Entering the AI Era

Alain’s introduction to AI came at Valeo, where the IP team chose to embrace technological change rather than resist it. With that mindset, they began experimenting with AI as a way to enhance their most resource-intensive tasks.

Drafting quickly emerged as one of the most demanding areas with the greatest potential for AI-driven transformation. “Where IP engineers bring the most value is in how we draft claims,” Alain notes. Initial attempts to use AI for drafting fell short: tools available at the time struggled with technical accuracy and consistency. Even experiments with prominent off-the-shelf tools like Claude in conversational interfaces proved cumbersome, as results often lacked focus on patents and required repeated restarts. 

More fundamentally, these systems were built around a “one-click generation” approach that offered little scope for iteration or refinement. The outputs were typically superficial first drafts that lacked the rigor, precision, and structure required for patent applications. To make them usable, engineers had to devote significant time to detailed proofreading and substantial revisions - an effort that largely offset the efficiency gains such tools were meant to provide. 

It was in this context that Alain and his team began collaborating with Ankar. Rather than adopting a generic solution, they worked with Ankar to design a system tailored to the specific challenges of their global patent practice.

“What impressed me was how Ankar invested time into understanding our unique needs as an industrial company. They didn’t just deliver a tool, they delivered results. The system includes features like iterative drafting and AI-enabled refinements that genuinely support how our patent engineers work, helping us produce higher-quality outcomes.”

- Alain Durand, Valeo (IP Engineer)