Four Ways to Build Internal Buy-In For Moving to a New IP Docketing Platform: Alt Legal shares experiences of helping customers make the move
Lauren Amanda Adler | February 28, 2024
Lauren Amanda Adler has been helping attorneys practice more efficiently for more than 15 years (or from birth if you ask her father). After working in the legal departments of the National Hockey League and the National Basketball Association and practicing in the corporate department of Proskauer Rose LLP in New York, she transitioned to legal tech. She is now the VP of Strategy & Special Projects at Alt Legal, where she works with IP professionals and practitioners to improve efficiencies and automate IP management.
This article was originally published on June 29, 2021. It was republished with updates on February 28, 2024.
If you’re in charge of your firm’s trademark docket, you know the importance of having a platform that you can trust and that makes your job easier. Whether you have a great tool or a clunky system that slows you down, your internal clients might not know the difference. This is a compliment to you!
Why? Because YOU are the conduit between your docketing system and those who rely on timely updates and reports. Whether you spend your valuable time manually updating matters and docketing deadlines or you have a system that automates this tedious work, there’s no difference to your end user. They are ultimately getting what they need, but are you? If not, how do you convince your internal clients of the value of switching to a tool that makes your life easier?
Based on our experience working with others who have made the switch to Alt Legal, here are four themes that resonate.
- “It’s costly NOT to move.”
- “Even though I know the system well, what happens when I’m out?”
- “Alt Legal will migrate over our current docket for us. And, there’s no cost.”
- “You get something too!”
1: “It’s costly NOT to move.”
We’ve all heard the typical refrain that “moving to a new system is costly,” but what if you were to reverse this and show that “NOT moving to a new system is costly”? You CAN with Alt Legal! Our market-leading automation saves time and reduces the potential for human error. Plus, migration is free (see #3!).
Your time is valuable not only to you, but also to your organization. If you weren’t spending so much time on tedious tasks, could you be billing more? Communicating with clients? Proactively supporting other aspects of the practice? The answer is a resounding YES!
Key Message > Alt Legal automates the automatable. For instance, USPTO filings are automatically brought into your docket, based on correspondent email. Records are auto-populated upon creation for 180+ jurisdictions globally; deadlines are automatically calculated and renewal/use deadlines continue to update through dynamic connections. Personalized email alerts are automatically sent daily to users noting deadlines and status changes. Tasks and deadlines can be synced to your calendar.
All of these time-saving automations also mean that you are reducing the potential for human error, since Alt Legal removes the need to manually enter data, update statuses and calculate deadlines.
2: “Even though I know the system well, what happens when I’m out?”
One of the first barriers that arises when considering a new tool is the need to learn a new system. If you’re reading this article, you likely know Alt Legal’s platform is intuitive and has a short learning curve. This is not only important for you, but also for anyone who covers your workload when you’re out of the office.
If you have covered someone else’s workload while they were out, you know it can be extremely challenging or quite manageable. These differences arise from the level of documentation, as well as the underlying tools and technology in place. If someone needed to step in to cover your docket responsibilities, would they be set up for success, or would the current docketing system make the undertaking even more challenging?
Key Message > Alt Legal simplifies the complex. We built, and continue to evolve, the platform to be intuitive so that little to no training is needed in order to get up and running. When questions do arise, our customers know they can reach out to us in whatever way is most convenient, whether live chat, email, or via phone to have their questions answered or request training. We also have a knowledge center that provides a wealth of “how to” articles and videos. All of these services are provided at no additional cost.
3: “Alt Legal will migrate over our current docket for us. And, there’s no cost.”
The price tag for migrating data from one platform to another can be anywhere from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands of dollars depending on the company. It can also take hours of staff time to facilitate the migration process. Not with Alt Legal!
Key Message > With Alt Legal, data migration, onboarding and set-up is free. We’ve made it our goal to provide seamless migrations, and we have invested in developing an infrastructure to support your move to Alt Legal. This sets us apart from other less-than-enjoyable technology projects you might be thinking back to. Learn more about Alt Legal’s seamless migration process.
4: “You get something too!”
Professionals who are not directly using docketing platforms don’t always know that great systems go far beyond a mere database of matters and deadlines. There are direct benefits to your internal clients.
Key Message > Alt Legal IP Docketing integrates with Alt Legal Trademark Protection, a set of fully-automated USPTO monitoring and watch tools. consists of our Trademark Application Match and our §2(d) Trademark Watch tools. Together, these tools track USPTO filings at critical points during the trademark prosecution process and alert you of potential infringement with plenty of time to develop an enforcement strategy and take action. These tools provide a cost-effective alternative to expensive monitoring services and allow you to deliver a base level of monitoring over your entire docket of US marks. You can even monetize your subscription to Alt Legal Trademark Protection and achieve a positive ROI.
In addition, Alt Legal offers unlimited third-party docket access (both edit and read-only access), enabling you to extend the value of your docketing software to external stakeholders, whether foreign counsel or clients.
What Else?
Are you running up against other objections? Reach out to us at [email protected]. We’ve worked with hundreds of customers who have made the switch to Alt Legal and have likely helped them work through similar barriers. In addition, we can tell you about other value-adds that will make the switch even more enticing.