Anaqua Review: What Anaqua Does and Who It Is For
Last reviewed October 2026. Anaqua has expanded by acquisition, including PATTSY WAVE (2020) and Patrix, so it now sells several IP management products for corporations and law firms. This overview is based on the vendor's public materials and industry reporting, not hands-on testing of every feature. Features, ownership and pricing change often — confirm details with the vendor before buying.
Anaqua is a Boston-based intellectual property (IP) management software and services company, founded in 2004. It sells platforms that patent and trademark teams use to run docketing, deadlines, portfolio records, renewals and IP spend, aimed at corporate IP departments and IP law firms.
What is Anaqua?
In plain terms, Anaqua is the system of record for an IP portfolio. Instead of tracking patent and trademark deadlines in spreadsheets or a generic docketing calendar, an IP team keeps every matter, family, deadline, document and cost in one place, with country rules that calculate due dates and workflows that route tasks to attorneys, paralegals and outside counsel.
The company has grown by acquisition, so "Anaqua" can mean more than one product:
- AQX – Anaqua's enterprise IP lifecycle management platform, usually aimed at large corporate IP departments.
- PATTSY WAVE – patent and trademark docketing software acquired in June 2020 (originally from O P Solutions), widely used by IP law firms. See our PATTSY WAVE review.
- Patricia – IP management software that came with the acquisition of Sweden's Patrix.
- Analytics and add-ons – Anaqua also markets patent analytics (AcclaimIP), AI-assisted docketing of patent-office correspondence, and time capture, among others.
Alongside the software, Anaqua sells IP services such as patent annuity payments, trademark renewals, foreign filing support and outsourced docketing. Product names and bundles change, so check the current line-up on Anaqua's own site.
Core capabilities
- Patent and trademark records: families, priority claims, status and documents across jurisdictions.
- Docketing and deadlines: country rules that calculate due dates, with reminders and task workflows.
- Invention disclosure: capture and review of new inventions before filing decisions.
- Renewals and annuities: decision workflows for keeping or dropping cases, with optional payment services.
- IP spend: budgeting, outside-counsel invoices and cost forecasting.
- Reporting: portfolio and workload reporting for IP leadership.
Who Anaqua suits
- Corporate IP departments with large, multi-country patent and trademark portfolios.
- IP law firms that docket for many clients (often on PATTSY WAVE).
- Organisations that want software and renewal/annuity services from one provider.
Smaller teams with a few hundred trademarks may find a lighter docketing tool such as Alt Legal easier to adopt.
Strengths
- Broad coverage of the IP lifecycle, from disclosure to renewal
- Products for both corporations and law firms
- Software and IP services available from one vendor
- Configurable workflows for complex organisations
Limitations
- Enterprise implementations and data migration take time
- Quote-based pricing makes early budgeting harder
- Several product lines can make it unclear which one fits you
- Overkill for small, simple portfolios
Anaqua vs. Clarivate (CPA Global)
Anaqua's most frequent comparison is with Clarivate, which absorbed CPA Global in 2020 and sells IPfolio, FoundationIP and Inprotech plus renewal services. Both offer software and services to the same buyers. Our Anaqua vs CPA Global (Clarivate) comparison covers the differences, and the IP management software buyer's guide explains how to run a selection.
Security & Compliance
We have not verified Anaqua's current certifications. Before migrating portfolio data, ask for its latest SOC 2 report or ISO 27001 certificate, hosting regions, encryption and retention terms, and how AI features handle your data. Our vendor due-diligence guide has a full checklist.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Anaqua?
Anaqua is an intellectual property management company founded in 2004 and based in Boston. It sells IP management software (including AQX, PATTSY WAVE and Patricia) and IP services such as annuity payments and trademark renewals to corporate IP departments and IP law firms.
What does Anaqua software do?
It keeps patent and trademark records, calculates and tracks deadlines (docketing), manages invention disclosures, supports renewal decisions, tracks IP spend and produces portfolio reports.
Who owns PATTSY WAVE?
Anaqua acquired PATTSY WAVE in June 2020. It was originally developed by O P Solutions and is now sold as one of Anaqua's docketing products.
How much does Anaqua cost?
Anaqua does not publish list prices. Pricing is quote-based and depends on the product, number of users, portfolio size, modules and services, so ask Anaqua for a written quote.
What are the main alternatives to Anaqua?
Common alternatives include Clarivate (IPfolio, FoundationIP, Inprotech – formerly CPA Global), Computer Packages Inc. (CPI), Alt Legal for trademark-heavy teams, and Dennemeyer's DIAMS.