Patrix IP Helpware: avoiding bottlenecks
What services does Bereskin & Parr provide, and where?
Bereskin & Parr is a full-service Canadian intellectual property law firm serving clients across all industries globally. Founded in 1965, the firm has grown to be one of the largest IP firms in Canada with offices in major economic and technology centres. Bereskin & Parr is made up of more than 70 lawyers and patent and trademark agents, many of whom are recognized as leading practitioners in their fields. The firm has established a depth of legal talent and systems to service clients in every aspect of patent, trademark and copyright law and IP litigation. The firm and its award-winning professionals are consistently ranked as the benchmark for IP law in Canada.
How long have you been a Patricia user?
Almost eight years. Bereskin & Parr implemented Patricia Web in 2008. We will be moving staff to Patricia Client Server this year.
How do you use Patricia in your daily business?
We use Patricia to manage our client, contact and file details. In addition, we use Patricia to track our internal and external due dates as well as generate form letters that auto-populate using Patricia data.
Which aspects of Patricia do you find most useful?
There are many aspects of Patricia that are useful. Of particular importance to our firm is the ability to manage firm processes through workflows/due dates as well as the ability to store our client, contact and files details (including track the location of our files). The ability of our administrator to customise Patricia to meet the needs of our firm is especially significant. Finally, the robust search function in Patricia is extremely useful to all staff.
How did you find the implementation and change process?
The implementation went as well as could be expected. When we implemented Patricia, we simultaneously changed/improved some of our processes. This resulted in not only a learning curve of the new software for some staff, but a learning curve of our new processes. Patricia enabled us to transfer tasks (opening new files, for example) to assistants that were once handled by a centralised department.
Patricia has many functions and capabilities. We tried to keep things simple upon implementation and, over time, have been expanding our use of Patricia. People learn quickly and are far more adaptable than they would have you think. We are continually looking for efficiencies in our processes and how we use the system itself. Feedback from staff is vital to the success of any implementation and we are always encouraging and acting on feedback from staff.
Do you feel that you have received an adequate return on your investment? Has Patricia perhaps assisted with bottom line profits?
Yes. The security features in Patricia allow us to lock down features in Patricia to certain users, helping us reduce the risk of due date errors, for example. Since we were able to decentralise certain tasks through the use of Patricia, this enabled us to avoid bottlenecks of tasks that were once handled by one individual or department. The batching of data and letters in Patricia allows us to update file information and generate letters on multiple files in a quick and efficient manner. The ability to customise workflows allows us to quickly adapt when there are changes to the law and to instil best practice processes and conformity throughout the firm.
One of the main messages about how Patricia differs from typical docketing systems is that it is much more than just docketing; Patricia is a full practice management solution. Which other areas of your practice, in addition to docketing, does Patricia help you with?
As mentioned, we use Patricia to store our client, contact and file details. We use pop-up notes to remind staff about client-specific reporting needs/standing instructions, etc. We use the documents section to store certain key documents (client address change, client standing instructions, etc) for easy reference. We use the data in Patricia to analyse and balance workload among our administrative staff as well as to look for efficiencies.
"The batching of data and letters in Patricia allows us to update file information and generate letters on multiple files in a quick and efficient manner."
Would you swap Patricia and Patrix IP Helpware for any other product/supplier you know of?
No.
If you could give us one sentence which encapsulates your understanding of Patrix IP Helpware and Patricia and what it does for your business, what would it be?
Patricia is a full-service IP solution for the management of our client and file details.
More about Patrix IP Helpware and Patricia
The Patrix IP Helpware team has extensive IP experience having worked in the corporate and/or practice areas of IP. You can therefore be sure that the team fully understands your requirements at every level.
Created by IP professionals for IP professionals, Patricia is a fully customisable IP management system delivered on Windows and web platforms, or a combination of both.
It is an enterprise-wide solution which provides you with swift and secure access to your case data and automatic tracking of IP lifecycles, including laws/regulations, standard forms, time and cost registration, invoicing, customisable reports, document creation, document management, and powerful batch processing functionality.
Patricia is designed to easily accommodate and harmonise your best practice and procedures, including collaboration both inside and outside of your organisation.
