Quality Control Systems
The commitment of Schwegman, Lundberg & Woesner’s attorneys and support staff to provide the highest quality intellectual property services is the very heart of the firm's quality control system and it is reinforced with a system of checklists and proprietary case-management software to ensure use of industry best practices.
SLW presently uses over 100 checklists to govern or guide almost every aspect of the firm's value-added services. For example, the firm has special checklists for preparation of patent applications, intake of patent-application filing receipts and processing of Notices of Allowance. We continually update our checklists and can readily integrate any of our clients’ checklists into the firm's quality process.
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In addition to the numerous checklists, SLW's quality-control system includes unique and proprietary case-management software. The software includes an extensive document-and-data merge capability that not only facilitates error-free document generation and use of electronic file wrappers, but also consistent adherence to PTO rules and related best practices. For instance, the PTO rules were recently changed to limit the option of filing continuing prosecution applications (CPAs) to those parent applications filed before May 29, 2000. SLW software automatically creates the appropriate CPA Form with all the necessary data, but only after confirming that the filing date of the parent application meets the date requirements, thus preventing improper CPA filings. SLW learned that even six months after the CPA rule changes, the PTO was receiving scores of improper CPA applications, suggesting that many firms and their clients would have benefited from SLW's built-in safeguards.
SLW's proprietary case management software also allows the firm to electronically link together families of patent applications. One significant advantage of this feature is that it helps the firm keep up with the complex duty-of-disclosure issues that rise in such families and reduces the risk of inadvertently compromising the credibility of client portfolios.
Services performed by SLW can be provided on an hourly fee basis, or budgeted with fixed fees for a specified group of services. Either way, SLW is certain to provide a cost-effective billing option tailored to your business plan.
