Legal Tech in 2025: What Corporate IP Departments and Firms are Thinking About

As we launch into 2025, corporate IP departments and patent firms are facing a range of challenges that could shape the future of their operations.

From managing high-cost prosecution spend to proving ROI, and from strategically leveraging support staff to navigating a competitive market, the pressure is mounting for legal professionals to innovate and stay ahead. 

Here’s a breakdown of what’s top of mind as we enter the new year — and how legal tech, like Juristat, can help.

What are corporate IP departments worrying about as we head into 2025?

Competitive intelligence and landscape analysis

Corporate legal teams must monitor their competitors closely. This means using legal tech tools, like Juristat, for competitive intelligence and landscape analysis to understand their competitors’ IP strategies, trends in patent filings, and potential vulnerabilities. These insights can help drive decisions related to licensing, patent filings, and even M&A opportunities.

If a company has received a 102 rejection citing your issued patent, you can assume they are developing technologies similar to your own. Proactively knowing when this happens is an effective way to identify indirect or substitute competitors you weren’t aware of or even new entrants into the market. Juristat’s 102 Forward Citation Reports can let you know when your competitors are infringing on your issued art.

High-cost prosecution

Corporate IP departments are struggling with high-cost prosecution, particularly as they manage large patent portfolios across multiple jurisdictions. Legal departments need efficient ways to streamline the prosecution process without sacrificing the quality of their IP protection. 

Using a robust dataset to determine superfluous applications and find actions that may increase your expenditures. Identify cost-saving opportunities, such as avoiding unnecessary RCEs, maintenance fees, and missed opportunities to optimize budgets without compromising quality.

Setting consistent policies

Innovative IP teams keep their eye on efficiency, costs, and the overall value of their patent portfolios. But when you’re managing the work of your internal staff, plus outside counsel, maintaining consistency is key.

By implementing formal rules and guidelines focused on strategic decision-making, such as when to interview, file continuations, or appeal, corporate teams can improve prosecution efficiency, reduce costs, and meet their corporate goals.

What are law firms worried about as we head into 2025?

Proving ROI and performance

As law firms strive to remain competitive, proving the value of their services is more critical than ever. Clients demand results, and law firms are increasingly expected to demonstrate tangible ROI. 

Firms can use data to demonstrate cost savings and ROI to clients by using average office actions to show prosecution savings or showing how allowance rate can increase portfolio value, among other metrics. Gathering the right patent analytics and translating them directly into cost savings can have a huge impact during client discussions. 

Opportunities for growth and new business

The legal market is evolving, and firms must remain agile to capitalize on opportunities. This includes identifying missed interviews or client leads, exploring new business ventures, and expanding into emerging industries. Staying ahead of competitors means having the right technology to help identify and seize opportunities before others do.

Advanced patent analytics, such as those from Juristat, make it easy to discover companies filing applications in technology areas where your firm excels. By setting benchmarks for tech centers, USPC classes, art units, and even competitor allowance rates, you can easily uncover strengths and discover new opportunities for growth.

Retention of staff and clients

A patent practice is built on its support staff, and of course, its clients. And law firms are competing for both. 

Staff might be overworked and burned out, stuck on tedious tasks while the more strategic calls to them. Workflow automation, including OAR and IDS automation from Juristat, can help free up staff for more important, and billable, work.

That includes having a positive relationship with clients. Keeping existing work is imperative for firms – after all, maintaining (and growing) client relationships is often more cost-effective than trying to attract new business. Whether it’s through reducing operational costs, improving speed, or enhancing client outcomes, firms need reliable data to show that their approach is not only effective but efficient.

As we head into 2025, one thing is certain: law firms and corporate IP departments need smarter ways to navigate the complexities of intellectual property management and legal operations. Legal tech has a vital role to play in helping them stay competitive, reduce costs, and prove their worth.

Juristat can help alleviate these concerns by providing data-driven insights, improving efficiency, and offering a competitive edge in a rapidly evolving legal landscape. To see how our innovative platform can make 2025 your practice’s best year yet, schedule a demo today.