IAM Patent 1000 2027 is open: researchers have been sending out invitations since early August, and IAM says the research itself commences in September. Written submissions are due on Monday 14 September 2026. A firm without an invitation right now cannot reach the submission form – IAM sends the access link and password solely with that email. Either way, the route runs through the researcher for your jurisdiction.
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now
Invitations going out
secure access, confirm participation
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14 Sept 2026
Submission deadline
Monday
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from 14 Sept
Interviews
through to November 2026
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May 2027
Publication
the guide appears
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The gatekeeper
Without contact to the researcher you cannot reach the form.
IAM puts it this way: “IAM is using a proprietary survey tool to enable firms to upload their submissions securely. Please find below a personalised hyperlink and password to the secure submission form” – link and password are enclosed with the invitation. Without them the form will not open.
The invitations are going out – how to recognise yours
It does not come from a central address. It comes from the researcher responsible for your jurisdiction, from an @lbresearch.com address. Behind it stands Law Business Research, the London publisher of IAM Patent 1000. The subject line of the invitation we have seen reads: “IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Professionals 2027 – research invitation”.
One clarification on our own account, because the similarity of names causes confusion regularly: Law Business Research is the British publisher behind IAM. We, Law Business, are an independent Austrian consultancy with offices in Munich, Milan and St. Pölten, with no connection to that publisher. If an email reaches you from @lbresearch.com, it is from IAM – not from us.
No invitation? Here is how to get access
| 1 | Check your spam folder. Invitations often land there. |
| 2 | Check who else may have received it. The email often goes to someone who left the firm long ago. |
| 3 | Contact the researcher for your jurisdiction and sign your firm up. Only then do the credentials follow. |
| 4 | The Word form as an alternative. IAM says it can be downloaded from the welcome page; alternatively the researcher will send it on request. |
Invitation received? One step still remains
IAM places one paragraph under the heading “Confirmations – IMPORTANT”. It reads: “By way of reply to this email, please confirm your participation in the research and let us know that we can expect a submission by the September 14 deadline.”
IAM therefore expects a reply to that email, confirming that you are taking part and that a submission will arrive by 14 September. IAM does not state what happens if the reply never comes. We recommend confirming participation straight away – it takes two minutes.
How the submission process runs
| 1 · Invitation Link and password – nothing works without them |
2 · Confirm Reply to the researcher |
3 · Build Profile, matters, individuals, reference contacts |
| 4 · Upload by 14 September 2026 |
5 · Notify the step most often forgotten |
6 · Interviews from the deadline through to November |
On step 5 IAM writes: “Once your online submission has been completed and filed, please send a notification to the researcher for your jurisdiction (who is the sender of this email).” IAM expressly asks for a separate notification after the upload, so do not assume that filing alone is enough.
Several countries? Then several sets of credentials
For international firms the gatekeeper effect multiplies. IAM writes: “International firms that wish to submit for multiple countries are recommended to provide separate submissions for each country. Each submission requires a separate link and password.”
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3
countries
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→ |
3
invitations
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3
sets of credentials
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3
submissions
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1
deadline
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Each of those chains needs its own researcher contact – and all of them run in parallel to the same date.
What participation is worth
IAM Patent 1000 is, in IAM’s own words, “IAM’s guide to the world’s leading patent professionals”. For the research IAM asks for three elements: the written submission, client reference contacts, and representatives available for interviews. Without a submission, the research lacks that basis.
Two points matter in practice. First, participation itself is cost-free. IAM says so plainly – “there is no fee associated with participation in the research”. The cost sits entirely on your side of the desk – and depending on the number of matters and jurisdictions, it is not small. Second, reference contacts are not an annex to the submission; they are part of it. Briefing your references in advance avoids an enquiry catching them unprepared.
The timeline
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14 Sept 2026
Monday
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Deadline for written submissions. After that the access closes. |
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Sept–Nov
2026
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Research interviews. They begin at the deadline. Keep your people available. |
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May 2027
publication
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The guide is published. |
Work backwards from that. Partners are typically available only to a limited extent until the end of August. Between the end of the holidays and the deadline there are very few working days left – too few to draft matter descriptions, individual attributions and the reference list from scratch. And a firm that still has to request access loses further days.
All ranking deadlines at a glance
IAM Patent 1000 is one of many deadlines running in parallel. We maintain a continuously updated, cost-free overview of all ranking submission deadlines – 18 countries, expandable by country, clearly marked “Confirmed” or “Forecast”. Every deadline can be added to your Outlook calendar with one click.
Go to the deadlines overview – including IAM Patent 1000
If you would rather hand the work over
Law Business has supported attorneys at law and patent attorneys with ranking submissions since 2004. For IAM Patent 1000 that means: a draft built from last year’s submission and current matters, matter descriptions written separately for prosecution and litigation, individual attribution, preparation of the reference list including briefing your references, and deadline and interview coordination through to confirmation of the upload.