Standard Press Release
Contact Information:
LEDES Oversight Committee
Jane Bennitt, President
(203) 804-2002
loc@LEDES.org
Release Date:
For Immediate Release
LEDES Oversight Committee Announces New IP Patent Prosecution UTBMS Codes
Northford, Connecticut, May 11, 2023 – Today, the LEDES Oversight Committee, a prominent non-profit organization dedicated to advancing data exchange standards in the legal industry, is thrilled to introduce a new series of UTBMS Patent Prosecution Codes. The team has developed these codes to streamline and improve the Patent UTBMS code-set, with the goal of making it more practical and internationally relevant. The redesigned Patent Prosecution Task Codes were developed with the intent of representing work output and deliverables as it pertains to a particular patent. The newly designed Patent Prosecution Task Codes better categorizes the work components that constitute a patent application matter.
The new category numbering system was developed with several key thoughts in mind. These include:
- Preserving the integrity of historical data by differentiating and distinguishing it from the existing code set
- Providing a robust foundation for future growth and evolution of the categories, ensuring compatibility with time entry systems
- Creating a code system that offers much greater flexibility and detail than the previous model
One of the benefits of the new code set is the potential to validate each code by looking at document activity at the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). By aligning the task codes more closely with the USPTO's PAIR activity descriptors, it will help vendors provide services that were not possible with previous LEDES code sets. For law departments, the vendors could provide a service that flags invoice line items that were invoiced but do not appear to have been performed. On the other hand, for law firms, vendors could provide a service that identifies activity that either was or should have been performed but was not invoiced.
"The new IP Prosecution Code set allows IP Departments to characterize their fees and expenses in a way to promote a better understanding of total expenditures and therefore be in a position to make better decisions and control those costs," explained Adam Jaffe, Director at Kroll. "Providing the capability to validate costs against Patent and Trademark Office activity provides a revolutionary way of confirming that work was completed. Updating the code set to embrace the reality of the global Intellectual Property world we live in, is another main feature of this update."
By prioritizing these objectives, we are confident that the new UTBMS Patent Prosecution Task Codes will be a valuable asset to the legal community and help streamline processes, reduce errors, and improve data accuracy.
About LEDES:
LEDES™ is an acronym for the Legal Electronic Data Exchange System. The LEDES Oversight Committee (LOC) is the governing body that creates the standards used for the exchange of information in the legal industry around the world. This volunteer-led not for profit group is comprised of representatives from corporate legal departments, law firms, universities, software vendors and legal technology consultants. Since its founding, the LOC has released numerous standards for the exchange of legal Ebilling, timekeeper, budget and intellectual property matter information, as well as contributing and maintaining UTBMS (Uniform Task Based Management System, a series of codes used for legal data exchange) standards. The organization maintains two web sites, LEDES.org for its data exchange standards and UTBMS.com as a central reference point for any ratified UTBMS standards.
Notably, the LEDES Ebilling standards are globally recognized as compliant industry-specific EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) formats for electronic invoicing.
To request more information on the new standards, visit the LEDES.org website or contact the LEDES Board at loc@LEDES.org.
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