Equinox Corporate Plus

Conflicts

You can now track and manage disputes related to your IP rights—such as oppositions and litigation—directly using our new Conflicts object. It gives you a centralized view of all active and historical conflicts, helping you monitor risks, deadlines, and related actions more efficiently.

This new object supports setting up your custom case reference rules. Also, you will be able to link your conflicts to other cases within or outside of your portfolio as part of the Case Links solution.

Extension Workflow for Designs

From a Design record, you can use the Extension Workflow to add either a National or International Design extension. 

General Matters

The General Matters object collects all cases which can be necessary during the full lifecycle of IP management but can't be categorised to any other object types. The first version of this objects includes Search, Watch, Trade Secret, Copyright and Domain Name case types.

Case Links

Based on your feedback, we recognized that the ability to link cases flexibly—with minimal limitations—is essential for supporting efficient, day-to-day operations in a modern IP management system. We've developed a simple yet powerful solution to make this possible. 

We are releasing the first version of the Case Links feature, which supports linking between various case types, including Patents, Trademarks, Designs, Invention Disclosures, Conflicts, General Matters, and Third-Party Rights.

The initial set of link types includes:

• General relationships
• Priority claims (e.g., claiming priority from an earlier application)
• Terminal disclaimer relationships (for linked patent filings)

The new feature is listed in the quick action menu as ‘Link a case’:

To link the case, you need to choose the case type, the case itself and the relationship between the cases getting linked. In case you want to add your personal remarks, you can do so using the Notes field:

When you create a link, both participant cases will display the link in the ‘Case Links’ tab on the respective asset overview page.

It is important to note that certain link types (priority application, subsequent application claiming priority, controlling patent (Terminal Disclaimer), dependent patent (Terminal Disclaimer)) involve automation to update the bibliographic data of connected cases.

Regarding priority relationships, EC+ automatically updates the ‘priority date’ and ‘priority number’ fields on all subsequent application records where linked priority application(s) are detected.

Regarding terminal disclaimer relationships, EC+ automatically updates the expiry date field for all dependent patents where linked controlling patent application(s) are detected.

Manage Priorities on Asset Level

With the introduction of our ‘Case Links’ feature, we also implemented automations regarding priority links. In case the IP right has other IP rights linked as ‘priority application’, EC+ will compare those priority application and consider the earliest to populate the ‘priority date’ and ‘priority number’ fields on the asset.

Recordals

You can now manage legal changes—such as ownership transfers, name/address updates, and license agreements—directly within the system. This feature helps ensure your IP records remain up to date across all affected rights, with clear tracking and auditability of changes. 

To create your recordal case, you will find a new option among the quick actions when you are on any patent, trademark or design case. 

The new flow will drive you through the creation of your recordal case. 

Before a recordal case is created, its key details are displayed in a summary table. If everything looks correct, you can proceed by clicking the ‘Create New Recordal’ button.

All recordals on a certain case are listed under the Recordals tab to keep track of the history of changes in the lifecycle of your IP right.

Please note that entering the recordation number on the case will freeze the Assignor (From) and Assignee (To) fields, as the system treats the recordal as finalized. So, at that point any further changes to the Agreement party junction lists will have no effects to those fields anymore.
 

Supplementary Protection Certificates

This feature is designed to help patent holders extend the protection period for their pharmaceutical and plant protection products. SPCs can extend the protection period by up to 5 years, with an additional 6-month extension possible for pharmaceuticals that meet certain pediatric study conditions.

SPC specific fields: 

Triggers:

• The system automatically calculates the SPC start and end dates based on the marketing authorization date and parent patent details (expiry date).
• Pediatric Extension: If applicable, you can extend the SPC term by an additional 6 months for pediatric medicines by checking the "Extended for pediatric medicine" checkbox.

Other notes:

• The SPC start and end dates are transmitted to Pavis (not included in Hertz release)
• New fields are only visible when Patent Type = SPC

Terminal Disclaimers

Case Links are used to connect patents related by Terminal Disclaimer. The labels have been updated to "Dependent patents” and “Controlling patents.” 

When a patent is linked as a Dependent patent, the patent’s Expiry Date will automatically be updated to match the Expiry Date of the Controlling patent.

International Trademarks

At the bottom of the Trademark overview, a new grid displays all designations listed within the International Trademark registration.

Inventor Rewards

Our reward rules now can run without identifying a specific product line. Also, all rewards created are displayed on the invention disclosure and the patent as well beside the family view. The inventor records added on the case also display the rewards given.

When you want to exclude certain inventors from the reward process, you can untick the new field ‘Is eligible for a reward?’ when adding the inventor to your case. By default, all inventors are eligible for renumeration.

Patent PTO Comparison Matching

The feature enhancements focus on improving the Patent to iOrbit (PTO) comparison process, specifically targeting query format improvements, exception handling, and connection status updates. 

Query Format Enhancement:

We are now using the “Relevance score” from iOrbit to get the right document/patent. If multiple documents are retrieved, the top three documents with the highest relevance scores are stored as PTO Matching Candidates.

In the field "PTO connection status”, a new status "Multiple matches found" is introduced to indicate when there are several matching candidates.

Exception Specific Handling:

Specific handling for JP grant date, KR grant date, divisionals, continuations, and EP validation was added.

Other Enhancements

• Task: short comment truncated from long description
• Extension Workflow: family tree auto refresh
• Add Number of Claims field to Patent Layout
• Add the IP Portal link in the useful link section in the home page
• Task - Extension Workflow: family tree auto refresh
• Rename the label of "Annuity Price" to "Renewal Price" 

• Reward is created for Inventors who don't match the Inventor Profile
• Family still contains the "In Force" flag
• False update of the publication number when a US patent is granted
• Update suggestions in EC+ (filing date)
• Wrong label name in Related Case grid on a Recordal
   

Documentation: Refer to the platform's documentation at

https://corporateplus.help.questel.com/en/support/solutions  for detailed information on specific features, workflows, and best practices. The documentation provides step-by-step instructions and valuable insights to help you make the most of Equinox Corporate+.

Customer Support: If you require assistance or have technical issues that need resolution, reach out to our dedicated customer support team. They are available to address your queries and provide guidance to ensure a smooth and successful experience with Equinox Corporate+. Contact the support team at help@questel.com

Training and Webinars: Take advantage of training sessions and webinars offered by Equinox Corporate+. These sessions provide hands-on learning opportunities, tips and tricks, and insights into advanced features. Stay updated with the latest training schedules and join these sessions to enhance your knowledge and proficiency.

We appreciate your commitment to efficient IP management and trust that Equinox Corporate+ will be an invaluable tool in your journey. Should you have any feedback or suggestions to further improve the platform or this user guide, please don't hesitate to share them with us. We are continuously working to enhance the user experience and meet your evolving needs.

Thank you for choosing Equinox Corporate+!