Whether you’re a corporate IP team or a law firm, you probably receive a large number of associate IP fee schedules. There’s no standard fee schedule format, so you often don’t have a lot of control over what you get, but there are three things you want to make sure are included in future schedules.
Let’s see what they are!
Tip #1 – All IP Fee Schedules Need an Effective Date
This may sound obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many fee schedules we see that have no effective date. This can make it difficult to know how old a fee schedule is and can lead to confusion if you have multiple schedules over the years from the same associate.
Tip #2 –Official Fees in Local Currencies Should be Required
Some associates are good about including the official fees in their schedules, others – not so much. The ones who don’t, usually argue that official fees change, which makes it hard to keep up to date. News flash, this is the 21st century, they should be able to figure it out. If you can’t easily determine the basis of the official fees your associate is using, monitoring and controlling invoice costs is extremely difficult.
Tip #3 – IP Fee Schedules Should Include a Currency Cap
We see these in a very small number of fee schedules, but times are changing. Companies and firms are beginning to audit associate invoices more closely, and currency costs can be a contentious topic. Having an agreed-upon currency cost markup makes it clear to everyone what to expect and makes it easier to ensure invoice compliance. It doesn’t matter what the number is (although 2% to 5% is pretty normal), what is important is that there is an agreed-upon number between you and your international associates.
Wrap Up
If you haven’t refreshed your fee schedules for 2024, now is probably a good time to send out those emails! If you want to get ahead of the game, ask your associates to provide the information above – you will thank us later!
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