Find the advantage.
Start with the technical difference that makes your product valuable. Explore what a customer, partner, or future acquirer might care about.
FOR FOUNDERS. FROM THE FIRST INVENTION.
You're building
something.
Let's protect it.
If you're a startup and you need a patent,
you're in the right place.
Patent applications and practical IP strategy for AI, software, and technology startups. An experienced attorney. A clear fee. A plan that starts with your business.
Attorney-led. AI-assisted. Built around your business.
THE THING ONLY YOU COULD BUILD.FIG. 01
+
YOUR NEXTA good patent starts with
what makes your business different.
BIG THING ↗
START WITH THE PROBLEM
What is keeping you
from the next step?
Choose the question your software startup is facing. Find a practical way forward, with the people, process, and fees explained.
Patent strategy
What should we patent?
AI & software inventionsCan we protect our software?
Your first applicationHow do we get our first patent?
Fees & runwayWhat will this cost?
Office Action responsesThe examiner rejected our claims
Disclosure & agreementsWe are about to share our idea
Licensing, partnerships & exitsWill this matter to a partner or buyer?
AI assistance & attorney judgmentWho checks the AI drafting?
Meet your patent attorneyWho will understand our business?
The founder reading listHelp us ask better questions
Straight answers for foundersWe have more questions
Serious experience.
A founder's perspective.
30+ yearsPATENT PRACTICE & IP LEADERSHIP
SAPFORMER ACTING CHIEF IP OFFICER
Founder & inventorJURGEN VOLLRATH
01 / BUILT AROUND YOUR BUSINESS
A patent should have
a job to do.
You're making decisions about product, runway, and growth. Your patent strategy should belong in that same conversation.
Give it the right scope.
Look beyond today's prototype. Build the application around the invention, the product direction, and the alternatives a competitor might pursue.
Make the spend deliberate.
Understand the professional fee, the government fees, and the work ahead. Connect each filing decision to a reason for your business to own it.
WHAT ARE YOU BUILDING?
AI & machine learning
Software & platforms
Technology powered by software
02 / FROM INVENTION TO APPLICATION
You bring the invention.
We bring the patent work.
AI helps with the drafting.
Jurgen makes the legal and strategic decisions.
You review the application before filing.
- 01
Tell the story.
Discuss how your invention works, what is different, and the business it supports.
- 02
Build the application.
AI-assisted preparation of claims and specification, followed by attorney review and revision.
- 03
Review. Then file.
You review the complete draft. The application is then filed with the USPTO.
- 04
Respond to the examiner.
The first Office Action response is included in the application professional fee.
INCLUDED IN THE $4,000 FEE
03 / KNOW WHAT YOU'RE INVESTING
Big ambitions.
Clear professional fees.
A defined starting point for your patent budget, with the scope discussed before work begins.
PATENT APPLICATIONFIRST RESPONSE INCLUDED
$4,000per application
From invention disclosure to an attorney-reviewed application.
- Patent application, including claims
- First Office Action response
- Any restriction or election requirement on that application
Professional fee. USPTO government fees and third-party costs are separate.
Office Action response $1,500
Each subsequent response on an application we prepared, or any response on an application prepared elsewhere.
Restriction or election $1,000
Included at no charge for applications we prepared.
Strategic counsel $850/hour
High-level consultations, business strategy, and agreement review or preparation.
PATENT ATTORNEY. ENGINEER. FOUNDER.04 / THE PERSON BEHIND YOUR PATENT
Meet Jurgen.
He's built things, too.
Your invention deserves someone who understands both the technology and the business.
Jurgen Vollrath brings more than three decades of patent practice and IP leadership. At SAP, he served as acting Chief IP Officer and Chief Patent Counsel for SAP Research, led a worldwide IP team, and negotiated SAP's global patent cross-license with Microsoft.
He's also an engineer, a named inventor, a co-founder of Corinthian Ophthalmic, and co-inventor and co-founder of ClaimMark. That experience shapes a practical question: what should this patent do for your company?
Meet your patent attorney05 / GOOD QUESTIONS
Start here.
Ask anything.
You don't need to arrive knowing the patent process. That's what the conversation is for.
We have a prototype. Is that enough to start?+
It's a useful starting point for a conversation. Discuss what you have built, how it works, and what makes it different. Jurgen can help identify what information the application will need.
Can you work with AI and software inventions?+
Yes. IAF prepares applications and Office Action responses for artificial intelligence, software, and software-implemented technology. Jurgen's background includes patent leadership at SAP.
What does the $4,000 fee cover?+
The patent application including claims, its first Office Action response, and any restriction or election requirement on that application. USPTO government fees and third-party costs are separate. Scope is discussed before work starts.
Who actually reviews our application?+
Jurgen reviews and revises the draft and makes the legal and claim-strategy decisions. AI assists preparation through ClaimMark-P. You review the complete application before filing.
We're not sure what to patent. Can we talk first?+
Yes. Begin with your product and the business you are building. A conversation can help define your requirements and whether strategic counsel or application preparation is the next step. Strategic counsel is billed at $850 per hour; agree on scope and fees before work begins.
YOUR NEXT STEP
Tell us what
you're building.
A short introduction is all it takes to start.
Keep it general; save confidential invention details for a private conversation.
Patents for Startups
by Inventor Assistance Foundation