External IP paralegal support: roles and responsibilities

1. Define an executable task

“Support with patent matters” describes a field of work rather than an assignment. A more useful instruction is to associate incoming documents with a matter, compare referenced attachments with the available files and list missing material for clarification. This identifies the input, the action and the expected output.

Also describe what falls outside the assignment. Will the external support prepare material only, or perform another step after recorded approval? Who communicates with the attorney and who contacts other participants? A clear boundary prevents every small question becoming a new negotiation and keeps substantive decisions from being delegated by accident.

2. Put the handover points in a short matrix

This is an organisational model, not a statement about which person may perform every activity in every jurisdiction. Establish the legal and operational requirements for the actual assignment. Name people or roles precisely enough that the team knows where to direct a query when the usual contact is unavailable.

3. Distinguish access, preparation and approval

Permission to read a matter should not automatically mean permission to change everything in it or send material externally. Set access according to the assignment. Use an appropriate test task to check that necessary documents are available and that outputs can be saved in the correct location. A successful login does not establish either point.

As a specific example, the EPO explains that authorised support staff can prepare and submit duly signed requests in MyEPO. The required signature of the appointed representative, or of a self-representing party, is a separate requirement.

For your own arrangement, record who grants access and removes it when a role changes. Use the individual accounts provided for the workflow; sharing somebody else’s account does not establish responsibility. Bringing in external support should not require confidential files to be copied into an additional, unagreed storage location.

4. Agree a dependable route for open questions

Name a primary contact, a backup and a route for urgent questions. Each open point should describe the observation and the decision needed. Keep “awaiting decision” visible in the working record instead of letting the task disappear from the list. Use the agreed escalation process for time-sensitive work; silence is not approval.

A short regular review can focus on exceptions: missing documents, pending approvals and unassigned follow-up. Sending a complete parallel matter list in every email creates additional versions to maintain. Refer to the agreed working record and keep the current status there.

5. Define completion before work starts

“Done” should describe a verifiable result. For preparation, that might be an identified document package and a recorded handover. Where submission is part of the assignment, the relevant evidence of execution is also needed. Hand over remaining actions explicitly; finishing an earlier step must not hide unfinished follow-up.

• The task, input material and expected output are defined.
• Decisions and approvals have named owners.
• Backup and escalation arrangements are agreed.
• Access rights match the actual assignment.
• Instructions, queries and decisions remain findable on the matter.
• Completion includes evidence of the result and visible exceptions.
• Ending the arrangement includes a handover and access review.

Begin with a manageable, clearly bounded assignment. Use it to check whether instructions are understandable, queries are focused and the internal team can use the result without reconstructing the work. Then decide which further activities can sensibly be handed over.