Pruning in ArcPrime helps you identify patents that may no longer justify their renewal costs. ArcPrime's AI analyzes your portfolio and recommends candidates for abandonment based on quality scores, detectability, claim coverage, and cost. You review the recommendations, make decisions, and track savings over time.
📷 The Pruning tab under Patents > Strategy, showing the Renewal Candidates tab selected with the stats cards at the top (Next Fees Saved, Next Fees Spent, Candidate Next Fees) and the candidates table below
Key Capabilities
AI-identified renewal candidates — ArcPrime surfaces patents approaching renewal deadlines and scores each one based on quality, detectability, and chart coverage.
High-touch outlier detection — Pending patents with an unusually high number of office actions are flagged as potential abandonment candidates.
Decision tracking — Mark each candidate as renew or abandon, with space for rationale. Decisions are logged for audit purposes.
Cost impact visibility — Summary cards show next fees saved, next fees spent, and remaining candidate fees. See the financial impact of each decision in real time.
Historical pruning cycles — Review past pruning cycles with savings data and cadence periods.
Counsel notification — Send in-app emails to counsel about pruning decisions directly from the interface.
Export and reporting — Download candidate lists and decision data as CSV files.
How It Works
Open Patents > Strategy and select the Pruning tab. The default view is Renewal Candidates, which lists patent families approaching their next maintenance fee due date. Each family shows quality score, detectability rating, claim chart count, cost, and years remaining.
Use the tab bar to switch between Renewal Candidates, Decisions (patents you have already decided on), History (completed pruning cycles), and High Touch Outliers (pending patents with excessive office actions).
Common Use Cases
Use Case | How ArcPrime Helps |
Renewal cost reduction | Identify low-value patents costing more than they are worth to maintain |
Budget forecasting | See the total financial impact of pruning decisions on your renewal budget |
Outside counsel coordination | Notify counsel about abandonment decisions via in-app messaging |
Audit compliance | Maintain a full decision history with rationale for each patent |
Getting Started
The Pruning tab populates automatically once your patent portfolio is imported. To understand how AI scores candidates, see Pruning Candidates and Scores. To configure pruning cadence and thresholds, see Pruning Settings.
Related Articles
Pruning Candidates and Scores — How AI identifies candidates and scoring criteria
How to Review and Decide on Renewals — Mark renew or abandon and provide rationale
Pruning History and Cost Savings — Review past cycles and cumulative savings
How to Configure Pruning Settings — Set cadence, thresholds, and notifications