Haynes Beffel & Wolfeld purchases CPA Global’s First To File Patents and Workflow modules

USA/Canada News

19
Sep
2013

Editor

New services will increase efficiencies enabling firm to add higher value to clients

CPA Global’s First To File® (FTF), a leading provider of hosted intellectual property (IP) document management technology, announced today that Haynes Beffel & Wolfeld LLP, a Silicon Valley IP law firm, has purchased both its Electronic File Room™ for Patents (EFR-Patents) electronic IP information management system, and its Workflow Management module. 

The web-based EFR-Patents and Workflow modules will help the firm streamline operations, providing real-time access to IP documents both for those working in the office and remotely.  FTF’s EFR-Patents web-based system organizes cases into electronic files, providing quick, easy and familiar access to all patent-related information. Workflow Management automates the complex steps needed to prosecute a patent, including creation and review of IP-related forms and documents.

Resulting efficiencies will decrease costs at the firm by reducing time taken to perform basic administrative tasks, and will allow attorneys and staff to focus on higher value prosecution and advisory services. 

Patent attorney Ernie Beffel, managing partner at the firm, noted: “First To File is user-friendly and it will allow us to track workflow at the firm in real time so the entire team is always aware of the status of a project.  We expect it will pay for itself each year by increasing billable time for our lawyers, agents and paralegals.  Also, First To File is a web-based hosted solution which means we don’t need an on-site IT professional or our own server farm.  First To File maintains and backs up its own servers so we expect to never have outages once they host our data.”

Nicole Nowak, Office Administrator at Haynes Beffel & Wolfeld, led the selection process.  Nowak explained:  “We considered several products, but First To File was clearly the best choice.  First to File offers one central system for organizing and accessing all IP case data, in turn eliminating the silo effect of disparate databases.  We expect our administrative burden to be reduced by eliminating the inefficiencies associated with multiple data entry, cumbersome document and email management, and manual workflow tracking.  First To File also offers a familiar Tri-Fold® user interface, an intuitive, central IDS Reference Library, and daily integration with the USPTO to automatically download and notify team members of new actions. Since the software is web-based, attorneys and agents can access IP portfolio data and documents at any time from any location, eliminating the requirement for burdensome document downloads and more importantly, allowing for real time strategic client meetings.”     

Kurt Wedel, Vice President, Operations at CPA Global’s First To File, remarked: “We are very pleased that Haynes Beffel & Wolfeld has selected First To File EFR-Patents and Workflow modules for their firm.  They join the ranks of many organizations around the globe that have chosen First To File to create efficiency, transform paper to electronic files, and provide anywhere, anytime access to IP case files via the web.  Our support team looks forward to finalizing the installation rapidly so the firm can realize the benefits and return-on-investment for which First To File is well known.”