PatentLink: Patent Quality Dashboards

If you are like many attorneys working as part of an in-house patent team, including our own founder and CEO, you might be using a spreadsheet to manage your patent portfolio. 

That’s what Jeff used to do back when he served as in-house counsel or was working as counsel to several smaller startups. These spreadsheets have their place; after all, it’s an easy way to keep track of all your patents, along with important information like patent numbers, dates, titles, inventor details, upcoming deadlines, and more. A spreadsheet can even be customized with information that is unique to you. Jeff, for example, used to keep a column of notes about the importance of a particular invention for the overall portfolio. But while the spreadsheet provides flexibility, it’s also a tedious way to work. Updating the details manually any time something changes, copying and pasting information from the USPTO when a new patent is added, the list goes on. 

It’s from this tedium that the idea for PatentLink was born. PatentLink lets you create interactive patent lists. The tool sits in the sweet spot between the flexible, but highly manual, spreadsheet management approach and an IP Management System, which can be costly and often not customizable. With PatentLink, you get the syncing and updated information you’d get from IPMS, but you have the utility, convenience and flexibility of spreadsheets. 

Let’s dive into an example of a PatentLink list, in this case a quality list, which is particularly useful for in-house patent teams. This type of list was designed to give you all of the information you need to track your portfolio and to make sure that you’re getting the quality patents that you need to support your company’s growth. 

The first columns are the basic information you’d want and expect - patent numbers, dates, inventors, and so on. All of this can be updated with the click of a button; simply click ‘sync’ and the latest information will be pulled over from the USPTO. Plus, the list is connected to other Patent Bots tools. For example, you can click on the patent examiner’s name and get access to their history and stats so that you’ll know how best to engage with them. Or you can access the patent family details via PatentPlex. 

Where it gets even more interesting is the quality metrics. Patent Bots is unique in providing a snapshot of this information, so you can not only understand the overall quality of your portfolio, but also use the data to address potential issues early, know how to focus your time, and work with your outside counsel more effectively. 

Prosecution Duration

As in-house counsel, you want to make sure things are progressing with your applications. Duration presents the number of RCEs, the number of OAs, and the number of appeals. This field also shows the total pendency, which is the length of time since the patent was filed. The colors give visual cues so you’ll know if something needs attention. If it’s in green, nothing is too concerning with the duration. As the time increases, you may see more yellow or even red. That way, you know to take a closer look, and if something is moving too slowly, you can address it and get the issue resolved.  

Claims Count

This column shows you the number of filed claims, the number of claims after each office action response, and the number of issued claims. This allows you to easily track how things are changing, and you can even be alerted if the number of claims increases or decreases significantly. Typically, 3 independent and 20 total claims are preferred. If your patent starts deviating from that, it would display in yellow, and as it deviates even further, in red. 

Claim Length

This quality metric looks at the length of the first independent claim. While it’s based on a word count, it’s not the number of words that matters but rather how this changes. For example, if the claim increased in length by 50%, this could be an indicator that you are giving up a lot of scope and would be something you’d want to look at more closely.

Claim Errors

The claim errors column shows the number of proofreading errors within your patents. This includes the number of claim numbering, antecedent basis, and word support errors. With each type of error, you can click directly into the proofreading results to review the issues in more detail. With this information, if you are seeing a lot of proofreading errors and have concerns, you then have what you need to address it with your outside counsel.

If you are ready to move away from manual spreadsheets and have the latest information and quality metrics at your fingertips for more effective portfolio management, then give Patent Bots a try. Start your free, two-week trial today or contact us at sales@patentbots.com to learn more about PatentLink and our other tools for in-house patent teams.

Patent Bots in Action: Word Form Generation

OA Admin, part of Prep & Pros Pro, allows you to automatically generate documents, including office action responses and reporting letters. Today we’re taking a closer look at another type of document you can generate this way - Word Forms. 

Word Forms automates the creation of declaration and assignment forms, requests for certificate of correction, and other documents that are routinely required. You can upload and customize templates, including placeholders for key information, which saves valuable time for support staff while also reducing the risk of errors.

Check out the video below to see how Word Form generation works and the efficiency it can bring to this type of day-to-day work. Then try it for yourself with a free, two-week trial of Patent Bots.

Top 10 Product Enhancements of 2025

2025 was a busy year for the Patent Bots product development team. With so many improvements to the tools, it wasn’t easy to narrow it down. Nonetheless the team compiled a list of their 10 favorite product enhancements and additions from the year. 

Check out the video below for a recap and demo of each feature in this top 10 - from the ones that were among the most requested by customers to the ones users may not have known they needed but now absolutely can’t live without.

• Custom shortcuts for drafting 
• Zero data retention for Gen AI functions
• Expanded flow chart generation for method claims 
• Improved OA Response Shell generation
• Automated creation of declaration and assignment and other Word forms
• Exportable patent family trees
• Gen AI Assistant to explore a patent prosecution history or family 
• Ability to download and format patent text as a DOCX file
• Interactive patent lists and quality dashboards
• Patent Speed Rankings

Then try them for yourself -- along with all the other Patent Bots tools and features we couldn’t fit into this session -- with a free, two-week trial. 

Patent Bots in Action: PatentPlex Gen AI Assistant

PatentPlex from Patent Bots is your one-stop shop for information about U.S. patents. The tool includes patent family trees, patent timelines, our patent analyzer, IFW access, and more.

In this product highlight, we’re sharing how you can easily explore a patent with the Gen AI assistant. There are two versions of this agent that let you ask questions about patents.

Prosecution History - Ask questions about a specific patent’s prosecution history. Ask for a summary of the patent or claims. Request information about the differences between claims. Determine if the specification discloses specific subject matter.

Patent Family - Ask questions about the claims across an entire family. Get a summary of the differences in claims across the patents in the family. Quickly find which patent in a large family claims specific subject matter.

Check out the video below to see how this feature works and the ease it brings to your analysis. Then try it for yourself with a free two-week trial of Patent Bots.

Size Matters: How Firm Size Relates to Patent Quality

In an ideal world, every patent law firm, from a small practice drafting 50 patents a year to a large firm drafting thousands a year, would deliver patents for their clients that contain no errors. In reality though, patent drafting is complex and tedious work, and errors inevitably occur.

So how do you ensure the highest quality patent applications? When it comes to quality work and the prevalence of errors, does the size of the firm matter? 

In this webinar, we share the data from a study of proofreading errors and firm size - and the unexpected results.

Regardless of firm size, proofreading remains a critical element of the patent application process, and Patent Bots’ tools for proofreading and drafting automation help minimize critical errors. Try them today with your own applications with a free, two-week trial.

Patent Bots in Action: PatentLink Quality Lists

PatentLink is one of Patent Bot’s newest tools. With just a few clicks, PatentLink lets you build interactive lists of patents, which you can use to:

• Track current patent applications
• Analyze patents for due diligence or litigation 
• Monitor the activity of competitors and their patent portfolio
• Get insight into the work of outside counsel with a quality dashboard 

In this product highlight, we’re taking a closer look at the patent quality metrics that PatentLink quality lists provide.

Prosecution Duration - How many office actions, RCEs, and appeals there are, as well as days pendency. This enables you to take action if the duration is stretching longer than expected. 

Claim Count - The number of independent claims and total number claims. You can then take action if this deviates from the expected 3 and 20.

Claim Length - The length of the first independent claim at each step of prosecution. If a claim gets much longer with likely much narrower scope, you want to know about it.

Claim Errors - A summary of key proofreading errors (numbering, antecedent basis, and word support) so you can stay ahead of potential quality issues. 

Check out the video below to see just how easy it is to customize your own list and leverage this interactive patent quality data. Then try it for yourself with a free, two-week trial of Patent Bots.

New Feature: Generate Declaration and Assignment Forms and More

OA Admin, part of Prep & Pros Pro, allows you to automatically generate documents, including office action responses and reporting letters. We’re excited to share that this tool has been expanded to include a third type of document - Word Forms. 

Word Forms automates the creation of declaration and assignment forms, as well as other documents that are routinely required. This feature saves valuable time for support staff while also reducing the risk of errors. Simply upload your preferred templates, then use Patent Bots to fill in the tagged fields and core information. For declaration and assignment forms, the tool can even repeat the signature block for each inventor. Below, the information that Patent Bots fills is highlighted in yellow.

In addition to declaration and assignment documents, you can complete any other form that uses a Word format, including:

• Response to notice of missing parts
• Transmittal letter
• Cover sheet
• Request for certificate of correction

Even better, we don’t plan to stop here. The team is already hard at work on the next time-saving document generation feature, which will include the ability to complete USPTO PDF forms, such as a request for continued examination. 

In the meantime, why not see for yourself just how efficient OA Admin and Word Forms can be? Try it today with a free, two-week trial of Patent Bots.