Alt Legal’s 2024 Product Updates and Upcoming Features
Alt Legal Team | December 04, 2024
At Alt Legal, we fundamentally believe that software should always be evolving. Our commitment to this principle means we are perpetually enhancing our platform. In fact, we have reinvested over half of our revenue back into product development and support.
Of course, 2024 was no different for us at Alt Legal. Alt Legal introduced countless new features and updated existing features, all to make the lives of trademark professionals like you easier. The catalyst for these enhancements has always been the valuable feedback from our customers who share how we can continue to streamline trademark management for them.
Below are some of the new features and updates that we’ve introduced throughout 2024. We’re also excited to give you a sneak preview of our 2025 product development roadmap. If you have any questions about how to best use our software, or if you would like to submit any suggestions for future updates, please contact our team using the live chat icon in the bottom right or emailing our customer success team at [email protected].
Your insights are what has helped Alt Legal become a leading provider of trademark management, and we’re here to support your trademark workflow each step of the way.
Alt Legal Assist
Our customers have been requesting IP paralegal services for years, and we are thrilled to be able to deliver with Alt Legal Assist. Whether it’s preparing filings, managing your docket, or communicating with clients or foreign associates, Alt Legal Assist provides a premium and largely fixed-fee IP management experience. Customers are already enjoying the benefits of Alt Legal Assist and seeing how this support can help them reduce time spent on administrative tasks, thereby allowing for greater focus on high-value work. Learn more about Alt Legal Assist and contact us to schedule a call.
Daily Updates
We’ve introduced a new table view in daily email updates that we can customize with whichever columns you want to see. Below is a screenshot. We can also color-code data to make it easier for you to use. We can even leave a column blank for notes for you to fill in and send to relevant parties. In short, your daily docketing emails are highly customizable so please just reach out to us at [email protected] with your wish list.
WIPO
As we mentioned in our 2023 article highlighting upcoming features for 2024, our new WIPO docketing feature is now available. Our WIPO feature makes it easy to track and maintain WIPO filings in a centralized control center, allowing you to manage all of your designations at a glance. Here are some of the key features we added for WIPO docketing:
- Choice and flexibility when docketing WIPO matters
- Tools to ensure accurate updating and reporting from all designations
- Clear distinctions between designations and national marks
- Specialized filters for easy searching among WIPO matters, designations, and national marks
- Easy identification of Basic Marks with Priority Note capabilities and internal references between related matters
If you’d like to turn on WIPO docketing, reach out to [email protected]. We’ll be glad to provide you with complimentary training.
Quick Search Bar Tool
The quick search bar tool is an intuitive, easy to use way to search for specific matters in your docket quickly. Clicking the search bar from any page in the software gives you a list of your most recent matters. Typing will search through all your identifiers (number fields, like application number, registration number, docket number, etc.) and return matches. It also searches through matter titles. The matching parts will be in bold, with some information about the matter. This is our first iteration of the quick search bar tool and more features are to come!
Upgraded Filters
We are always looking to enhance Alt Legal’s usability, making it easier to find the information that you’re looking for. We focused on making sure our filters had all the options you need to manipulate the data in your docket and generate specific reports for various purposes.
The Subtype filter allows you to see different types of trademarks, copyrights, patents, licenses, disputes that you have in your docket, for example, you can identify all the standard character marks or marks with logo elements, or however you label those marks at your organization.
The Title/Literal Element filter takes the confusion out of sorting through marks with the same or similar elements, helping you pare down searches to find exactly what you are looking for.
The Jurisdiction filter helps identify all marks within a particular jurisdiction, or all of your international marks. You can also filter by matter type and filter in/out WIPO designations.
The Status/Internal Status filter helps you find all USPTO marks easily based on their status. You can search for marks that include any status prior to registration under the “pending” filter. Any marks with a status post-registration will appear under the “registered” filter.
Custom Recordals
Alt Legal now allows you to docket your customs recordals with US Customs and Border Protection and equivalent international offices. This feature is included with all subscriptions and there is no additional fee to docket your customs recordals. Even better, customs recordals do not count towards your matter count so you will not have to worry about your subscription price increasing. Customs recordals are key to helping you protect your clients’ valuable IP at home and abroad so having a way to keep track of your recordals and any related renewals and/or maintenance deadlines is imperative.
Internal Status (Substatus) on All Matters
Internal Status is the perfect way to store information about the status of the mark outside of the official IP office status. For example, you could add notes like client instructions here. This allows you to enter information to anyone within your organization who views the record, except contacts like clients or other third parties.
Notes
You can now add rich text formatting to notes like bold, underline, italics, and even hyperlinks. For example, you can list an email address which becomes a clickable link.
Disputes
Alt Legal now automatically pulls in deadlines from TTAB both for plaintiffs and defendants.
Sneak Peek – Upcoming Developments for 2025
At Alt Legal, we are never done innovating. More than 50% of revenue is invested right back into our product. We merge our technology and deep knowledge of trademark law with the voice of our customers to constantly improve and expand the value of Alt Legal. In 2025, you can expect to see the same pace of innovation (if not faster) that you’ve become accustomed to with Alt Legal. In particular, here are some updates we plan to release in 2025:
- Adding more WIPO upgrades
- Adding customer-facing bulk editing tools
- Taking our Alt Legal Trademark Protection tools global
- Providing more nuanced change logs on matters
- Providing more workflow customization, including automatic docket additions and removals
Have other ideas of what you’d like to see? Let us know!
Learn More – Reach Out to Alt Legal
Reach out to our customer success team at [email protected] or by phone or live chat to learn more about how we can better tailor Alt Legal to your portfolio, or if you haven’t yet made the switch to Alt Legal, our sales team is happy to show you how Alt Legal compares to your current system. You can request a demo or trial here.