Disclosure and timing
Public disclosures, such as demos, conference talks, papers, or product launches, can affect patent rights. Inventors in the United States get a limited grace period for their own disclosures, while many other countries offer little or none, so disclosing before filing can close off foreign protection. Even a crowdfunding page or an online preorder listing can count as a public disclosure. Pitch meetings under a confidentiality agreement are less risky than public posts, though many investors decline to sign one. Filing a provisional application can lock in an early date at lower cost, but a full application must follow within a fixed period, and the provisional supports only what it actually describes.
Ownership and the portfolio
Investors will check whether the company owns its inventions, so founders, employees, and contractors should sign invention assignment agreements. Inventions created before the company was formed may still belong to individual founders until they are assigned. A focused portfolio covering the core technology and likely workarounds by competitors is often more valuable than many narrow filings. For protection abroad, the Patent Cooperation Treaty offers a single filing route that delays decisions about individual countries; there is no single international patent. Keep records of invention dates, development notes, and who contributed what.
Fitting patents into the business plan
Patent strategy should follow business goals, whether that means deterring competitors, supporting fundraising, enabling licensing, or preparing for an acquisition. Trade secret protection may suit some innovations better, especially processes that cannot be reverse-engineered from the product. Freedom-to-operate questions about other companies' patents also deserve attention before launch. Anyone handling prosecution before the USPTO for the company must be a registered patent attorney or agent. We start with the technology, the funding plan, and what has been disclosed, then outline priorities and a budget. Grant programs and university collaborations can carry their own ownership terms, so read them before any joint work starts.
