Below is a list of frequently asked questions (FAQ) about the PM Invent product.

What is it? 

PM Invent provides an infrastructure for efficiently requesting and capturing inventor ideas and contact information in an organized manner. The objective of PM Invent is to make the process as simple as possible for the inventor. The easier it is for inventors to submit ideas, the more patent applications can be filed.

As a law firm, why would I want it?

Receiving ideas from inventors can be a painful process of back and forth emails and phone calls asking for more information. One email contains part of a disclosure. Another emails contains another part. Some of it was discussed over a phone call. Supporting documentation is include in any number of emails. Organization becomes difficult; efficiency is hindered; and inventors are frustrated with the process. PM Invent allows attorneys to capture inventor ideas in a single online disclosure form. A one-stop shop to see all information associated with a single disclosure.

How much does it cost?

PM Invent is included with AppColl PM Plus. If you are an AppColl PM Plus subscriber the new Invent module should be available in your account. AppColl PM Pro customers need to upgrade to PM Plus to activate this feature. Click here for more information on AppColl PM Plus' extensive feature list. You can quickly see the cost difference between AppColl PM Pro and PM Plus by clicking Manage Account in the gear icon in your account.

Which users have access to PM Invent?

Everyone with a prosecution manager login has view, add and delete permissions on the Invent Module. However, only account admins can modify a disclosure or manually change it's status. The Invent Module can easily be disabled for non-admin users. The ability to request an invention disclosure from an inventor is also controlled by a permission setting in a user's contact record.

Is this a separate product with separate logins?

No. PM Invent is completely maintained in your existing account. A new "Invent" Module automatically appears in the module bar.

Will inventors have access to my data?

Absolutely not. Inventors can only see their disclosures and nothing else. 

Is the inventor data secure?

Yes. All inventor data is stored the same way your other AppColl data. Everything is hosted on Amazon AWS in redundant storage locations on the east and west costs of the United States. Everything is encrypted at rest and during transmission. All data is stored in the US.

How many disclosures can be submitted?

Currently, there is no limit. However, this is subject to change.

How many inventor logins do I get?

Currently, there is no limit. However, this is subject to change.

What if I no longer want it?

No problem. We can disable this in your account in seconds.

What are the difference between PM Invent and Invention Manager?

PM Invent is focused on easily collecting disclosure and contact information from an inventor for attorneys at law firms. Invention Manager supports sophisticated invention workflows and is designed to help select the best ideas to file as patents in a corporation.

PM Invent offers a small subset of the enterprise features available in Invention Manager. Invention Manager has the following features not available in PM Invent:

• Customized Workflow - Create customized workflows, offering unlimited decision trees, actors  and actions for your inventive process.
• Invention Awards - Easily configure and automatically calculate inventor awards for submitting disclosures, patent applications filings, issued patents and more. Automatically send award amounts to payroll.
• Custom Email Notifications - easily generate custom emails at every step and for any action in your inventive process.
• Single Sign On - Allow inventors and other corporate personnel to automatically authenticate into AppColl from your corporate intranet. No need to remember another login and password.  
• Scoring - creating complex scoring matrices whereby inventors, attorneys and committee members alike can provide numerical scores and comments on each submitted idea.
• Disclosure Voting - create a voting process whereby committee members can independently vote without a meeting on each disclosure. Easily see who has voted and how.
• Organize Patent Committee Meetings - easily create committee meetings and allow inventors to pick time slots to present their ideas at next months committee review.
• Use of corporate hierarchy - Import HR databases into Invention Manager and use the information to automatically determine who should review disclosures submitted by each inventor.
• Inventors can see all of their patent filings rather than just their disclosures.

Can I use PM Invent and Invention Manager simultaneously?

No - these products are currently not compatible.

What if I want to upgrade to Invention Manager from PM Invent in the future?

No problem. We can migrate your existing disclosures without issue.