Use IP Pilot’s Search feature to identify which foreign law firms are the most active in sending IP cases to your jurisdiction. This targeted approach helps you uncover valuable business development opportunities and understand global referral flows.
To Identify Top Foreign Law Firms Sending Cases to Your Jurisdiction:
1. Go to the Search Feature
- Click Search from the main navigation panel.
2. Set Up the Law Firm Search
- In the search configuration, choose Law Firms from the first drop-down menu.
- In the second drop-down, select From to specify the country of origin for the law firms.
- In the third drop-down, pick the relevant country (e.g., United States to focus on U.S. law firms).
3. Configure Case Direction and Jurisdiction
- In the next filter, you’ll see an option set to Filing At by default.
- Click this drop-down and choose Sending Cases To to focus your search on firms sending work into your jurisdiction.
- In the subsequent field, select Law Firms Filing At and choose your target publication authority/jurisdiction (e.g., Canada).
Tip:
If you want to search based on law firm office location (rather than where they file at), select In from the drop-down, then pick the country or region of interest.
The difference:
- Filing At lets you focus on firms based on where they are filing IP (the publication authority).
- In lets you focus on law firms physically located in a specific country or region.
4. Select Case Exchange and Time Period
- In the next drop-down, select Exchanged to focus the search on case exchange data.
- Choose your desired time period.
- For patents: Avoid using the latest year due to publication delays.
- For trademarks: Using the most recent year is appropriate.
5. Add Charts for More Insights
- Click Add Chart to further analyze your results.
- For example, to see which clients these law firms represent when sending cases to your jurisdiction, select Important Clients from the chart options.
- You may add multiple charts to get a comprehensive overview of the relationships and filing strategies.
6. Apply the Decision Maker Filter (Recommended)
- Click Add Filter and select Decision Maker.
- This proprietary filter analyzes decision patterns in case exchanges and allows you to distinguish whether the law firm or the applicant was the likely decision maker for each case exchange.
- Applying this filter helps you direct your business development efforts toward the real influencers in the case exchange process.
7. Focus on the Most Active Firms
- Add a Number of Cases filter to focus on law firms with a minimum volume of referrals.
- Set a lower limit to see only firms that have sent a significant number of cases to your jurisdiction.
8. Run the Search
- Click Search to view your results.
- IP Pilot will display the top foreign law firms sending IP cases to your jurisdiction, complete with charts and data on important clients and referral partners.
Example Scenario
Suppose you want to find which U.S. law firms send the most IP cases to Canadian firms:
- Set Law Firms → From: United States
- Choose Sending Cases To → Law Firms Filing At: Canada
- Select Exchanged and set a three-year range, omitting the latest year if analyzing patents
- Add the Important Clients chart
- Apply the Decision Maker filter to distinguish key influencers
- Add a Number of Cases filter (e.g., at least 10 cases)
- Click Search to reveal your target list and analyze the client base of each firm
Best Practices & Tips
-
Patent vs. Trademark Data: Remember, patent publication data may lag, so avoid selecting the most recent year for patent analysis. For trademarks, you can confidently use the latest year.
- Use the Decision Maker Filter: This is critical for understanding who influences international case flow, helping you prioritize outreach.
- Visualize Relationships: Adding charts such as “Important Clients” or “Top Partners” gives valuable context for business development strategy.
- Leverage Filters: The Number of Cases filter ensures your efforts are focused on the most active and valuable foreign associates.
If you need help with advanced search configurations or interpreting your results, please send an email to support@ip-pilot.com.
