Alt Legal

A Necessity for All Small/Solo IP Professionals

Kommentare: Far and away my favorite thing about Alt Legal is the customer service. As a true solo, when I can't figure something out on my own, I can lose a huge amount of my day poking around the internet for how to's and fixes. Other software programs I've used had customer service that was slow to respond. This loss of time leads to a loss in productivity which translates into a loss of billable hours. Alt Legal has always responded to my questions incredibly quick and has always provided fixes or training that goes above and beyond any other software provider I've worked with. Whenever a small/solo saves time, they make money and working with Alt Legal has been very beneficial to my bottom line.

Vorteile:

As a true solo, Alt Legal saves me time which makes me money. Instead of having to enter all my client's trademark information into a spreadsheet or some other document, Alt Legal auto-populates any client mark information from the USPTO into my docket. Every day I get an email update that alerts me to any changes or upcoming deadlines related to my client's marks. Normally, I would either have to spend the time looking this information up on my own or hire an admin to assist with tracking my docket and deadlines. Alt Legal eliminates the need for me to do the work which saves me time and as a solo when I save time, I make money. It also does away with the need to hire someone to do the docketing for me. I really love the integration with Clio as well. Alt Legal auto-populates important USPTO deadlines onto my Clio calendar. This eliminates any issues with data entry due to human error and it allows me to stay on top of things with a minimum amount of effort on my part. It's truly a time saver which translates into a money maker.

Nachteile:

I would like to be able to track competing marks. i.e. When a client may have an opposition to another mark, the ability to track that other mark as it moves through the application process would be helpful.

AltLegal is the Pukka Sahib of Legal Docketing Software

Kommentare: AltLegal is a great company with a great product. They are constantly working on improving the usability of their docketing solution and they clearly have an understanding of what's important to practitioners. They want to make you more efficient in your practice. And, their customer service, which is always accessible right there in the software through an ever present chat button, is very knowledgeable of the system and generally just really nice people. The AltLegal team is a pleasure to interact with.

Vorteile:

From its beginning, AltLegal was designed with trademark prosecution practice in mind. Although the AltLegal software accommodates copyright and patent docketing, its core competency is clearly in docket management for a trademark heavy practice. The software "auto-dockets" trademark matters based on triggers taken from the USPTO's databases. So, when the practitioner makes a filing, such as an office action response, there's no need to update the docket since AltLegal will pick that up at the USPTO and update the practitioner's docket automatically. It is incredibly seamless and fool proof. AltLegal takes a lot of the docketing burden off the practitioner and legal staff so that everybody can focus on spending time on those tasks that are billable. Also, because AltLegal is cloud based and its GUI is intuitive, it's easy for anybody on the team to peek into the docket and find out the status on any matter -- it takes no serious training to learn to navigate the docket so anybody, even a LAWYER, can do it! I highly recommend AltLegal. Oh, and the migration of data into the AltLegal software was virtually painless: we exported into an excel spreadsheet and then imported into AltLegal and it was correct (AltLegal will hold your hand through the process).

Nachteile:

Docketing on the patent side of the AltLegal software is not as seamless an experience as it is on the trademark side. This is partly due to the fact that the USPTO's databases on the patent side (PAIR) are not amenable to be "scraped" like the the trademark databases (TSDR). And so, there's no "auto-docketing" for patents. BUT, AltLegal has done a good job of creating standard, common entries for patent docketing that make it fairly easy for a user to update the docket accordingly. There is room for improvement, however, in the options AltLegal might offer its users for patent docketing since not all patent practitioners necessarily manage cases the same way. For our firm, we leverage RCEs quite a bit, but the AltLegal default is that you'll appeal a case. We "work around" this by making custom entries in the docket to alert our team at certain milestones that are important for how we want to manage a given case.

Overall Helpful but Hard to Manage

Vorteile:

I like that this software is helpful for working

Nachteile:

This software is hard to manage for me sometimes

AltLegal is a game-changer for IP attorneys (especially for trademarks)-Automates docketing reliably

Kommentare: Alt Legal solves 98% of my docketing needs flawlessly. Their customer service is second-to-none!

Vorteile:

I like that the software essentially replaces a full-scale docketing department for trademark management. It automates everything, pulls live from the USPTO (for status changes and up-to-date data) without additional fees, and sends reminders when you need them most. Rep and team have built a tremendously-valuable product here that is perfect for solo/small practices and large firms alike. Alt Legal's user interface is incredibly smooth and allows for easy operation. In addition to docketing, Alt Legal automates template and form letters, USPTO filings, and other elements of a robust trademark practice. I truly wouldn't be able to practice without it (or a full-scale docketing department). Bravo! A+++

Nachteile:

It's close to perfect for my 98% of my purposes. Litigation and foreign deadlines need to be manually entered to some degree but will change when updated (smart updating). Automating these would be difficult but nice.

Outstanding Trademark Docketing Platform with Great Customer Support and Value-Added Extra Content

Kommentare: I especially value that Alt Legal keeps adding useful features as part of our existing subscription (like the integration with the Canadian PTO some time ago and, more recently, the integration with a reputable third-party data source for other foreign PTOs). I also appreciate the complementary high-quality, informative, and helpful webinars that Alt Legal hosts, and I enjoy their informative newsletter about trademark law and developments.

Vorteile:

Alt Legal's trademark docketing platform and customer support are both outstanding: I have found their platform to be very user-friendly and capable and their customer services to be exceptionally responsive and genuinely helpful. I also appreciate the regular docketing updates and reminders that I receive via email.

Nachteile:

Monthly docketing email updates/reminders, as opposed to only daily or weekly, would be a great addition.