Stages 1-2 (pre-seed and seed through Series A)
Patent the training method, not the application
A founder at S1 or S2 with an AI product must decide what to patent because courts treat technological improvements and business applications differently.
Options
Patent training-method innovations that improve model operation
Patent applying a known model to a new vertical
File a provisional before any collaboration or pitch
What mattered
- Technological framing persuades examiners; business framing does not
- A provisional costs roughly half a full filing
- Filing before disclosure prevents ownership disputes
What was done
Founders in the sessions filed provisionals before collaborating, framed claims around processing time, storage, or error rate, and skipped patents on pointing a known model at new data.
ClaimPointing a known model at new data is not patentable; a training-method improvement framed technologically is.
FAQ
- Which stage does this apply to?
- Stages 1-2 (pre-seed and seed through Series A).
- Where does this come from?
- Synthesized from FounderNexus founder sessions, with speakers abstracted.
FounderNexus convenes stage-matched founder groups around decisions like this one.