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"We are happy to have identified DataCert as being the most qualified legal spend management vendor with the IP expertise and global experience to provide a solution to our invoice processing needs." Steve Braithwaite Novartis International AG Corporate Intellectual Property

As the world shrinks and access to global markets increases, the need for worldwide IP protection and prosecution has increased. Having the ability to manage a global IP portfolio with multiple currencies is critical for many Fortune^® 500 companies.

Much of the challenge in managing IP is scale. A major corporation with 500 active legal matters might have thousands of active IP matters. For example, a large pharmaceutical company uses less than 100 law firms for the majority of legal work but more than 500 law firms and agents for IP.

Developing controls and viable processes for managing the sheer volume is a necessity. For instance, a single patent or trademark application will sometimes involve the services of more than a hundred different outside agents and firms working to optimize the protection of the invention or brand for the company. Compounding the degree of exposure is the number of applications and the fact that many can take years.

The current era of financial transparency requires a company to maintain effective financial controls, including all IP spend. Regulators and stakeholders are likely to insist management has a good grasp of all IP invoices and legal spend.

To do this effectively, companies with IP portfolios need IP spend management technology to accurately manage, monitor and report on IP portfolio expenses. DataCert is uniquely positioned to help companies gain a greater understanding of their IP spend. As part of the implementation process, our team will research, cross reference, and document your law department's billing data and work directly with your global network of IP agents and law firms.