Alt Legal CEO Publishes Article in World Trademark Review

World Trademark Review published a column by Alt Legal’s CEO and founder Nehal Madhani its August/September issue. In the article, titled “Leveraging modern technology,” Madhani describes the necessity of modernization for national IP offices.

As a starting place, he advocates online filing systems and open data access for IP offices and highlights the impact of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) going paperless. Beyond mere convenience, applicants filing electronically experience more immediate success than those who file paper applications. The first action approval rate for paper applicants was 9.8 percent, while it was between 16.2 and 33.5 percent for those filing online, Madhani notes.

Although electronic filing procedures around the world denote progress in accessibility and efficiency, Madhani envisions national IP offices as “information-driven platforms which can readily receive and dispense information.” To this end, he advocates the use of application programming interfaces (APIs), which could allow IP professionals and third parties to programmatically retrieve data and automate the application process. Establishing these avenues could ultimately eliminate many of the tedious aspects of IP filings, reduce cost, and in effect, democratize the process to increase access to justice, Madhani says.

Read “Leveraging modern technology” from World Trademark Review’s August/September issue here.