@ChristianS9906 Whereas AppColl already implemented the change you requested, I'm reluctant to request they change it back. I don't know to what extent others have strong or weak feelings about e-mail addresses with or without aliases (display names). You and I have stated our preference and reasons. It would be interesting to see if anyone else expresses an opinion.
@ChristianS9906 Thanks. My e-mail templates essentially already include your suggestion. The "To" field is populated by:
{Matter.ClientContact.First+032}{Matter.ClientContact.Last+032}{+060Matter.ClientContact.EmailNoCC+062+044+032}{Matter.Client.PrimaryContact.First} {Matter.Client.PrimaryContact.Last} <{Matter.Client.PrimaryContact.EmailNoCC}>
and the "CC" field is populated by:
{Matter.Client.PrimaryContact.EmailCC+059+032}Auto-docket mailbox for matter {Matter.AttorneyRef} <{Matter.EmailIntakeAddress}>
This works well for e-mail messages generated within AppColl.
However, I often copy the matter auto-intake e-mail address from a matter detail page and paste that address into a new (or reply) e-mail message in Outlook (my mail agent), i.e., a message not generated by AppColl. This is where the alias comes in handy, because although I send that message from Outlook, a copy gets stored in AppColl, and if the client responds to "all," a copy of the response gets stored in AppColl.
@ChristianS2558 I actually like the alias that prepends the auto-intake e-mail address. Often, I send e-mail messages from Outlook, because I have large attachments that AppColl can't handle, or I'm responding to a message that was sent only to my Outlook address, not to an AppColl matter. I like to CC the auto-intake mailbox for the corresponding matter. I like the alias appearing in the message, because it indicates to the recipient (typically a client) what the "funny" address is and, hopefully, encourages the recipient to "respond to all," so a copy of the response ends up being stored in the "email" folder of the corresponding matter.
I suppose mine may be a minority view.
-George
@gregg_appcoll Yes, the issue I pointed out occurs on the "Payments Summary" page, which is the first page of my invoice and includes the client's mailing address, so it is the first page the client sees when he opens the invoice. Adding some text to clarify that the "Items through..." date covers payments and retainers (but not billing items) would be helpful. Thanks.
In addition, it would be nice to have the invoice (perhaps optionally) show the period covered, i.e. the cut-off date.
George
When adding a new invoice in the Manage Invoices module, AppColl requires a "Cut-off Date."
No Billing Items after this date are included in the bill, which makes sense.
The generated bill shows the date it was generated (see green outline), which also makes sense. However, the generated bill says "Items through <date>" (see red outline), where <date> is the generated-on date, NOT the Cut-off Date.
This is misleading to the client. In the example shown here, the bill was generated on October 3, 2024, but it includes items only through the end of September. Yet, the bill appears on its face to cover through October 3. If my next bill to this client includes billing items dated 10/1 - 10/3, the client will think I am billing him twice.
Please change the way the Manage Invoices module inserts the "Items through" date to put the "Cut-off Date," not the generated-on date. Thanks.
-George
Request: A task or event can be triggered "when any email is received" and, of course, the task trigger can include additional requirements, such as "while the sender email address or subject of the email contains contains <a specific text string>". This is a very powerful facility. It would be more powerful if the task could be defined to automatically attach or link the triggering e-mail message to the triggered event or task, and that message or link could be passed on to subsequently-triggered tasks. Currently, one can only manually attach a document, such as an e-mail message, to a task.
Currently, one can include e-mail fields, such as {Email.Body}, in the task, such as in the task's Default Comment. However, text formatting, such as underlining, is lost. Furthermore, including the entire body can add many lines to the task Comment, making the task very large when displayed in a matter detail page or on the All Open Tasks list. Attaching or linking the entire e-mail message to the task would overcome these shortcomings.
Reason for the request: I send an e-mail message to a matter's intake mailbox after an examiner calls me with a telephonic restriction requirement, to document the call. In the body of the message, I summarize the restriction requirement, and sometimes I include comments or notes about possible responses. Often, I use underlining to highlight differences between claim groups.
I defined an event ("Receive Telephonic Restriction Requirement”) that is triggered when a matter receives such an e-mail message, i.e., a message from me with "telephonic restriction requirement" in the subject.
This event triggers another task I defined (“Respond to Telephonic Restriction Requirement”). I modeled my new tasks after similarly-named pre-defined AppColl tasks, although the "Respond to..." task has a internal deadline of five days.
It would be very handy to see the text formatting when I work on the restriction requirement.
Suggested implementation: Augment the "Files:" "Add" button dialog, as follows. Change "Select form to be added when tasks of this type are created" to "Select form or triggering e-mail message to be added when tasks of this type are created." Add a radio button for "Triggering e-mail message." The triggering e-mail message is already in the Email folder for the matter.
Optionally or alternatively: Add a checkboxes to New/Update Task Type details page. Under the "Trigger Event:" "Add" button, add a check box for "Attach triggering e-mail message" and a checkbox for "Link triggering e-mail message." Obviously, the checkboxes would be effective only if the task is triggered by receipt of an e-mail message.
Optionally or alternatively, if the Default Comment contains "{Email}," attach the triggering e-mail message to the task or include a clickable link to the e-mail message in the Comment.
In any case, ensure that another task that is triggered by the present task could "inherit" the attached or linked e-mail message, perhaps via {TriggeringTask.Comments}.
Broader applicability: Fulfilling this request might facilitate other uses, such as automatically triggering events upon receipt of e-mail correspondence from a foreign associate or a foreign patent office.
Thanks!
-George
A Tandem account seems like a nice way to let a client have controlled and limited access to my AppColl data. Currently, AppColl does not give Tandem users visibility into all the data that I have for that client's matters. For example, as viewed in a Tandem synch'ed account, no matter details page displays any tasks. I can understand why some (maybe many) attorneys wouldn't want their clients to see all tasks for that client's matters, especially if the attorney is behind on his/her docket.
However, I would like to make my tasks visible to a particular client, and I wonder if other AppColl users would also like to be able to do the same. If so, I suggest adding a switch (or maybe several switches) to turn on visibility to Tandem users (on a per-client basis) to various currently-hidden data caches, such as Tasks and the Notes fields in e-mail messages.
Thanks,
George
I often know a foreign cost, such as a foreign filing fee, in a local currency, but not an equivalent US dollar (USD) amount. For example, my foreign associates often quote or estimate costs in their local currency. I can store the local-currency cost in a custom matter field or a task field (maybe {Task.BudgetExpense}), but I would like to report it to my client in USD equivalent.
When generating a reporting letter or a letter requesting instructions (such as for requesting examination), it would be handy if AppColl provided a mechanism to call an API to convert a foreign currency to USD. Several such APIs exist, and some provide several hundred free conversions per month. (See, for example, Currency Beacon, Currency API, and Exchange Rates API.)
Please consider adding a field that calls an external API, for example something along the lines of:
This syntax includes the URL of the API and four parameters to pass to the API (each parameter begins with a question mark): an API key (assigned to a user when the user signs up for an account), a "from" currency symbol (in this example, extracted from a custom matter field), a "to" currency symbol, and an amount (extracted from a task field).
Most of these APIs return values in JSON. The parenthetical in my suggested syntax provides information on what part of the returned JSON values AppColl should return for its field. In this example, the API returns a bunch of things, including the converted USD as "value" followed by a floating point number (ex, "value 62.156").
"0.00" in the parenthetical is the standard AppColl number formatting specification (return a floating point number, with two decimal places).
If AppColl could pull this off, it might have wider applicability, because there may be other useful APIs that could be called, such as EPO OPS (the European Patent Office's Open Patent Services API). The key is for the syntax to allow the AppColl user to: (1) call a URL, including passing parameters, some of which may be extracted from fields, and (2) give the AppColl field evaluator a hint about what to return from the JSON values.
I know this is a big ask, but if we don't dream big, we won't be able to succeed spectacularly.
Edit 1: Alternatively, AppColl could do the foreign currency exchange rate conversion and return the equivalent USD in response to a "ToUSD" text formatting command (somewhat like the "ToUpper" text formatting command). I suggest syntax something like:
{Task.BudgetExpense(ToUSD, {Matter.CurrencySymbol}, 0.00)}
Of course, AppColl would have to subscribe to a foreign exchange API, but the cost would be minimal.
Edit 3: AppColl could assume the "from" currency symbol based on the country code of the matter, although this might not be a safe assumption. For example, my Malaysian cases are handled through an Australian associate, so I pay in AUD, not MYR.
Edit 2: In case anyone wants to try any of the free foreign exchange rate APIs listed above or others, here is a hint: Many of them limit HTTPS requests to paying customers, and they require free accounts to call the APIs with plain HTTP requests. So, ensure your request is in HTTP, not HTTPS.
But, some browsers may be set to "HTTPS-only." In this case, the browser will change all HTTP requests into HTTPS requests behind your back. Thus, the browser will change an HTTP API call into an HTTPS request, which will fail with an "unauthorized" or similar error.
If this happens, add an exception URL to the browser's list (forcing the browser not to change HTTP to HTTPS request for the excepted URL). For example, Firefox > Settings... or Preferences (depending on OS) > Privacy & Security > (scroll to HTTPS-Only Mode) > Manage Exceptions ... > (enter URL of the API in "Address of website" and click "Turn off") > Save Changes.
Thanks,
George
@gregg_appcoll And please support multiple documents per signature package. Thanks.
-George
@gregg_appcoll DocuSign accepts a list of people, to whom a "package" [Edit: DocuSign calls it an "envelope."] is then sent.
The package can contain several documents, which is economical, because a DocuSign subscription includes a fixed number of packages per month, regardless the number of documents in each package or number of recipients of the packages. Having each declaration and each assignment sent as a separate DocuSign package would quickly exhaust my monthly subscription limit.
After filing a patent application at the USPTO, I send a DocuSign package to the inventors, assignee, the AppColl matter-specific e-mail address, and (in some cases) in-house patent counsel. I designate the inventor and assignee addresses "Needs to sign," and I designate the AppColl matter and in-house counsel addresses "Receives a copy." "Receives a copy" recipients receive read-only copies of the package.
The package contains a copy of the application (as filed, including drawings), a declaration(s), and an assignment. It is important to include a copy of the application, to ensure there is no doubt the inventors have seen the application and can, therefore, make the required statements ("The above-identified application was made or authorized to be made by me" and "I believe that I am the original inventor or an original joint inventor of a claimed invention in the application.") I use the declarations generated by AppColl. I have a "form letter" assignment that AppColl fills in with bibliographic information (application number, inventor names, etc.) (See my Top/FormLetters/Assignment.docx)
I also have an AppColl form letter (see Top/FormLetters/DocuSign - Assignment and declaration cover letter) that AppColl fills in with specifics. I copy the contents of the generated letter into the subject line and cover letter fields DocuSign provides.
DocuSign sends the packages simultaneously to everyone (unless I specify a "signing order," which I never do.) Each recipient's e-mail message includes a link to a DocuSign page, which guides the recipient to the place or places where the recipient needs to sign (if he/she needs to sign). In-house counsel can use the link to check who has signed and hound procrastinators. (On the DocuSign page, click "Other Actions" and select "View History." Look for things like: "xxx opened the envelope," "xxx viewed the envelope," and "xxx signed the envelope.") In addition, DocuSign sends reminders every ten days (the interval is selectable) to people who have not opened their e-mail messages, and DocuSign lets me know when everyone has signed. Having DocuSign send a message to the matter mailbox is handy for documenting what has happened and when.
Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.
-George
@mike_appcoll The Signature module looks like it will be handy.
Hopefully you will soon be able to lift the current limitation of only one signer per document. My assignments typically include a group of inventors. Although I could generate an assignment per inventor, recording all those assignments would be a pain. Recording a single assignment with all the inventors is much simpler, and I believe clients would prefer a single document listing all the inventors.
Furthermore, I like to have an assignee sign assignments to accept the assignment. This is perhaps more important in Europe than in the US, but lack of an assignee's signature could be fatal in some jurisdictions. Having separate assignments for US rights and other jurisdiction rights would be very complex: The US assignment would have to carve out the rights that will be assigned by the "foreign" assignment.
Thanks,
George
AppColl provides some nice text formatting syntax for use in templates, such as "ToUpper" and "AddPeriodToInitials." I suggest a new syntax to avoid double periods at the end of a sentence. For example, I have a template letter that includes a sentence along the lines of, "(so-and-so) needs to sign the assignment, to accept it on behalf of {Matter.Applicants}." However, some applicants' names end in periods (ex., Acme Exploding Cigars, Inc.), whereas other applicants' names do not end in periods (ex., Elmer J. Fudd Enterprises). Thus, sometimes my template generates a sentence with two periods at the end (one from "Inc." and the other from the template).
I know it seems like a minor annoyance to delete the extra period, but it would be really nice to automate the deletion.
Thanks.
-George
AppColl can generate a Terminal Disclaimer (TD) from within a matter detail page with the "Create USPTO Forms" button, such as using an AIA/25, 26, or 63 form. However, the AIA/25 form has a 40-character limit in the "applicant" field. The limit in the AIA/26 form is 45 characters. In the AIA/63 form, there does not appear to be a character limit, in that the form field is a multi-line field, and the character size keeps shrinking, if you continue typing text.
If the applicant name stored in AppColl exceeds the 40- or 45-character limit when generating an AIA/25 or AIA/26 TD, characters beyond the limit are truncated. This will very likely cause the TD to be disapproved, because the applicant's name on the TD will not exactly match the applicant's name on an earlier-filed Application Data Sheet. (My TD was disapproved today.)
I spoke with a USPTO representative in the OPLC. She advised entering something like, "See below <asterisk>" in the applicant field, and then adding a text box below "WARNING: Information on this form may become public..." that includes the applicant, for example, "* Acme Cartoon Props, Inc."
I suggest that, when AppColl generates a TD, if the applicant is longer than 40 characters, put "(See below *)" in the applicant field, and add a text field below the WARNING with the full applicant name. If this is not possible, I strongly suggest AppColl display an error message, to prevent a user filing a TD that is going to be DOA.
-George
@Timothy Several people requested that syntax be added to enable conditional selection of field contents, such as when a first field is null. See the thread at https://forum.appcoll.com/topic/201/syntax-for-alternate-field-when-a-first-field-is-blank. I, for one, still would like to see such syntax added. For one thing, it would alleviate the need for one-off special fields, such as {Matter.ClientContact.NicknameOrFirst}, in that we users could program our own such fields.
Also see this thread (https://forum.appcoll.com/topic/204/add-calculations-if-then-logic-and-database-queries-to-template-fields?_=1704255780781) on a related topic.
In the interest of security, I edited my previous post in this thread to abstract out part of my intake e-mail address.
I was able to send to the matter I initially mentioned using a "to" address of "xxxxxxTest-0001@intake.appcoll.com"
@scott_appcoll Thanks for the clarification.
I am, however, a bit reluctant to let my clients use any .intake.appcoll.com address as their "to" address (without a CC to me), because if they mistype the address: (1) their message will not be delivered to my matter's intake mailbox, (2) I won't be informed of an attempt to communicate with me, and (3) the client won't receive an "undeliverable message" error. Given the possible consequences of a client's message getting lost this way (imagine not receiving an instruction to pay an issue fee and letting an allowed application going abandoned!), at most I will let clients use an .intake.appcoll.com e-mail address in a CC field.
Nevertheless, I appreciate AppColl implementing this alternative addressing scheme. I am sure some practitioners will find it useful.
-George
@scott_appcoll Could you give an example of such an e-mail address? I tried "xxxxxxGTEST-0001@intake.appcoll.com" and "xxxxxxC26TEST-0001@intake.appcoll.com," but neither message made it to my matter that has an attorney ref. of TEST-0001. I did not get an "undeliverable" error from my e-mail client, and I did not receive a message from AppColl saying that an unauthorized person sent an e-mail message. What is the "[account intake id]?"
'Sorry for being dense.
-George
For each EP case, AppColl includes a checkbox for "Unitary Effect" on its matter details page. I suggest adding a second checkbox for "Opted-Out of UPC."
Most of my EP applications are opted out, so such a check box would be helpful. I considered creating a custom matter field, but custom fields do not support checkboxes. So, optionally or alternatively, please add support for checkbox custom fields.
Thanks,
George
@SadiqA2304 I believe you are referring to the Notifications email template editing UI. I believe @JasonP2345 is requesting an addition to the "Send Email" editing UI. In a matter detail page or a task detail page, there is an email icon (yellow envelope) in the upper-right corner. Clicking that icon brings up a dialog box ("Send Email"), which allows a user to "Select Template" (from a pull-down list), "Create Template," or "Edit Template," as follows:
It would be great if an email message generated from one of these templates could automatically inherit copies of documents that are attached to the task being displayed.
For example, I suggest adding a check box ("Attach any documents linked to task") to the "Send Email" dialog box, as mocked-up below.
This would, for example, make preparing reporting messages easier, because relevant documents, or perhaps a superset of them, would already be attached to the draft reporting message AppColl generates.
Alternatively, the Edit Template UI could be augmented to include a similar checkbox, as mocked up below.
@KozueL5421 This is but one of may shortcomings of Patent Center. Several groups and individual practitioners have complained to the USPTO about abandoning EFS-Web and Private PAIR in favor of Patent Center, at least until Patent Center is capable of reliably providing all the services of the prior systems, and about the PTO's plan to require DOCX submissions. See, for example:
https://ipwatchdog.com/2023/11/07/uspto-delays-transition-patent-center/id=169435/
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4620375 (Letter of 82 Intellectual Property Professionals to OIRA and Commerce IG relating to non-readiness of Patent Center, requesting delay of retirement of EFS-Web and Private PAIR, Nov. 1, 2023)
https://www.aipla.org/detail/news/2023/10/31/aipla-comments-to-omb-on-docx
https://blog.oppedahl.com/an-open-letter-to-uspto-director-vidal-about-patent-center/
https://blog.oppedahl.com/napp-met-with-uspto-about-patent-center-yesterday/#comment-10049
AppColl nicely generates USPTO filled-in forms from a matter detail page, including generating Application Data Sheets (ADSs).
There are two USPTO Customer Number fields in an ADS: one in the "Correspondence Information" box and another in the "Representative Information" box. AppColl apparently uses the client's customer number (if there is one, otherwise it uses the matter's attorney customer number if there is one, otherwise the attorney's address) for the matter to fill in the first box, but AppColl apparently uses the law firm's attorney's customer number (if there is one, otherwise it uses the client's customer number if it has one, otherwise the attorney's address) for the second box. Thus, it is possible for AppColl to generate an ADS with two different customer numbers. This does not inherently pose a problem, but for AppColl users who have multiple customer numbers, such as some customer numbers they share with clients, care should be exercised.
According to a customer service representative at the USPTO, the difference between the two ADS fields is as follows: The PTO will send correspondence to the address associated to the "Correspondence Information" customer number and give that customer number access to the application via Patent Center. The PTO will accept prosecution instructions, such as amendments, from practitioners associated with the customer number in the "Representative Information" field. While these two things seem quite similar, the representative noted that the Representative Information customer number can be used to provide access to the application by a number of practitioners, such as via a power of attorney (if the PoA lists a customer number), although the PTO would not necessarily send correspondence to these practitioners.
This came up, because I have a client that wants me to use a customer number that includes its in-house patent agent. So, I have a special customer number for just this client's work. I put that customer number in the client's contact record, and AppColl puts this number in the Correspondence Information customer number field of ADSs. But, AppColl puts my firm's main customer number in the other ADS field (Representative Information). So, if I don't manually change it to the client-specific customer number, the generated ADS has two different customer numbers.
This led to an awkward situation. An examiner allowed the in-house patent agent to sit in on an interview but not talk, because the in-house agent was listed only under the Correspondence Information customer number, not under the Representative Information customer number.
Again, this doesn't necessarily pose a problem, but AppColl users should be aware of how these two ADS fields are filled.
I do, however, wish AppColl provided us control over which database fields are used to populate each of the ADS customer number fields. Perhaps some check boxes on the matter details page could be used to select which database fields are used.
-George
@gregg_appcoll Thanks, Gregg.
-George
I also would like a link to a patent office web page in my matter details page. However, it would be nice if such a link were not limited to the USPTO. For example, links to EPO and WIPO pages would be handy, but that probably would require the user to populate the field, since AppColl probably can't predict all the different formats required for all "foreign" patent offices.
Examples:
European Register - https://register.epo.org/application?number=EPxxxxxxxx
ePCT Workbench - https://pct.wipo.int/ePCT/private/iaSearch.xhtml?iaNo=PCT/ccyyyy/xxxxxx
Currently, I have a user (custom) matter field called "PatentOfficeLink," in which I store a URL. This, of course, works for any patent office that allows direct access to an application. However, I must copy the field's contents to a browser address box to view the page. AppColl supports several types of matter user fields, including TextBox, PullDown, and MultiSelect. It would be nice if AppColl added a matter user field type of "URL," so one could click the field contents to invoke the link.
-George
When a To, Cc, or Bcc field in an e-mail template is populated with a comma, such as by a field code, AppColl replaces the comma with a semicolon. On the surface, this makes sense, since it allows a user to use commas to enter a list of e-mail address field codes in the template and in contact detail records, and the resulting string (with semicolons, instead of commas, separating the addresses) is acceptable to e-mail agents.
However, when a client name includes a comma, for example between the first part of the client’s name and “Inc.,” the resulting string causes an unwanted character, i.e., a semicolon, to be included in the address, which needs to be manually edited before sending the message.
For example, I have a client whose name is of the form “Xxxxxx (USA), Inc.” If I use a field code, such as {Invoice.BillTo.Company}, in the “To:” or “Cc:” field, the comma gets replaced with a semicolon. Worse, if I send the message without manually deleting the semicolons, the display names in the sent message header get messed up.
My Default Invoice Email template includes the following in the "To:" address:
{Invoice. BillTo. First} {Invoice. BillTo Last} {Invoice. BillTo. Company} <(Invoice. BillTo.EmailNoCC}>
to create a nice display name in the delivered e-mail message.
However, in the case of my client with a comma in its name, AppColl generates something like:
Nicole Sxxxxxx Xxxxxxxx (USA); Inc. <nicole@xxxxxxxx.com>
"Nicole Sxxxxxx Xxxxxxxx (USA)" is considered to be an e-mail address, because it is separated from following text by a semicolon. However, "Nicole Sxxx..." is not a valid e-mail address, so it gets dropped, and the display name ends up being simply "Inc." which isn't very pretty.
I realize that AppColl has been replacing commas with semicolons for quite a while now, and many users may have templates that rely on such behavior. However, the behavior causes problems for client names that include commas. I'm not sure what to suggest.
-George
A matter details page has a very nice "Create Form Letters" button, which generates a DOCX, RTF, etc. document using a pre-defined template, which has access to {Matter...} fields populated from the matter of the opened matter details page. Please provide a similar capability from the invoice details page. One of my clients wants to receive a paper invoice via the US Postal Service. I can print a PDF invoice easily enough, but I need to generate a cover letter. For the cover letter, I would like access to invoice fields, such as {Invoice.BillTo.Address} and {Invoice.InvoiceAmount}.
The invoice detail page already has an "Email to Client" button. Generating an e-mail message with this facility can take advantage of the "Show Form Fields" panel. So, it would seem that generating a form letter should not be that difficult to implement, but that is easy for me to say.
Thanks,
George
@gregg_appcoll Perfect! Thanks.
I can now automatically address e-mail correspondence to examiners, such as to request interviews. In the "To" field, I put:
{Matter.Examiner} <{Matter.Examiner(FirstWord)}.{Matter.Examiner(LastWord ToTitleCase)}@USPTO.gov>
and in the salutation, I put:
Dear Examiner {Matter.Examiner(LastWord ToTitleCase)}:
-George
Custom (user-defined) fields for matters are very handy. A particularly handy feature is the ability to use a matter or contacts database query to define a list of selectable values for a drop-down list. Such a query returns the contact(s) or matter(s) that match the query. For example, (Role = "Inventor") returns a list of contacts who are inventors. (The parentheses are not necessary. I used them here merely for clarity. Custom fields are described in this AppCol help article.)
Custom fields would be even more powerful if the query could specify some other field(s) in the matching record(s) to populate the drop-down list.
For example, I have several USPTO customer numbers, because some of my clients want me to use specific customer numbers for their work, so they can access their applications via Private PAIR or Patent Center. I can create a custom field called USPTOCustomerNumber and manually populate it with a list of my customer numbers.
However, this field would be much more powerful if it could be defined via a contacts database query, such as (USPTOCustNum <> ""), that returns not the contact, but {Contact.USPTOCustNum}. That way, the pull-down list would automatically include all client-specific customer numbers.
I suggest a syntax along the lines of:
(USPTOCustNum <> "") (Returns {Contact.USPTOCustNum})
Bonus points if the "Returns" clause accepts syntax to concatenate several fields and format returned values.
When pulled down, a custom pull-down field defined with a database query currently displays some handy context information (name or client code, role), which helps in choosing an appropriate entry from the list.
Additional bonus points for syntax to control what gets displayed in the pull-down list, for example:
(USPTOCustNum <> "") (Displays {Contact.Company} {Contact.USPTOCustNum}) (Returns {Contact.USPTOCustNum})
In contrast, a plain pull-down list of customer numbers (without a database query) does not provide any context information.
Further bonus points to add a "Displays" feature to the List-type of drop-down custom field definition syntax.
Thanks,
George
The timer is great, because I can record time as I work on a matter, pausing and resuming the timer as needed, and then bill for the accumulated time. The timer icon animates hands on a clock when the timer is running, so I get visual feedback in case I forget to pause or resume a timer. I often have different matters open in different browser tabs, and I can have a separate timer active for each matter, but with only one running at a time.
I often switch back and forth among several windows while working on a single matter, such as looking at official correspondence and email messages for a given matter and looking up status information for a parent, child, or other application.
However, the timer icon's displays (animation) and responses to user inputs are misleading when switching among several browser windows. For example, if I am in browser tab of a first matter with a timer running for that matter and I:
The icon in the second matter tab incorrectly indicates the timer is still running, and it incorrectly shows accumulated time. Refreshing the page corrects the timer icon's display, but who is going to refresh a page each time you switch to a different browser tab?
Furthermore, you can't actually pause the first matter's timer from anywhere except the first matter's browser tab, even though it looks as though you paused it in another browser tab. Refreshing the second browser tab does not correct the problem. If the phone rings while I'm working on something, I would like to be able to pause the timer, without switching tabs, so I can return to the place I was working before the call interrupted me.
Worse, if a timer is running in a matter and you click on the "Go to matter files" icon to open a tab with the matter's file folders, that tab opens with a timer icon that indicates the timer is paused, even though the timer continues to run. You can "unpause" the timer in the files tab; the icon will animate, but it will indicate an incorrect amount of accumulated time. Pausing the timer in the files tab does not actually pause the actual timer for the matter. Refreshing the tab does not correct the problem.
Closing a matter tab with a timer running, i.e., without first pausing the timer, appears to lose accumulated time.
All this is very confusing. I would like to be able to rely on the timer icon to accurately indicate whether time is accumulating, and I would like to be able to conveniently pause and resume the timer, from any browser tab.
Please make the timer icon accurately reflect what is going one, regardless of which tab I am in.
Please make it possible to pause and resume any matter's timer from any matter's window.
Thanks,
George
Some of my clients demand receipts to justify expenses greater than a predetermined dollar amount. When I incur an expense, such as paying a foreign associate or a USPTO fee, I create a billing item.
I like the predefined templates in the billing items for USPTO fees. I've added templates for paying a foreign associate, paying for shipping documents, paying for patent drawings, etc. So, creating billing items is easy. Furthermore, billing items carry over into bills generated by AppCol, and these bills (with expenses) carry over into Quickbooks, which I use for accounting.
However, as it turns out, I don't send bills to this client (the one that wants receipts) from the AppCol billing module, because this client wants me to upload its bills as LEDES files through Thomson Reuters Legal Tracker. AppCol generates the LEDES files without a problem, which is nice.
However, when I upload a LEDES file, I have to go back to the e-mail file and try to find the receipt(s). It would be better if I could have attached the receipt(s) to the billing item in the first place.
Thanks,
George
I'd like to resurrect this thread.
As @RichardS3059 noted, there are several instances where we would like to include text from a first field (if that field is not blank), but include text from a second field (if the first field is blank), and some of us prefer "a programmatic way to accomplish the result over fields that have field-specific logic embedded into them, because they allow a more generalized result."
Examples of this situation include PTO filings (responses to Office Actions, etc.) and client correspondence that reference:
Please consider adding syntax that enables run-time selection of alternative text, such as when a first field is blank.
@RichardS3059 posted a possible syntax:
{{Matter.ClientContact.Nickname},{Matter.ClientContact.FirstName}}
and he suggested a more generalized IF syntax be created, which is a great idea.
I suggested syntax along the lines of:
{!{Matter.Client.PrimaryContact.First}!Matter.Client.PrimaryContact.Nickname}
Thanks,
George
AppColl has some nice text formatting codes, such as ToUpper and FirstWord. For example, {Matter.Title(FirstWord ToUpper)}.
Please consider adding LastWord to the list of supported text formatting codes. This would be very handy in formulating e-mail addresses, such as to USPTO examiners. Examiners' e-mail addresses are almost always of the form <first_name>.<last_name>@USPTO.gov. Thus, a "to" address to an examiner could be coded something like:
{Matter.Examiner} <{Matter.Examiner(FirstWord)}.{Matter.Examiner(LastWord)}@USPTO.gov>
Thanks,
George