Explore your portfolio

First make sure the right account is selected in the Accounts menu, since each account has its own portfolio. Then open the portfolio search from the side menu and use the filters to find the case: the quickest way is usually your reference or the application or registration number, but you can also search by title, owner, jurisdiction, class or status. Run the search and the matching cases appear in a results grid, or in Table View if you prefer columns. Click a case to open its detail page. The page is organised in tabs: General, with the essential data such as dates, parties, classes, status and next deadline; Annotations, with the notes added to the case; Evolution, with the history of acts; and Documents, with the documents shared with you. From the General tab you can also show the life cycle graph, which displays the theoretical life cycle of the right, and follow the link to the official register of the IP office. Use Previous and Next to move through the cases in your results without going back to the list. Everything on the page is read-only, except that you can add annotations if your role allows it.

A case detail page brings together what your service provider's system holds about one right, organised in tabs. General shows the essential data: the type of right and its title or wording, the jurisdiction, references and official numbers, the key dates such as filing, publication, registration or grant and renewal, the current status and the next deadline, the parties involved, such as the applicant or holder, the representative and the case responsible, the classes, namely Nice for goods and services, Vienna for figurative elements and Locarno for designs, together with descriptions and, where available, the image of the mark or design. From General you can show the life cycle graph and open the case in the official register of the IP office. Annotations holds the notes written on the case by you, your colleagues or, where shared, your provider, each with its author and date. Evolution lists the history of the case, with the acts carried out and those still pending. Documents gives you the documents synchronised for the case. All of it is a read-only copy; what each tab contains depends on what your provider records and shares.

Because the case data in Lightbox is a read-only copy of the record kept by your service provider. The provider is responsible for the legal management of your rights: they file, respond to the IP offices, record acts, control deadlines and keep the official data in their own system, Darwin Ignite or, depending on their configuration, Darwin 5.1. If the copy in Lightbox could be edited, there would soon be two versions of the truth, and a change typed in Lightbox would not reach the office or the provider's deadline control. That is why there is no Edit, Delete or Save on cases, entities or court cases. If you notice something that seems wrong or out of date, such as a misspelt name, a missing class or a status you do not recognise, add an annotation to the case describing what should change, so the request stays attached to the right record with your name and the date, or contact your provider directly if it is urgent. Once your provider corrects the record in their system, the correction reaches Lightbox at the next synchronisation. Annotations are the one thing you can add, provided your role allows it.

Open the case and go to its Documents tab. It lists the documents your service provider has synchronised for that case, such as official notifications, certificates, correspondence or reports, usually with their date, type and description so you can find the one you need. Select a document to open it: where the format allows, such as PDFs, images and emails, it is shown directly in the browser, without needing any other program. Which documents appear depends on what your provider registers against the case in their system and chooses to share with your Lightbox account; documents kept private on the provider's side, or not yet registered, are not shown. Like the rest of the case, the documents are a copy, so you cannot replace or delete them, and new ones arrive at the next synchronisation. If you expect a document that is not there, for example a registration certificate or an office action you were told about, add an annotation to the case asking for it or contact your provider. Remember also the Evolution tab, which records the acts that documents usually relate to, and the reports, which summarise information across the portfolio.

Open the case and go to its Evolution tab. It lists the acts recorded on the case in date order, from filing onwards: for example publication, oppositions or office actions and the responses to them, registration or grant, renewals or annuities, changes of ownership or representation, and any other steps your provider records. Together they tell the story of the right and explain how it reached its current status, which is shown on the General tab. The Evolution tab also shows acts that are still pending, that is, steps expected or due but not yet carried out. These matter, because the next deadline shown on the case takes them into account together with the case's next valid date. To understand where the case should go next, combine the Evolution tab with the life cycle graph, which shows the theoretical path of that type of right in that jurisdiction and where your case stands on it. The history is a read-only copy of your provider's record and is updated at each synchronisation. If an act you know about is missing, or you would like an explanation of one, add an annotation to the case or ask your service provider.

Each case shows its next deadline on the General tab. It is calculated by combining the case's next valid date, such as the renewal date of a trade mark or design or the due date of a patent annuity, with the acts still pending in its history, so that a pending response to an office or another outstanding step is taken into account and the earliest relevant date is shown. As a deadline approaches, it is highlighted in colour so that it stands out. To see the reason for a deadline, look at the Evolution tab, which lists the pending acts, and at the life cycle graph, which shows the step the case has reached and what comes next. To review deadlines across the portfolio, use the search with status and date-related filters, Table View to compare dates side by side, or a report. Bear in mind that Lightbox shows deadlines but does not act on them: it does not instruct your provider or renew anything automatically. If you want a right to be renewed, a response filed or a case abandoned, give your instruction to your provider, record it in an annotation so the decision stays with the case, and confirm with them in good time before the date.

On the General tab of a case, choose Show lifecycle graph to see the theoretical life cycle of the right. It is a diagram of the path that this type of right normally follows in its jurisdiction, from filing through examination, publication, possible opposition, registration or grant, and then maintenance and renewal. The graph is made of states, the stages the right can be in, and conditions, the questions that decide which way it goes next, for example whether an opposition was filed; the legend explains how conditions met and not met are shown, and the steps carry the typical time between them in days, months or years. The step your case has reached is marked, together with the date of the previous step, so you can see where it stands and what may come next. This makes the graph a good way to understand a status you are not familiar with, or to explain the process to a colleague. Remember that it is theoretical: it describes the usual path, not a promise about your case, and real cases can take other turns. If no life cycle has been defined for that type of right and jurisdiction, the graph says so; ask your provider for the detail.

Yes, where the IP office offers an online register and the case has the references it needs. On the case detail page, use the link to the official register to open the record of that application or registration on the website of the office concerned, in a new browser tab. This lets you compare the information your provider has recorded with what the office publishes, consult details the office makes public, such as the full publication text, and show third parties the official source. The availability and content of the official register depend on each office, so some jurisdictions offer more detail than others, and occasionally an office's site may be slow or unavailable, which is outside Lightbox's control. Lightbox does not change anything at the office; it simply takes you there. When you have finished, return to the Lightbox tab, where Previous and Next let you move to the other cases of your search results without going back to the list, which is useful when you are checking several cases in turn. If the office shows something that differs from the case in Lightbox, let your provider know with an annotation on the case.

You can consult every type of right that your service provider manages for you and synchronises to your Lightbox account. Typically this includes trade marks, whether word, figurative or other kinds of sign, with their Nice classes for goods and services and, where relevant, Vienna classes for figurative elements and an image of the mark; patents and similar rights for inventions, with their annuities; and designs, with their Locarno classes and images. Depending on what your provider handles, it can also include other industrial property rights recorded in their system. Each type is shown with the information relevant to it and has its own theoretical life cycle in each jurisdiction. Besides the rights themselves, you can consult the entities linked to your cases, such as holders and representatives, and, depending on your provider's configuration, court cases about your rights. What you see is decided by the synchronisation your provider sets up: it sends the cases where the entity that represents you has a given role, for example applicant. If a whole category of rights you expect is missing, ask your provider whether it is included in the synchronisation.

Yes, depending on your provider's configuration. Where your service provider manages litigation for you and shares it with your Lightbox account, you can consult the court case records from the menu. Each record brings together the essential information about the proceedings: the court and the judge, the process codes that identify the case, the next action expected, the relevant dates, the entities involved, such as the parties and their representatives, and a timeline of what has happened so far. The record is organised in tabs: General Data with those details, Evolution with the history of steps, and Documents with the documents shared for the case. As with IP cases, court cases are a read-only copy of your provider's record, so you cannot edit or delete them, and changes reach Lightbox at the next synchronisation. Court cases help you follow disputes over your rights, such as infringement actions or appeals against office decisions, alongside the portfolio itself, and they are often the background to the Conflictuality indicator on the dashboard. If you expect to see a court case and it is not listed, ask your provider whether court cases are included in what they share with you.

For a structured document, request a report: reports can be produced in PDF, for reading, printing and circulating, or in Excel, for further analysis, and you choose their title, language and, where available, the period and classes they cover; which reports are offered depends on your account's configuration. Reports are prepared in the background and appear in your report list when ready. For a quick printout of what is on screen, such as a case page or a list of search results, you can use your browser's print function, which also lets you save the page as a PDF. When the aim is to share information with colleagues, however, the better route is usually to invite them to your Lightbox account from Profile > Team with a suitable role, for example Reader for people who only need to consult. They then see the same, up-to-date information as you, instead of a copy that starts ageing the moment it is sent, they can read the annotations in context, and access can be withdrawn when it is no longer needed. Before forwarding reports or printouts outside your organisation, remember that they may contain personal data about parties and contacts.