Introducing IPRally Lite: enabling seamless patent collaboration across teams

Over the years, many IPRally users have expressed the need for an easier way to share relevant search results with colleagues in R&D and other departments for review. 

Collaboration between teams, and proactively working with patent matters outside of the IP team, has always been challenging in large and innovative organisations. Whilst IPRally makes the search and review process a lot easier for its users, having an easier way to share relevant search results with colleagues in R&D and other departments for review is of increasing importance for the efficiency and efficacy of patent work.

With IPRally Lite, we’re making this a reality – empowering teams with seamless access to patent insights, user-friendly search capabilities, and a collaborative user interface.

Empowering teams to innovate together

As you might know, IPRally’s mission is to provide effortless access to technical information, advance the quality of IP rights and accelerate innovation. Our goal with this new version of IPRally is to lower the barriers to leveraging patent information across all relevant stakeholders within organisations. By simplifying searches and providing access to relevant results, we strive to empower colleagues, particularly in R&D, not only to work more independently and perform essential background checks with ease but also to contribute more effectively with their expertise.

What is IPRally Lite?

IPRally Lite provides streamlined access to search results and searching for larger user groups at a cost-effective price point. It serves as an accessible entry-level solution for R&D users and others who want to view patent information independently and contribute to the patent process.

How it works

The key value of the IPRally Lite lies in enabling its users to seamlessly review search cases and collections shared with them. Lite users can comment on search results and lists of documents that have been shared by their colleagues, add relevant tags, and review patents with the help of our Ask AI feature – all within the platform. Say goodbye to exporting data and managing feedback outside the context!

Lite users also gain access to simplified, yet powerful search capabilities. They can utilize our most straightforward search method, the free-text search, which features an intuitive interface: just type in text and get the most relevant results. This provides a robust starting point for team members who indirectly contribute to, or are impacted by the patent process to explore and understand the landscape of available information.

How you can benefit

IPRally Lite is valuable for all innovative organisations where collaboration and access to patents are important. However, it has been specifically designed with large organisations and sizable R&D departments in mind.

There are many different processes and use cases where wider access to IPRally can be beneficial – ideation and validation of ideas, monitoring, patentability assessments, state-of-the-art and freedom to operate processes, just to name a few.

Here’s an example of one of the most important workflows, patentability:

1. Prior art search: An IP professional conducts a prior art search and identifies potentially relevant patents.
2. Shared findings: The curated findings are shared with a relevant group of R&D engineers, along with an AI-assisted summary and a message for context.
3. Review and feedback: Engineers utilise AI to efficiently review the shared patents and add their comments and/or tags.
4. Collaborative discussion: Both teams discuss the findings directly within the platform, exchanging comments until they reach a consensus on whether the innovation is novel and patentable.

This process helps organisations quickly evaluate the patentability of ideas through efficient collaboration between IP and R&D.

Another process that usually starts within R&D is continuously understanding the state of the art and assessing the potential freedom to operate hurdles in ongoing product development projects. 

1. An R&D engineer or team working on an invention searches for patents related to their work.
2. They review matching patent families and mark important findings with comments and favourites.
3. This research reveals competitors' existing solutions, helping focus R&D efforts.
4. If needed, they can share findings with their colleagues at the IP department for further discussion and guidance, and have the area continuously monitored for new publications that may have an impact on the project.

This approach helps engineers quickly assess the competitive landscape, identify potential IP conflicts, and continuously make informed decisions before committing to further investments.

Getting started with IPRally Lite

IPRally Lite is available to all our customers on the IPRally Team Plan. If you’d like to learn more, feel free to reach out to your IPRally contact – we’re happy to help!

You can also explore additional resources in our Help Center:

• Lite User Guide: Free-Text Search
• Lite License Administration

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