LegalApp — Patent Enforcement & Licensing Platform

LegalApp is a multi-tenant SaaS platform we built for Crystal Ninja to run patent enforcement, licensing and settlement from end to end. It is a full custom web application development project rather than a configured off-the-shelf tool: the workflow it automates did not exist in any product on the market.

Before it existed, the work behind a patent enforcement programme lived in spreadsheets, email threads and separate payment records. LegalApp replaces all of that with one system that four different kinds of user log into, each seeing only the part that concerns them.

Automated infringement scanning

At the core of the platform is a product scanner that continuously crawls online marketplaces and the wider web looking for products that infringe the client's patents. Listings it finds are captured with their evidence, scored, and flagged for review, so a person is confirming a shortlist rather than searching from scratch.

Every confirmed infringement becomes a case record that carries through to licensing and settlement. This is the kind of business process automation that replaces a job somebody would otherwise do by hand, indefinitely.

Four role-based portals

The platform is separated into four panels, each with its own permissions and its own sign-in, built on role-based access control so no user can reach data outside their remit:

• Super Admin — platform-level control across tenants, users, roles and system configuration.
• Admin — the rights holder's workspace, overseeing sellers, flagged products, settlements, licences, billing and reporting.
• Lawyer — a dedicated portal for outside counsel to review licensing and settlement records across the whole portfolio, with a secure case workspace.
• Seller — where an infringing seller reviews their settlement, signs agreements, submits sales records, pays their invoice and manages an ongoing licence.

Settlement and licensing workflow

A case moves from flagged product to signed settlement to active licence inside the same system. Settlement terms, signed agreements, payment status and amounts collected are all recorded against the case, and licensed sellers then report sales against their licence for ongoing compliance.

Counsel and the rights holder work from the same record, so nothing has to be reconciled by hand between two versions of the truth.

Integrated payments

Settlement payments and licence invoices are taken directly in the platform by card or ACH through Stripe. This payment gateway integration means payment status updates against the case automatically instead of being reconciled from a separate merchant account at the end of the month.

Security and access control

Access is controlled per role and per portal. The admin panel supports one-click magic-link sign-in alongside passwords, with email-based two-factor verification, encrypted session handling and rate limiting on every endpoint. The seller and lawyer portals add their own verification step at sign-in.

Handling settlement agreements and payment data means the security work is part of the build rather than something bolted on afterwards.

Android application

Sellers can manage their account, review settlements and complete payments from a companion Android app, so the people being asked to pay are not dependent on a desktop browser to do it.

The build

LegalApp runs on Laravel with MySQL, structured as a multi-tenant SaaS application with separate authentication and permissions for each portal. If you need custom web application development at this level — a real product rather than a brochure site — tell us what you are building and we will come back with a fixed price and a realistic timeline.