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How to Forecast Budget Scenarios with the AI Assistant

Learn how to forecast patent budget scenarios with the ArcPrime AI assistant, ask what-if questions, and download baseline versus scenario Excel workbooks.

Written by Jonathan Liu

This article explains how to ask the AI assistant on the Budget page what-if questions and download the forecast as an Excel workbook.

The Budget page with the AI assistant open and its header pill reading Budget, showing a what-if answer with the How this was calculated section, the Workbook tabs line, and the Download as Excel workbook button

Prerequisites

  • You hold the Administrator, Inhouse Counsel or Inhouse Paralegal role and can open the Budget page (see how to track spend against budget).

  • To compare a forecast with your plan, set an annual budget under Settings > Workspace Data > Budget (see budget configuration).

Steps

  1. Open Patents > Portfolio > Budget. For trademarks, open Trademarks > Budget.

  2. Apply any filters the forecast should respect, such as a technology or country. The assistant reads the page's filters and limits its answer to the same patents or trademarks.

  3. Open the AI assistant. Its header pill reads Budget or Trademark Budget, and it greets you with Hello, ask me anything about this budget.

  4. Ask a what-if question, for example:

    • "What if we stop filing in Brazil?"

    • "What if new filing volume grows 10%?"

    • "What do we save if we stop filing continuations?"

    • "What if we stop responding to final office actions in this technology?"

  5. Wait while the assistant works. Its progress reads Modelling budget scenario, then Preparing the report.

  6. Read the answer, then expand How this was calculated under it to review the assumptions.

  7. Click Download as Excel workbook. To get CSV files instead, open the format menu beside it and select Download as CSV files (.zip).

By default, the forecast covers the rest of the current year, or all of next year when little of this year remains. If the page's custom date range lies wholly in the future, the forecast covers that range instead. Name a horizon in your question, such as "through 2028", to look further ahead.

What the Forecast Workbook Contains

The Workbook tabs line under the answer lists the tabs in the file. Most forecasts include By month, which shows the baseline, the scenario and the change for each billing month. Depending on the question, you may also see By year, By country, By taxonomy or Savings options.

The baseline is the work already docketed, plus modelled work the docket cannot hold yet, such as future office action responses and new filings. It differs from the Forecast figure on the Budget page, which projects your current spending rate.

Building Yearly Budgets by Technology

Ask a question such as "Build next year's budget by technology." The By taxonomy tab lists the forecast spend for every technology, including those a change left alone. When an annual budget is set, the answer also compares the forecast with the plan for that fiscal year.

To make those figures your plan, enter them under Budget by technology in your budget settings.

On Trademarks > Budget, scenarios cover renewals and declarations of use only.

Note: Forecasts are estimates built from your docket and billing history. Review the assumptions under How this was calculated before you share the figures.

Tip: Ask a follow-up such as "Export that by country" to get a new workbook from the same results without running the scenario again.

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