PatentSafe
PatentSafe® is Amphora’s system for creating evidence to be used in defense of patents. Based on our years of experience in all aspects of ELNs and Patents, it is a flexible, cost effective solution for this crucial area, which can be used either stand alone or in conjunction with ELNs from Amphora or other suppliers.
PatentSafe® is designed to take the record keeping issues “off the table” when considering ELNs – using PatentSafe® you can be assured of having legally defendable records no matter what your ELN or record keeping preferences are.
A choice of record keeping mechanisms
PatentSafe® can be run in one of three modes, allowing customers to choose their record keeping mechanism of choice depending on their particular circumstances and preferences. Customers may choose to:
- Create records on PatentPad® security paper, which is then signed & witnessed as a normal paper lab notebook. We refer to this as “Paper & Wet Signature ” mode.
- Sign & Witness the documents electronically, and then print the documents out on PatentPad® Paper. We refer to this as “Paper & Digital Signature” mode.
- Sign & Witness the documents electronically, and preserve the documents Electronically. We refer to this as “Electronic Records” mode. No paper is involved in this process, all data is created, signed, and preserved electronically.
Different companies will choose different record keeping modes, depending on:
- Their risk/benefit decision around electronic records. Some companies operate in industries where their very survival depends on one or two patents which are regularly attacked – in which case they may decide to remain with paper for many years. For other companies patents are less critical (but still very important), or their environment is less litigious.
- The nature of their work and the data that is produced. Some of today’s science produces records that simply cannot be accurately be represented on paper, either because of sheer volume/size, or sophistication (3D models etc.).
- The nature of their environment. Companies with scientists distributed over a wide area may find running a paper witnessing system is impractical just because of the logistical difficulties.
- The resources and expertise available within the company. Running an Electronic Records system requires skilled IT, Legal, and Records Management resources, which some companies have and other’s don’t.
- The budget available for the system. Responsible Electronic Records systems are expensive to run, as their reliability are ultimately down to the procedures that surround them. The best record keeping software in the world is no use if you don’t run it properly (e.g. making sure people don’t share passwords) and making sure you run your system in a way that you can convince a court in 20 years time that your records are reliable costs money & time.
- The degree of comfort of key personnel with Electronic Records.
Interestingly, some companies choose to have different record keeping regimes in different sites, or for different disciplines, depending on the specific circumstances. PatentSafe’s flexibility in this regard is unrivalled.
“Paper & Wet Signature” mode
This is a very popular choice for small companies who lack the infrastructure to move to Electronic Records. Installing and running an Electronic Record Keeping system takes care and attention, which smaller companies are often unable to do, lacking both the personnel and expertise. Using PatentPad® paper to take the record keeping burden means the computer system can be managed as any other IT service, rather than requiring the special attention required of an Electronic Record Keeping system.
Paper & Wet Signature mode is also very popular with larger companies who are evaluating ELN products, or who have an ELN installed in “Pilot Mode”. Until now, all ELN pilots have required the participating scientists to maintain their bound paper lab notebook as well as use the ELN – and this dual record keeping requirement is a huge burden on the scientist. Often, user participation drops significantly causing the pilot to fail. Using PatentSafe® in paper & wet signature mode, companies can evaluate ELNs whilst creating paper records which are compliant with their existing laboratory notebook policies, thus removing the need to keep a bound paper lab notebook during the pilot. At the end of the pilot, companies may remain in paper mode or migrate to a more electronic mode.
“Paper & Digital Signature” mode
In this mode, companies gain the benefits of signing & witnessing electronically, but the documents are printed out and preserved on PatentPad® paper. This removes any risk associated with Electronic Records, long term readability of proprietary file formats etc.
“Electronic Records” mode
PatentSafe® has been designed from the start to be a safe, reliable electronic records system, trusted by some of the largest companies in the world. Electronic record keeping brings tremendous benefits but also huge risks, and PatentSafe® is alone in addressing those risks in all aspects of the system’s design, implementation and maintenance. Careful consideration has been applied to not only the technical aspects of the system, but also the commercial aspects, to ensure our customers have the most reliable records we can deliver.
Stand alone, or with an ELN
of different sources. Used stand alone, any application may be used to author content, which may then be searched and shared within PatentSafe®. This is particularly popular with smaller companies who do not need the sophistication of a fully-fledged ELN. PatentSafe® may also be used in conjunction with Amphora’s OpenELN or ELNs from other vendors. Some customers will use more than one ELN submitting records into a central PatentSafe® system.
A flexible, proven solution
PatentSafe® is perhaps the ultimate solution to the patent record keeping challenge which has bedeviled the ELN industry until now. Designed and developed by the leading vendor of ELNs specifically for the patent record keeping task, and now available in conjunction with the only paper-based record keeping system, PatentSafe® is the clear leader in this crucial area.
Available Versions
PatentSafe® is available in 3 versions, to suit the needs of different companies:
- PatentSafe® Standard Edition is aimed at the small to medium sized installation and provides paper-based record keeping (using PatentPad®), and collaboration functionality.
- PatentSafe® Enterprise Edition is aimed at larger installations, and includes everything in the Standard Edition, plus:
- Electronic Records capability (e.g. completely electronic records, no paper at all).
- Powerful security rules to clearly define who can view what content. This allows “Chinese walls” between individuals, whilst supporting collaboration.
- Customer-configurable settings and integration points which allow PatentSafe® to be slotted easily into existing systems.
- PatentSafe® Light Edition is a slimmed-down version of PatentSafe® which can be used in conjunction with discipline-specific Authoring/ELN packages from other vendors (e.g. Klee, CambridgeSoft, IntelliChem, Contur, etc.) to provide record keeping solutions for these ELN tools. In this case, the collaboration side of the ELN is provided by the discipline-specific ELN. Customers may smoothly upgrade to PatentSafe® Standard or Enterprise edition as they begin to use different ELN tools in different departments, and wish to use PatentSafe to provide cross-discipline collaboration and a single record keeping solution. PatentSafe® Light Edition is only available via our partners.
PatentSafe is also available in a special package aimed at startup companies.