Topics


Basis of Cost Calculations


Reporting


Licensing and Network Use


System Requirements



Basis of Cost Calculations


What are the cost estimates based on?
The estimates are based on Minimum Fee schedules from a number of associates in each country. An average figure is calculated for each category of fees in these schedules. This average is not the strict mean or mathematical average. Instead, it is halfway between this strict average and the highest value, which means that estimates tend to be on the high side of average.


What types of costs are included/excluded?
Official and Associate fees are included. The Official fees are the fees charged by the Patent Office in the country. These fees are not averages; they are the actual fees charged. The associate fees are fees charged by the Associate in a country for filing and prosecuting the application in his or her country.


Fees and costs associated with the In-House legal department, or the “Parent country” counsel paid to supervise the prosecution of the applications, are not included.


How many associates’ fee schedules are used to arrive at the figures used in the database?
For most countries, at least five independent fee schedules are used.


Can I obtain the names of the associates whose schedules are used to create these figures?
Unfortunately, for reasons of confidentiality, we cannot provide you the names of the associates whose fee schedules are used.


How many countries are included in the system?
All the major countries of the world are included in the system. Currently, 149 countries are available.


The translation costs you show are too low/high. How do I change those costs?
For any language, the user may specify a per-page translation cost. This figure then replaces information provided by the database.


How often do you update the database of worldwide costs?
The cost database is updated monthly, with new cost “fee rules”, and new currency exchange rates. Any program changes are also included in the monthly update.


Do I have to re-calculate my entire portfolio each time the cost database is updated?
Yes, the portfolio cost projections need to be re-calculated. The program has been optimized to perform this process rapidly.


Can I change the currency exchange rates myself?
Yes, the exchange rates may be set by the user in between updates. Exchange rates may also be updated from our web site on a daily basis.


Can I keep the actual historic costs I incurred in the database?
No, the program is designed to analyze future costs only.


How do you estimate the dates allocated to future events in the prosecution of the patent application?
The average number of years to patent examination and granting in each country is used to produce a projection of when costs will be incurred. These averages are based on surveys of Foreign Associates.


The annuities are then also allocated to the appropriate years, based on whether annuities begin from filing or grant date.


Do you include costs for Office Actions that may occur?
The numbers used in the estimate for the Prosecution stage are based on surveys of Foreign Associates. They typically do not appear on the fee schedules sent out by associates. We survey Foreign Associates and ask how many Office Actions are to be expected in a straightforward case. This is the number to be expected in addition to filing, examination, publication and granting. We then calculate an average number of Office Actions for each country.


I pay annuities through an annuity payment service. Can I specify these fees?
Yes, the user-entered fees will be used in place of (or in addition to) the system averages.


Can I use this for trademarks?
No. At this point, the Portfolio Cost Analyzer estimates costs for patent portfolios only.


How does this product differ from your Global IP Estimator product?
The Portfolio Cost Analyzer (PCA) allows you to store and run various cost analyses for your whole portfolio of patent families. The Global IP Estimator is geared towards running an estimate (including In-house charges) for a single patent family. The PCA detailed reports are identical to the estimates that you could get by creating a detailed estimate in the Global IP Estimator. The PCA estimates also include the Prosecution and Timeline modules. By storing previous action behaviors, the Prosecution module includes estimates for the number and cost of the prosecution actions and the Timeline module estimates the years in which the stages (e.g. - Filing, Exam, Prosecution, Grant and Maintenance) are likely to occur. While these features may be added to the Estimator, they are automatically included in the PCA.


What is a family?
A family in the Portfolio Cost Analyzer is a group of country filings associated with either the initial application or a continuing application and is based on the priority date.


How are the prosecution costs per Office Action estimated?
In general, the program sets the fee (for prosecuting one office action) equal to the fee a Foreign Associate charges to receive, process and file an initial filing in a given country. (We approximate it this way because Foreign Associates do not generally supply fees for Office Actions on their fee schedules.) This is merely a starting point for coming up with some default prosecution costs. The tool has various ways to adjust this cost (both at a global and/or country specific level.)


May I delete filings (or entire families) that have been imported or added manually?
You may delete filings or entire families; however, since pricing is based on the number of country filings analyzed (unless you have an "Unlimited" license) only filings that have not been analyzed may be deleted.



Reporting


Can I see the cost and country details for a particular patent in the portfolio?
Yes, the program provides views of the processing for each patent family. There is a graphical display of stages (Filing, Examination, etc) shown with dates of occurrence for each country within the patent family.


Details of the amounts for each country for each stage may be viewed and printed.


How many groups can I use to classify the patent families?
Any number of groups


Can I add a grouping at any time, and generate reports based on that grouping?
Yes, a new grouping may be devised; each patent allocated to the members of the grouping; and a new analysis run, without re-calculating the portfolio costs and times.


What time periods are available to report by?
Yearly, quarterly and monthly time periods may be specified.


Can I see reports for the costs incurred in the past as well as estimates for the future? No. Estimates are for costs expected in the future.


Do I need Excel?
Yes, since the program uses Excel to produce reports, a version of Excel must be installed prior to installing the Portfolio Cost Analyzer.


What if I only have the Excel viewer installed, can I stil use your application?
Unfortunately, the full installation of Excel and all of its components is required in order to run the program.



Licensing and Network Use


How is the software licensed?
The software is licensed for periods of one-year increments, and on a “number of patent filings” basis. For example, the least expensive license is for the processing of 500 patent filings. This means the data for up to 500 patent filings may be entered and maintained in the single licensed database. Twelve monthly updates to the software and the data will be provided. The software will cease to operate after one year, unless the license is renewed


Is there an extra cost for additional users?
No. The license is by number of patent filings in the single database licensed. The software and database may be installed on a server, and accessed by any number of users. However, the database may not be installed on more than one computer.


Can the software be used on a network?
Yes. The software and database may be installed on a server, and accessed by any number of users. However, the database may not be installed on more than one computer/server.



What is needed to be able to run this program?
The PCA requires the following:





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