TABLE OF CONTENTS
What are case categories?
Case categories are a combination of types of IP (patents, trade marks, etc.) and other descriptions that you may use to differentiate between types of work. Each category can be assigned a single or double letter code, which is often used to make up part of your case reference (e.g., P12345GB).
What are case sub-categories?
Each case category can have a set of sub-categories, though we find this isn’t always needed. Typically, you’ll set these up for some of your IP Rights categories, to easily distinguish types of application within a family of cases (e.g., a patent ‘First Filing’ or ‘Claiming Priority’ case).
Case category & sub-category definitions
The table below outlines the default categories and sub-categories used in your system, along with a description of how that category/sub-category is used.
| Category | Code | Sub-category | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Admin | A | Some firms like to store non-IP related information in their Equinox system to manage things like office rent, amenities and contracts. ‘Admin’ is a generic category that you can use to group these cases together, whilst keeping them separate from IP-specific cases | |
| Client Care | C | You can set up a client care case for each client (with a direct link from the client organisation edit screen). This case is where you can add general client-specific documents such as initial agreements, NDAs, and contracts | |
| Copyright | R | Any copyright cases that you manage | |
| Design | D | First Filing | The first application filed within a family of design cases |
| Claiming Priority | An application such as a Hague or European design that’s claiming priority on an earlier application | ||
| National Right of Hague | A case that has been filed as a national right application from a parent international Hague application | ||
| Divisional | A case or cases that have been split into divisional applications from an earlier parent application | ||
| Domain Name | N | Any domain name cases that you manage | |
| General | G | Advice, before it becomes an IP rights case | |
| Litigation | L | Any litigation cases that you manage | |
| Opposition | O | Filed by us - Patent | You’re opposing a patent application and need a case to store the relevant details for the opposition, e.g., other side contact information, relevant opposition dates |
| Filed by us – Trade Mark | You’re opposing a trade mark application and need a case to store the relevant details, e.g., other side contact information, relevant opposition dates | ||
| Filed against us - Patent | A patent case for which you are the representative has been opposed. You likely have the original patent case on your system but need to generate a new case to store the details relating to the opposition | ||
| Filed against us – Trade Mark | A trade mark case for which you are the representative has been opposed. You likely have the original patent case on your system but need to generate a new case to store the details relating to the opposition | ||
| Patent | P | First Filing | The first application filed within a family of patent cases |
| Claiming Priority | An application such as a PCT or European patent that’s claiming priority on an earlier application | ||
| Nationalisation of PCT | A case that has been filed as a national phase application from a parent PCT application | ||
| Validation of EP | A case that has been validated from a parent European patent application | ||
| Divisional | A case or cases that have been split into divisional applications from an earlier parent application | ||
| Continuation | A US patent application filed by an applicant who wants to pursue additional claims to an invention disclosed in an earlier application | ||
| Continuation in Part | A US patent application whereby modifications are made to the specification, so long as the majority of the specification remains unchanged (also commonly known by its shorthand abbreviation ‘CIP’) | ||
| SPC | Shorthand for ‘Supplementary Protection Certificates’. This right is a form of IP that extends the protection of patented active ingredients present in pharmaceutical or plant protection products | ||
| Trade Mark | T | First Filing | The first application filed within a family of trade mark cases |
| Claiming Priority | An application such as a Madrid or European trade mark that’s claiming priority on an earlier application | ||
| National Right of Madrid | A case that has been filed as a national right application from a parent Madrid application |