Importance

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Abstract

A facility has been developed whereby an applicant (or his representative) may initiate performance of an intellectual property service such as the making of a maintenance fee, annuity, renewal, tax or other payments and transact the associated fees coincident therewith. Such a facility has several advantages including the ability to reduce float time. Outside the context of annuity-type payments, similar facilities may be employed in conjunction with preparation, filing and prosecution support tools to similarly transact fees associated with the performance of intellectual property services at or about the time such intellectual property services are performed. An intellectual property portal or hub is employed, which in some realizations is hosted on a public, packet switched data network and communicates with both applicants (or representatives) and associates. In some realizations, the intellectual property portal facilitates selection, by applicants (or representatives) of particular jurisdictions and associates based at least in part on fee quotations made in accordance with particulars of an intellectual property filing and in accordance with fee structures of the particular jurisdictions and foreign associates. In addition, some realizations of the intellectual property filing portal facilitate registration of associate- and jurisdiction-specific services and fee schedules.

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First Claim