Intellectual property (IP) cases are intricate, highly confidential, massive undertakings. They often involve high-profile parties, source code and international depositions. This means you need a court reporting agency with solid IP experience. You want a court reporting team equipped to handle multiple tracks, next-day rushes, strict confidentiality, cutting-edge technology and it would be great if they have reporters, videographers and interpreters worldwide. Not every agency can provide all of the above and more, while providing top-tier service every step of the way. Here are some ways to quickly spot the ones that can.
Cohesive Teamwork: You should see the departments working together and your account executive working seamlessly with each department to ensure everything stays on track and you stay informed. Your account executive should gather the details of your IP matter and pass those to scheduling, keeping you in the loop. A scheduling case manager should follow up with you to gather any additional information needed or to clarify details, e.g., collecting any protective orders in the matter. From scheduling, you then go to production, where the production case manager will confirm particulars and establish your standing order in the matter. This ensures consistency throughout the entirety of the matter. Production’s extensive experience with IP matters means formatting is correct – from title pages and special certificates – to lines per page.
Find a Truly Global Agency: When IP matters are involved, an agency with international presence is ideal, as you will likely be deposing several witnesses overseas. Does your agency have reporters, videographers and interpreters all over the globe? Are they experts on the legality of depositions around the world? Can they guide you through the processes and protocols of depositions in South Korea, or Germany, for example? Do they offer an International Depositions Guide?
Interpretation is Key: Intellectual property matters tend to involve witnesses in various parts of the world, and they may not speak English proficiently enough to be deposed in English. You want a court reporting agency with a worldwide network of top interpreters, proficient in the various dialects that exist in different languages. These interpreters must have heavy deposition experience and subject matter familiarity, if not expertise! Keep in mind, the more intricate and technical jargon-heavy the deposition may be, the more you may want to consider a team of interpreters rather than one interpreter working solo. Accurate legal interpretation is both mentally and physically taxing. If you anticipate long depos with a lot of highly technological language, give some thought to an extra interpreter.
Expertise With Handling Exhibits: Make sure the court reporting agency makes handling all those exhibits a breeze. You want to see a court reporting agency that has thought out everything you need – limitless, secure storage, a system allowing easy collaboration and sharing with colleagues, seamless marking of digital exhibits when all parties may be remote, etc.
Realtime Saves Time: Make sure the agency has realtime reporters because in an IP matter, you want realtime. Particularly for interpreted depos, realtime saves a lot of time. The benefits of realtime are many – instantly flag testimony for follow-up, plus avoid constant readbacks by the court reporter. Keep in mind though that not every court reporter provides realtime, so do discuss this option immediately with your account executive to guarantee a realtime reporter is on your case.
It comes down to this: does the court reporting agency know what they’re doing? Look at their service offerings. Look at their processes. Talk to the account executive frankly about your needs, concerns and expectations. They should be able to outline a process that makes you comfortable the team will not miss any details, hears and appreciates your concerns and has solutions at the ready for difficulties that you do or do not anticipate. You want a confident team, a team that has seen it all in their IP casework and knows how to manage all the exhibits, protective orders, parties and details IP matters entail.
Planet Depos has been covering depositions all around the world for more than a decade, leading the court reporting industry in international depositions. For questions about international depositions, IP, or to schedule your matter, contact Planet Depos at 888.433.3767, or schedule online.