Black Hills AI's OttoFlow Full replaces your IP management system. PracticeLink connects the one you run. Compare control, choice and visibility.
An IP team should be able to choose who does the work and still see what's waiting, who approves it, and what happened. That's the useful starting point for comparing Quartz IP and Black Hills AI: control of the workflow, choice of people and tools, and visibility into each handoff.
There's now a second question. Black Hills AI's new product line, OttoFlow, includes a full version built to become your system of record, so you'd switch to it. PracticeLink coordinates IP work across the systems your firm already uses, so you'd connect it. Start with a specific job your team needs to finish, then ask what each option asks you to move. Here's how we would evaluate the choice, from the people who build PracticeLink.
What does each company offer?
Black Hills AI, also known as Black Hills IP, offers docketing and paralegal services alongside its Otto products. Its Otto HUB connects IP data and documents to AI tools and supports custom integrations. Otto IP includes drafting and analysis tools, including a Word add-in. And OttoFlow, a line its site badges as "New," is IP management software meant to run the whole prosecution operation. That makes it a broader choice than outsourced staffing alone.
PracticeLink is an IP Operations platform for the work around your docket: document intake, task routing, forms, IDS preparation, approvals and client reporting. It connects those steps to the matter and the people responsible for it. Your firm can assign work to its own team, an outside partner connected through a configured integration, or a mix.
What changed in October 2026?
Black Hills AI's OttoFlow pages went live on September 24, 2026, according to the site's own publishing data. Here's what those pages say as of October 19, 2026. The other Black Hills AI descriptions on this page reflect its public pages on the same date.
It's a replacement. The OttoFlow licensing table lists OttoFlow Full as "Your system of record," and under "Replaces" it says "Your current IP management system." Its FAQ describes one system for matters, docketing, prosecution, IDS, documents, workflows, reporting, client portal and billing.
One module sits alongside. For OttoFlow IDS Manager, the same table says "Nothing" under "Replaces" and that it "runs alongside the docket you have." It had its own launch post on September 29.
Keeping your current system is still an option. The OttoFlow docketing page ends with "Not ready to switch systems?" and points to docketing automation inside your current system and to its U.S.-based docketing team.
It's new. None of the six OttoFlow pages names a customer or a case study, and they give no launch date. We found no press release for the full platform. The AI write-back examples on its AI and automation page are labeled "Illustrative."
Black Hills AI offers a demo on a live tenant and a pilot that dockets in parallel with your current system. If OttoFlow is on your list, run that pilot on your own matters before you plan a move. And ask both vendors for references from firms running the workflow you're buying.
How should you compare control, choice and visibility?
Use the same matter and the same handoff in both conversations.
| What to compare | Black Hills AI | PracticeLink from Quartz IP |
| Starting point | Otto software, IP data access, OttoFlow and managed IP services | Coordinating daily IP work across existing systems |
| Your current system | OttoFlow Full replaces it. IDS Manager, docketing automation and services work alongside it. | Stays the source of official dates. PracticeLink reads from it. |
| Staffing choice | Confirm which tasks your team performs and which the service handles | Configure the workflow around your team and connected outside partners |
| Workflow control | Ask who changes the routing, review steps and exceptions in the proposed package | Configure task assignments and review steps around your firm's process |
| Visibility | Ask to see pending work, exceptions and the available history | Track workflow status and history alongside the matter |
| Proof of fit | Walk through the exact service or software workflow you're buying | Walk through the request, review, rejection and completion steps |
A service can be the right way to add capacity. The useful test is whether your firm can see and manage the work across that service boundary.
What would you have to migrate?
Only OttoFlow Full replaces your system of record. Black Hills AI describes import rules with AI-suggested field mappings, sync with your current platform during a phased migration, and a parallel pilot. That's a thoughtful path, and it's still a migration, so ask what your team would move and validate. Connecting PracticeLink isn't free of work either. It takes integration setup, workflow configuration, testing and some changes to how your team hands off work.
| What you run today | Switch to OttoFlow Full | Connect PracticeLink |
| Docket and deadline history | Black Hills AI describes import rules. Confirm whether your history transfers and how it's validated. | Stays in your current system. With FoundationIP or CPi, PracticeLink reads it without writing to it. |
| Matters and documents | One OttoFlow record for matters and documents, with DMS push | Documents stay in your DMS. PracticeLink files new ones there, and what people can see follows DMS permissions. |
| IDS and forms | IDS runs inside OttoFlow | Citations tracked across the family, the IDS generated from them, and filing packages released to the DMS |
| Client reporting and portal | OttoFlow's own reporting and client portal | Client reports go out with the document attached and profiled to the DMS. Review is the default. |
| Billing | Billing and time inside OttoFlow | Stays where it is today |
| Who does the docketing | Your team. Black Hills AI says its services are "optional, and never required for automation." | Your team, a connected outside partner, or both |
Either way, staffing is a separate choice from software. The question here is narrower. Do you want one new system, or the ones you have working together?
Can I use PracticeLink with outsourced docketing?
Yes. PracticeLink can coordinate work whether your docketing team is employed by your firm or an outside provider. Routing an outside partner into a workflow depends on the configured integration and access. It isn't an automatic connection to every provider.
Take de-docketing. Someone on the matter submits a request with the supporting document. Docketing reviews the request, clears the date in the docketing system, or returns the request with a reason. PracticeLink keeps the request and review history together. The same questions matter whichever team handles it: who has the request, what's missing, and who confirmed the result?
Delegating the task shouldn't mean rebuilding that history from email.
What do Otto HUB and its MCP connection change?
Black Hills AI's MCP Controller page describes connecting an AI assistant to USPTO and IPMS data, and lists standalone availability. Its HUB page also describes document delivery to a DMS. Evaluate the actual access and actions in the proposed setup, rather than assuming that every Otto connection is read-only or requires a docketing service.
OttoFlow goes a step further. Its AI and automation page describes an MCP connection to the live docket "to read and to write," with checks before anything is written. The transcript and API examples on that page are labeled "Illustrative," so ask to watch a real write on the pilot tenant, then follow it to the audit record.
Ask both vendors to show where the data goes, what each connection can change, and which steps need a person's approval. Then follow one result through to completion. Who checks the output? Where does it go next? What happens when it is rejected?
PracticeLink's role is to coordinate those operational steps. Its docketing connection reads the official dates; PracticeLink doesn't independently clear or rewrite them. The docketing team makes the official change in the system of record. That boundary should be visible in any workflow demonstration.
What is an IP automation platform?
An IP automation platform is software that automates defined tasks in patent or trademark work and connects the data, systems and people needed to complete them.
The label alone doesn't tell you the scope. It might cover data retrieval, drafting, docketing, document processing or coordination across a team. Ask which steps are included, which need configuration, and which remain manual. An answer from an AI tool can save time. A finished, reviewed task with a clear history is a different outcome to verify.
Which is the better fit for your firm?
Consider Black Hills AI when the need is managed docketing capacity, an Otto drafting tool, or IP data access for custom AI work. Consider OttoFlow Full if you're evaluating a replacement IP management system and want rules-based docketing with AI built in, and run the parallel pilot first. OttoFlow IDS Manager is the option if you only want IDS work alongside your current docket. Define the service and software scope before comparing cost.
Consider PracticeLink when work keeps stalling between the mail, the matter team, docketing and client reporting, and you'd rather not move your docket to fix it. It gives your firm a place to coordinate those handoffs while keeping the docketing system you already use. Staffing remains a separate choice.
For either option, bring a routine task that becomes an email chase today. Ask to see it assigned, reviewed, sent back for correction, and completed. That's a more useful comparison than counting features.
Use our platform evaluation checklist to prepare, or discuss your workflow with Quartz IP.
Frequently asked questions
Is Black Hills AI the same company as Black Hills IP?
Black Hills AI is the current brand used by the company also known as Black Hills IP. Its offering includes Otto software, OttoFlow and managed IP services.
Does OttoFlow replace my docketing system?
The full platform does, by Black Hills AI's own description. Its licensing table lists OttoFlow Full as "Your system of record" and says it replaces "Your current IP management system." OttoFlow IDS Manager is the exception. Black Hills AI says it runs alongside the docket you have. PracticeLink takes the other road. It reads from your existing docketing system, which stays the source of official dates.
Does PracticeLink require my own employees to do all the docketing?
No. PracticeLink can coordinate work with your own team, an outside provider connected through a configured integration, or both. Your firm chooses the assignments and review steps and keeps visibility into the workflow.
Can I keep my current docketing system?
Yes. PracticeLink works alongside your existing docketing system, which remains the source of official dates. Confirm the supported integration and workflow scope for your system during the consultation.
Can I use PracticeLink while Black Hills AI handles some work?
Yes, subject to the systems, access and handoffs being scoped for that arrangement. PracticeLink can coordinate work with an outside provider through a configured integration. Confirm the specific connection before treating the workflow as ready to run.
Is Otto HUB only for firms that outsource docketing?
Black Hills AI lists its MCP Controller as available standalone or within the Otto IP Suite. Confirm the data access and service requirements for the package you are considering.
What is an IP automation platform?
An IP automation platform is software that automates defined tasks in patent or trademark work and connects the data, systems and people needed to complete them. Compare the actual tasks, review steps and history included in each offering.
How can I keep control when an outside provider does the work?
Define who assigns each task, who approves it, how exceptions come back, and where the supporting documents and history are kept. PracticeLink coordinates configured workflows across your team and connected outside partners so you can see the handoffs whoever performs the task.
Where should I start the comparison?
Pick one workflow that causes repeat follow-up, such as a de-docket request waiting for proof. Ask each vendor to show the complete path, including a rejection and correction, and identify who controls every step.
Related comparisons
See all comparisons, including Anaqua, Clarivate, CPi and Inprotech. For the category distinction, read IP Operations Is Not Docketing.