Why does benchmarking help save money?

Everyone wants to save time, to make processes more efficient, and to increase the likelihood of a successful outcome on a particular legal matter. But in today’s climate, it can be difficult to get internal approval for a new project unless you can clearly demonstrate that not only can you achieve all these outcomes effectively, but that you can also do so while saving your company money.

Benchmarking has obvious benefits in terms of managing an agent network and streamlining processes, but did you know it can also help you make substantial financial savings which will head straight to the bottom line of your business?

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At Brandstock, we know that benchmarking helps save money, and importantly, some of those savings would not be possible for a company acting alone, since it is very difficult for a single company to maintain oversight of all the relevant official fees data on an ongoing basis, or to leverage a higher volume of work to drive down fees.

• On average, benchmarking saves clients between 25% and 45% of current annual external costs related to the use of external agents to manage trademark and patent work.
• In some cases, clients have saved up to 50% of annual external costs.
• Annual cost savings typically are worth 10 times the cost of undertaking the benchmarking work with Brandstock.

Of course, if it was that simple then everyone would be able to do it. The question is not whether benchmarking helps save money, but why?

Once you’ve undertaken a benchmarking project, you’ll know a few important things that you didn’t know before.

• The exact official fees in each jurisdiction
• The exact fees that you are currently being charged by your agents
• The average fees for the work in a particular jurisdiction
• The lowest-available fees in that jurisdiction

This information helps you to make better decisions about your business, about who to work with and how to manage costs over the longer term. It is also presented to you in a completely transparent format, meaning that you never need worry about what exactly you’re paying for.

All prices quoted are for directly comparable services; all registry fees are checked against what you’re being charged; all fees are quoted separately, so you know exactly what you’re paying in official fees and what you’re paying the agent. Furthermore, currency exchanges do not affect the comparison, and all figures are quoted in local currency as well as dollars and/or euros.

The challenge with trademark and patent work in multiple jurisdictions is that it’s business-critical. You know that you need to manage renewals, for example, and that a misstep can be catastrophic for your business. The problem, therefore, is that you as a client become a captive market – there is no way to avoid paying agents to work for you, especially since many IP registries require a local agent to handle filings, renewals and so on.

So benchmarking helps save money because it redresses the balance. It puts you in control of your agent referrals, and allows you to do business in the way you want to, armed with the data you need to support your plans. And even better, with the right benchmarking partner, it removes the headache and cost of actually having to manage the granular elements of maintaining contact and contracts with multiple providers at the same time, by passing it to a partner who you can trust to negotiate your agreements in your best interest.

If someone told you that you could save a minimum of 25% on external costs, while making your processes more efficient and gaining better outcomes, then you’d certainly do it. Benchmarking helps save you that money.