ApproveThis manages your Equinox Integration approvals.

Why Approval Workflows Matter More Than You Think

Let’s be real: approval processes are where productivity goes to die. Especially when you’re dealing with IP portfolios, legal matters, or high-stakes contracts. You’ve got stakeholders scattered across departments (or continents), endless email threads, and that one approver who’s always "on vacation." This is where ApproveThis and Equinox come in – like a caffeine shot for your workflows.

Equinox handles the heavy lifting of managing trademarks, patents, and legal matters. ApproveThis cuts through the chaos of getting decisions made. Connect them via Zapier, and you’ve got a system where approvals happen faster than your legal team can say “non-disclosure agreement.”

What Happens When You Stop Using Spreadsheets as a “System”

ApproveThis isn’t just a digital rubber stamp. It’s built for companies that have outgrown chasing down signatures in Slack. Custom workflows, conditional logic, and automatic escalations mean approvals adapt to your rules – not the other way around. Pair that with Equinox’s ability to track IP assets and legal matters, and you’re looking at fewer fire drills and more actual work getting done.

Here’s the kicker: approvers don’t need an Equinox license. External counsels, clients, or that exec who only checks email? They can approve requests directly from their inbox. No new logins, no $50/month seats wasted on someone who approves three things a year.

Three Ways This Combo Saves Legal Teams From Themselves

1. Automating IP Filings So Lawyers Can Lawyer

Picture this: Your team submits a new trademark application in Equinox. Zapier instantly creates an ApproveThis request with all the details – filing jurisdiction, classes, cost estimates. The GC gets an email, clicks “approve,” and Equinox auto-updates the matter status. No PDF attachments, no “did you see my email?”

Who this helps: Law firms and in-house legal teams drowning in administrative follow-ups. A 50-person tech startup, for example, could cut trademark approval time from days to hours.

2. Killing the “Who Approved This?!” Panic

When a patent renewal request gets approved in ApproveThis, Zapier can automatically create a task in Equinox with deadlines, assignees, and compliance checklists. Bonus: ApproveThis’ calculated fields auto-flag renewals that exceed budget thresholds, forcing escalations to department heads before they hit Equinox.

Who this helps: Manufacturing companies with global IP portfolios. Imagine a med device company avoiding six-figure renewal fees because engineering leads get automatic nudges.

3. Making External Collaborators Less… Annoying

Outside counsel submits an invoice in Equinox for that litigation matter. ApproveThis triggers a multi-step approval: first the legal ops manager, then the CFO if it’s over $25k (thanks to approval thresholds). Each step happens via email – no need to give the law firm access to your systems.

Who this helps: Enterprises dealing with outside vendors. A 2,000-employee pharma company could streamline invoice approvals across 15+ external firms without compromising security.

Setting This Up Without Hiring a Zapier Expert

If you can forward an email, you can build this integration:

1. Trigger: Pick an Equinox event (new invoice, matter, task).
2. Action: Map the details to an ApproveThis template with conditional logic (e.g., “If amount > $10k, require CFO approval”).
3. Result: Approved requests auto-update Equinox. Denied ones trigger revision tasks.

Pro tip: Use ApproveThis’ vacation delegation to avoid bottlenecks. Your trademark attorney taking a sabbatical? Requests auto-reroute to their backup.

Why Finance Teams Secretly Love This

IP management isn’t just a legal problem. Every patent filing or litigation matter impacts budgets. With ApproveThis’ calculated fields, finance can set hard limits on matter expenses. Exceed the threshold? The request jumps to the VP before it even hits Equinox. No more budget surprises at quarter-end.

When “Good Enough” Approval Tools Fail You

Equinox alone can’t handle multi-department approvals. ApproveThis without Equinox leaves your IP data siloed. Together, they cover the full lifecycle: request → review → decision → execution. It’s the difference between having a process and having a process that people actually follow.

How to Not Screw This Up

• Do: Start with one high-volume workflow (e.g., trademark filings).
• Don’t: Try to automate every approval path on day one.

Example: A 500-employee SaaS company automated their NDA approval process first. Legal saved 12 hours/month, which they now spend on actual contract negotiations.

The Bottom Line (Because You Skipped to the End)

ApproveThis + Equinox via Zapier isn’t about fancy tech. It’s about eliminating the 37 back-and-forth emails that happen every time someone needs to approve a patent filing or vendor invoice. It’s approvals that work the way your team actually does – without the chaos.

Book a demo and we’ll show you how to set up your first workflow in 23 minutes. Or keep forwarding PDFs and hoping for the best. Your call.