How Potter Clarkson augments patent excellence with AI

However, our interest in innovation is not limited to our clients’ ideas.

We are continuingly exploring ways to innovate and enhance the way we work and the services we provide. This includes our early and strategic adoption of AI tools.

Key insights:

• We adopt AI deliberately to shift effort toward earlier senior attorney input
• NLPatent lets us run fast natural language searches for filing, monitoring, landscaping
• Using Solve Intelligence we can add efficiency to drafting and prosecution workflows while maintaining quality control, keeping attorneys in the driver’s seat

What is our approach to AI?

We know AI is a subject on everyone’s lips. We also know that as the work we do is high-value, our adoption of AI has had to be both deliberate and decisive to make sure you gain the maximum benefit.  

We have already implemented new workflows that allow AI to handle lower-value, time-consuming tasks. As a result, we can now cost-effectively introduce senior practitioners into a matter at an earlier stage and ensure our attorneys focus is on the high-value strategic work that delivers the most value to you.

We’d like to introduce 3 ways we can use AI to improve the way we work together:

1. How we search faster with AI

We have successfully used natural language searching since 2023 to enable fast and efficient pre-filing patentability searches.

AI driven relevance analysis provides a strong starting point for understanding distinguishing features, supporting patent monitoring activities and supporting landscaping exercises

For this we use NLPatent.

2.  How AI helps us optimise drafting

Following the conclusion of a successful pilot in 2025, 30%of our patent attorneys are now licensed to use AI-assistance in their drafting in a fully bespoke work-flow.

Although we use AI to test claims against known prior art (using as much or as little AI support as you choose) for efficiency, all our claims are always drafted by a human.  

From generating background and brief description of figures to drafting a detailed description section by section according to an attorney structure prompt, drafting assistance has reduced drafting time significantly. This leaves attorneys to spend more time on high-value tasks, most specifically claim drafting.

3. How we streamline prosecution with AI

AI rapidly identifies claim issues, providing greater clarity more quickly to attorneys to develop stronger strategies.

It improves confidence by testing amendments against prior art, reducing risk and rework and by automating time-consuming administrative tasks like page amendments, reference numbers and claim renumbering.

The result is an accelerated workflow, improved accuracy, and the freeing up of time for attorneys to focus on high-value work.

“At Potter Clarkson, our priority is delivering technically rigorous and strategically sound advice to our clients. We use Solve Intelligence as a tool in the hands of experienced patent attorneys - professionals who understand how to guide, challenge and refine AI-generated outputs. It allows our senior teams to concentrate on the aspects of drafting and prosecution where their judgement adds the greatest value, while maintaining full control over quality and client strategy.”

Peter Finnie, Partner, Potter Clarkson