Siemens, one of the global leaders in electronics and electrical engineering, uses the IRISXtract™ classification and data capture solution of IRIS for the full digitization of patent files.
The IRIS solution automatically captures more than 200,000 patent procedures annually and transfers the data to the Intranet-based data and workflow management system IPAS (Intellectual Property Application System) from unycom Information Technology services. There, a complete electronic file is created, the contents of which are available to all Siemens patent departments at the touch of a button, anytime, anywhere.
For large businesses such as Siemens intellectual property has strategic importance. Some 450 persons working at over 20 international locations are involved in the development, securing, utilization, and the marketing of commercial patent rights for Siemens. Each of the 20 patent departments acts as a node in a network of inventors, decision makers in the operational divisions, patent offices, and patent lawyers.
At its center is the “Intellectual Property Support” (IPS) specialty unit located in Munich. About 210,000 transactions are processed there annually, most of which are paper-based documents featuring a wide range of lay-outs and content.
To ensure all employees in the patent departments worldwide have access to all relevant data regarding patent rights, Siemens uses the data and workflow management system IPAS, creating digital patent documents. Initially, however, Siemens had been entering the data manually. In order to make this time-consuming and costly process more efficient, IRIS implemented an automated classification and data capture solution on the basis of IRISXtract™.
The solution focuses on the complex classification of a wide range of document types. This task is performed by the Digital Mailroom Automation solution of IRIS, that maps the documents to be processed to one of approximately 250 different document classes.
Since this concerns a very sensitive and enterprise-critical topic — the treatment of patent procedures — IRIS uses a sophisticated system of complementary classification procedures as well as complex validation rules, as improperly captured data can result in the loss of patent rights in the worst-case scenario.
All documents are captured and forwarded to the data and workflow management system IPAS with IRISXtract™. By consequence, Siemens is able to bridge the final media conversion and complete the electronic patent document procedure.
Access, distribution, and editing of documents in the worldwide network of the Siemens patent departments is now more streamlined and much more efficient. Siemens now has a holistic solution for the end-to-end IP administrative process.
