helps practitioners organize ideas directly into patent documents, significantly reducing time spent on formatting and allowing for quicker drafting.
- Enhanced Patent Drafting Efficiency
The tool streamlines the patent drafting process, allowing inventors and patent practitioners to identify the core elements of patentable innovations quickly. This focus on efficiency ensures that more time can be spent on refining and protecting novel ideas.
- Prioritization of Strategic Patent Development
By guiding inventors to ask the right questions about their inventions, the software ensures that every patent application is built on a solid foundation of the inventive concept. This strategic approach not only improves the quality of patents but also the potential for their approval.
- Optimization of Financial Resources
The platform reduces the time to draft and file patent applications, cutting down on misunderstandings and revisions. This efficiency directly contributes to a better bottom line by speeding up the protection process and reducing associated costs.
- Discovery-Focused Functionality
The software is designed specifically for the discovery phase of patent development; it aids attorneys in swiftly capturing and documenting protectable ideas, making it a crucial tool for law firms and corporate legal departments alike.
- Integrated Collaboration Capabilities
With its in-band collaboration features and automated workflows, Discovery keeps all communications and documents in one place. This centralized approach eliminates confusion and streamlines the patent application process.
- AI-Driven Predictive Analytics
Leveraging AI-backed analytics, Discovery offers insights into the originality, allowance rate, and potential success of patent applications. This predictive capability enables users to make informed decisions on which inventions to pursue, enhancing the strategic management of IP portfolios.
Pricing
The annual subscription cost for Discovery is determined by several key factors, including the volume of patent applications processed and the number of practitioners utilizing the software. You can also book a no-obligation discovery call with Rowan Patents to learn more. Check it out for precise details.
Customer Review
Source- Rowan Patents
4. DIAMS Invent by Dennemeyer
DIAMS Invent, as part of Dennemeyer’s IP management suite, is a comprehensive Intellectual Property (IP) management software designed for corporations and universities with a focus on Research & Development (R&D). It streamlines the entire IP lifecycle from invention disclosure to patent filing and litigation management, facilitating a seamless exchange between R&D teams and IP departments.
Source- DIAMS
Key Features Offered by DIAMS Invent
Developed with nearly 60 years of IP management experience, DIAMS Invent offers a user-friendly platform with extensive customization options to meet the diverse needs of any industry.
Here are some key features of DIAMS Invent:
- Mass Creation of IP Records
The tool enables inventors to quickly generate accurate IP records and file letters with just a few clicks, significantly reducing administrative workload.
- Seamless R&D and IP Team Collaboration
The software provides a platform for easy communication and document transfer between R&D personnel and IP managers, thereby enhancing collaboration and efficiency in the development and protection of intellectual property.
- In-depth Analysis and Dashboards
It offers comprehensive reporting tools and customizable dashboards, providing insights into the status, performance, and trends of the IP assets for data-driven decision-making and management of IP portfolios.
- Customizable Invention Disclosure Workflows
Organizations can design and implement custom workflows, including custom form builders for assessment and digital handover processes.
- Integrated Prior Art Search
The tool incorporates AI-based patent search tools to streamline the prior art search process, aiding in the assessment of invention novelty and patentability.
Pricing
The price of the software is not available publicly. However, you can register for their free demo here.
Customer Review
Source- DIAMS
5. Memotech by Clarivate
Memotech, by Clarivate, is an advanced and customizable IP Management System tailored for large corporate IP departments. It offers full visibility across the entire IP lifecycle, facilitating innovation, improving IP management and protection, and enabling agile portfolio management and optimization.
Source- G2
Key Features Offered by Memotech
Memotech allows seamless integration with existing systems and customization to align with specific organizational needs, significantly reducing administrative workload and fostering informed decision-making through deep analysis and accurate data verification.
Here are some key features of Memotech:
- Portfolio Visibility
The software provides a unified platform for all IP-related information, ensuring team members and stakeholders have access to necessary data throughout the IP lifecycle. This feature enhances transparency and accessibility, making it easier to manage and track the progress of IP assets.
- Deep Analysis
It offers robust reporting tools that combine critical data for controlling costs and aligning with the company’s IP strategy. This facilitates informed decision-making by providing insights into trends, asset value, and strategic alignment.
- Clean, Accurate Data
The tool features automated data verification against IP One Data to ensure the reliability and accuracy of bibliographic details. This minimizes errors and maintains the integrity of the IP portfolio.
- Hosted or On-Premise
The software is available as both an on-premise installation and a hosted solution; it provides flexibility in deployment according to the organization’s needs. This choice comes with dedicated support, high security, and continuous maintenance and monitoring.
- Workflow Automation
It streamlines IP processes with customizable workflows for consistent steps and approval chains. This application supports invention disclosure, trademark search, and filing processes, enhancing efficiency and output quality through automation.
- Meeting Application
The tool simplifies meeting preparations and accelerates decision-making. It facilitates the review of key data, recommendations, and meetings to make action IP decisions, all while integrating seamlessly with Memotech for data sharing.
Pricing
You need to contact their sales team for pricing details.
Customer Review
Source- G2
TIP ToolTM – Your Dependable Invention Disclosure Software
Choosing the best invention disclosure software involves considering many factors, such as ease of use, comprehensive management features, customization, and security of IP data.
However, the ultimate goal of selecting the right invention disclosure software is to streamline the IP management process in your organization. And the TIP Tool™ by Triangle IP does exactly that. It’s designed for companies aiming to protect their IP efficiently while fostering a culture of creativity and collaboration.
The TIP Tool™ by Triangle IP enhances the user experience with an innovative demo playground. This demo playground is equipped with a simulated patent portfolio, enabling potential users to delve into the tool’s functionalities without incorporating their personal patent data. This feature is especially beneficial for users who wish to understand the tool’s capabilities in a risk-free environment.
By registering for an interactive product demo, users gain firsthand experience with the TIP Tool™, exploring its wide array of features designed to manage patent portfolios efficiently and optimize the patent mining process. This hands-on approach allows users to assess how the TIP Tool™ can meet their specific needs in protecting and managing intellectual property.
To see how the TIP Tool™ can elevate your IP management strategy, register on the TIP Tool™ today!
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