§Portfolio Administration
The administrative layer of patent portfolio management
We keep your patent records, public status, fee windows, inventories, and management reports in order, and coordinate with your own registered practitioner. You and your practitioner keep every legal decision, deadline, and filing.
- Typical onboarding
- About 2 weeks
- Best for
- Companies, universities, and inventors whose portfolios have outgrown a spreadsheet
- Runs on
- Hoard Ledger, set up and maintained by an analyst
- Works alongside
- Your independently retained patent attorney or agent
§ 01Context
An administrative layer, not a legal one
Many patent portfolio management services blur two jobs. One is legal: deciding what to file, responding to the USPTO, and making sure legal deadlines are met. That belongs to you and your registered patent attorney or agent. The other is administrative: keeping records straight, watching the public status of every asset, knowing when fee windows open, and getting the right information to the right person in time. That second job is ours.
Every utility patent runs on a fixed schedule. Maintenance fees fall due 3.5, 7.5, and 11.5 years after grant. The USPTO accepts payment without a surcharge in the six months before each due date, and with a surcharge for six months after. It sends a reminder only if a fee is still unpaid when the surcharge-free period ends, and it states that failure to receive its notices “will not shift the burden of monitoring the time for paying a maintenance fee from the patentee to the USPTO.” Someone on your side has to watch, every year, for every asset.
We make that watching reliable and visible. The work runs on Hoard Ledger, the records module of our analyst-operated workspace. To see what a given window costs at your entity status, try the maintenance-fee calculator.
§ 02Overview
What we administer
Records and documentation
One maintained inventory of patents and applications: numbers, titles, families, owner of record, entity status as you report it, and the documents behind each.
Public status tracking
Status changes and published deadlines from public USPTO records, checked on a set schedule and noted in the record, for administrative purposes.
Fee windows
Every 3.5-, 7.5-, and 11.5-year window, with surcharge-free dates, grace-period flags, and the fee at your entity status.
Inventories and management reports
Portfolio views by product, family, owner of record, or business unit, plus fee forecasts and status summaries on the schedule you choose.
Practitioner coordination
We route information to your independently retained practitioner and keep a log of what was sent, to whom, and when.
Keep-or-lapse hand-off
When a large window approaches on an asset nobody uses, we flag it for a decision. Pruning analytics can rank the whole portfolio.
We watch the windows. You and your practitioner make the calls.
An administrative layer works best when everyone knows exactly where it stops.
§ 03Compare
Who does what
The division of work, written down before onboarding begins.
| Item | Meta Dragons | Your practitioner | You |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portfolio records and inventory | Builds and maintains them | Supplies prosecution records as needed | Confirms ownership, entity status, and priorities |
| Public status and fee windows | Tracks them for administrative purposes | Dockets legal deadlines | Receives reports and notices |
| Decide to pay, abandon, or file | No. We supply the information | Advises you | Decides |
| Pay USPTO fees and make filings | No | Yes, on your instruction | Yes, directly or through your practitioner |
| Respond to USPTO correspondence | No | Yes | Instructs your practitioner |
| Management reports | Prepares them on your schedule | Receives copies if you wish | Uses them to budget and decide |
If you don’t have a practitioner, we can share a list of independent practitioners to contact. We receive no referral fees.
§ 04Process
How onboarding works
Onboarding takes about 2 weeks, depending on the size and state of the records.
- 01
Scoping call
A free 20–30-minute call about your portfolio, your practitioner, and the reports you need. You get a fixed-fee written quote within one business day.
- 02
Records intake
We collect your lists and documents, with your practitioner’s records where available, under an NDA.
- 03
Reconciliation
We check every asset against public USPTO records and flag discrepancies, such as owner-name variants or unrecorded assignments, for you and your practitioner.
- 04
Ledger setup
An analyst configures Hoard Ledger: assets, windows, contacts, and report schedule. Then we walk your team through it.
- 05
Ongoing administration
Status checks, window notices, management reports, and a coordination log, maintained by an analyst for as long as you need.
§ 05Questions
Questions about portfolio administration
Something else on your mind? Call (505) 357-5188 or write to info@metadragons.com.
Are you a docketing service?
We track public status and published deadlines for administrative purposes, and we tell you and your practitioner what we see. We are not a substitute for your practitioner’s docket, and legal deadlines remain your practitioner’s and your responsibility.
Do you pay maintenance fees for us?
No. We flag windows, show the fee at your entity status, and send notices. You or your practitioner decide and pay.
Do design patents need maintenance fees?
No. The USPTO does not require maintenance fees for design or plant patents. We track their status and term in the same inventory, so the whole portfolio sits in one place.
What happens when a window approaches on a patent we no longer use?
We flag it early enough for a real decision: keep, license, sell, or let lapse. A patent you don’t need may matter to someone else; see Sell Your Patent.
We don’t have a patent attorney or agent. Can you still help?
We can keep the records and the windows in view. For anything legal, you will need a registered practitioner, and we can share a list of independent practitioners to contact. We receive no referral fees.
How is administration priced?
Onboarding and ongoing administration are quoted per scope as a fixed fee, after a free scoping call. Nothing is billed beyond the quote without your written approval.
Keep reading
Where to go next
§Next step
Put the whole portfolio in one place
Send a patent list or an assignee name. After a free 20–30-minute scoping call, you’ll have a fixed-fee written quote within one business day, and onboarding takes about 2 weeks.