General Questions
What is AppColl's AI Use Policy?
You have control over the AppColl data that is processed by AI Features. Your data remains within AppColl’s secure environment, and we do not sell your data to third parties or use your data for LLM training. All AI processing is done entirely in the US, and external models are run with a zero data retention policy. As with our platform today, your data is not co-mingled with other AppColl accounts. AppColl AI features adhere to the same privacy and confidentiality policies as all AppColl products and services.
Will I ever be automatically opted in to AppColl AI?
No. We will only use AI to provide services in your account with your explicit, opt-in permission. Account administrators can enable or disable AI features in the AI Processing tab on the Settings page.
How secure is my data when using the AI features? Is my data used to train the AI?
We have architected the AI features to maintain the same, if not better, security posture as your AppColl account. AI Forecasting is confined to data in your account and the generated models can be seen in the Files module. The 892 Form processing uses a static, hardened OCR machine learning model that is executed within the AppColl production environment. The generative AI processing for AI Form Fields uses separate “escrow” LLMs that run inside AppColl’s own sandbox in the Amazon AWS environment and not able to be trained.
Can I immediately send AI generated content to end-users?
We believe AI-generated content MUST be reviewed before sending to end-users. Whenever AppColl inserts content generated from AI into your workflow, we tag it as generated by AI including the date and time it was generated.
Can any of my AppColl data be modified or anything sent without permission by the AI features?
No. AppColl’s AI features will never make independent decisions or directly modify your data.
Will the use of AI impact performance in the AppColl application?
We do not expect that the use of AI in AppColl will affect performance, aside from any active use, such as testing AI form fields, for that specific user. A lot of the processing for the AI features are done at night and should not affect performance, and large language model processing is done externally.
Can I prevent using AI for a certain client?
Yes. To prevent using AI features for a specific client, go to the client record and select the checkbox titled, “Prevent all AI functionality for this client’s matters and tasks,” and click Save. For more information, click here.
Are the AI features interactive?
No. You can however, test and refine your AI Form Field outputs from within the AI Form Fields editor.
Will AI features be available for AppColl PM Pro accounts?
No. To utilize AI features you must have at least an active AppColl PM Plus subscription.
If AI features are enabled in AppColl for an account, will they then appear for all users?
Yes, with the exception that only account admins will have access to set up, create, and test AI Form Fields.
Can I pull data from other online databases to generate an AI response in AppColl, such as Office365 or Google docs?
Not at this time. Files and Data used by AI Features need to be available within AppColl. We have built the AI features to use only the data you provide and explicitly not use information from other AppColl accounts or outside sources.
AI Forecasting
What is AI Forecasting?
AI Forecasting uses your historical fee and expense billing items to predict future costs. We have created a proprietary machine learning algorithm to generate models based only on your data. To create an accurate model, thousands of billing items from several years are required.
How often do Forecasting models regenerate?
Models regenerate automatically once per week.
Is there setup or configuration required to run AI Forecasting models in AppColl?
No setup or configuration is required, but you will need to have historical fee and expense billing items within AppColl to view forecasting data.
USPTO 892 Form Processing
What is USPTO 892 Form Processing?
This feature will be available for Appcoll PM Plus and Corporate accounts. AppColl automatically processes USPTO 892 forms (List of References Cited By Examiner). When an 892 form is received, AppColl scans it using an OCR machine learning model, extracts all of the references, adds them as examiner-cited references for the associated matter (and optionally all related pending US matters), and automatically downloads any patent publication reference PDFs and attaches them to any tasks generated as a result of receiving the 892 form.
Will 892 form processing cause additional duplicate Supplemental IDS deadlines to be docketed in related cases that are connected in AppColl (in addition to the already docketed Supplemental IDS deadlines based on the incoming OA)?
AppColl will not create a duplicate if an Open File Supplemental IDS already exists.
Can this be used to process 892s that were received previously, or only new 892s?
Yes, simply forward the same, previously received e-Office Action to AppColl for AppColl to reprocess.
Will foreign references downloaded from Espacenet automatically have the English reference attached?
AppColl pulls whatever EspaceNet provides to us. This means that there could be some Foreign Language Refs that may need to be translated.
If there are NPL’s, will there still be an indication in the 892 (in the task comments) so that we know to grab the NPL and attach?
Yes.
AI Form Fields
What is USPTO 892 Form Processing?
This feature will be available for Appcoll PM Plus and Corporate accounts. AppColl automatically processes USPTO 892 forms (List of References Cited By Examiner). When an 892 form is received, AppColl scans it using an OCR machine learning model, extracts all of the references, adds them as examiner-cited references for the associated matter (and optionally all related pending US matters), and automatically downloads any patent publication reference PDFs and attaches them to any tasks generated as a result of receiving the 892 form.
Will 892 form processing cause additional duplicate Supplemental IDS deadlines to be docketed in related cases that are connected in AppColl (in addition to the already docketed Supplemental IDS deadlines based on the incoming OA)?
AppColl will not create a duplicate if an Open File Supplemental IDS already exists.
Can this be used to process 892s that were received previously, or only new 892s?
Yes, simply forward the same, previously received e-Office Action to AppColl for AppColl to reprocess.
Will foreign references downloaded from Espacenet automatically have the English reference attached?
AppColl pulls whatever EspaceNet provides to us. This means that there could be some Foreign Language Refs that may need to be translated.
If there are NPL’s, will there still be an indication in the 892 (in the task comments) so that we know to grab the NPL and attach?
Yes.
Is there a way to get a draft response attached to a task in addition to what is available with 892 processing?
Yes, you can have form letters or task notifications generated as the result of receiving an e-Office action. Follow the instructions here.
Beta Early Access Program
How do I sign up?
Please contact support if you are interested.
Am I guaranteed a spot?
Participation is initially limited to ensure the best support.
How long will the beta period last?
The beta period is planned to be 3 months starting in March 2026, but may be extended.
Is there any cost to access AI features during the beta period?
There is no cost to access AI features during the beta period. However, after beta, with the exception of 892 processing, which will be included at no extra cost in PM Plus and PM Corporate subscriptions, enabling the AI Forecast and AI Form Fields features will require an increase in subscription cost, which will vary monthly depending on the use of the features.