Black Hills IP Launches DocketSaver™

MINNEAPOLIS, July 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Black Hills IP (BHIP), the nation's leading provider of fully automated docketing services for intellectual property attorneys, announces the release of DocketSaver™, an easy-to-use verification tool that ensures docket entries are made as expected and helps eliminate docketing errors.

With minimal setup time, DocketSaver™ automatically verifies that correspondence downloaded from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) docketing portal led to an expected docket entry—and that the correct docketing code was used. This helps eliminate docketing errors, which remain the most common source of major liability in patent practice.

"Essential items falling through the cracks before they make it onto a docket is one of the most common reasons why docketing deadlines get missed," according to Russ Slifer, CEO of BHIP and former Deputy Director of the USPTO.

Some 80 percent of docketing mistakes are due to human errors, which can be expensive. For example, in 2004, a leading IP law firm was ordered to pay $30 million for legal malpractice after failing to file a foreign patent application. Last September, another IP law firm and a contractor it retained for docketing were sued for missing a PCT national phase deadline due to a docketing error and allegedly costing a client millions of dollars.

"The best protection against a malpractice claim for patent firms and departments is not insurance – it's sound docketing practices with no opportunities for a single-point-of-failure," says Ann McCrackin, president of BHIP. Adding the cost of DocketSaver™ to one's operations, "is a small fraction of what the typical patent firm spends on malpractice insurance, yet our service provides far superior protection against the most devastating malpractice events."

BHIP's DocketSaver™ ensures items downloaded from the USPTO's correspondence portal make it onto the docket and do not get lost in the shuffle, such as when a docketer accidentally deletes or forgets an item. This service also identifies ante-dated portal correspondence that can be overlooked.

Once connected to a law firm's private USPTO account, DocketSaver™ trains itself based on the firm's docketing practices. The learning process takes about a month based upon volume but can be accelerated if needed. BHIP's proprietary automated algorithms then verify the firm's docketing actions each week to make sure all items received through the USPTO resulted in expected docket entries. DocketSaver™ also verifies there were no discrepancies or sends a report noting any that were found.

About BHIP
Minneapolis-based Black Hills IP is the nation's leading provider of fully automated docketing services for intellectual property attorneys. The firm processes an average of more than 40,000 docketing transactions every month, with half of them fully automated and requiring no human assistance. More than 200 IP law firms rely upon BHIP technology to accurately make thousands of docketing decisions within seconds, while working seamlessly with patent offices in the U.S., China and dozens of other countries.

For more information, contact:
Dale Kurschner
763-567-9241

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SOURCE Black Hills IP