New inventions, new revenue, built for your roadmap.
An ideation lab for technology companies. We create and validate patentable inventions, then prepare them for filing with patent counsel.
Inside an engagement
From working code to invention candidates
discovery-scan / src/platformYour challenge
Your market is moving fast. A moat and new revenue are what last.
Competitors are shipping faster than ever, and AI tools have made features cheaper to copy. Growth increasingly depends on two things: a moat competitors cannot simply rebuild, and new products and services that open revenue. Both take invention work most teams have no spare capacity for.
What you face
Rivals match what you ship faster than your roadmap moves, new revenue needs new offerings, and others may file on similar ideas before you do.
How it feels
Your team is fully booked on the current roadmap. You know the next product line and the defensible IP are both missing, but nobody has the hours to create them.
What you want
A real moat and a pipeline of new offerings: filed applications, documented know-how and new product and service concepts that reflect your capabilities and hold value as your market changes.
Your guide
We know how fast your market is moving.
Idea Partnership is led by James Borzilleri, a named inventor on an issued U.S. patent and on multiple pending U.S. patent applications. He has watched good technology lose its edge because nobody had time to protect it or build what came next. That is why your engineers do not need to bring finished ideas or extra hours: we work alongside them to create and document new inventions, then hand counsel a complete technical record, so your company owns what it builds while your team stays on the roadmap.
The plan
A clear three-step plan.
Three steps from your business goals to a filed application your company owns.
- 01
Share your goals
Tell us where your business is headed. Your team spends a few working sessions with us, not weeks away from the roadmap.
- 02
Get new inventions, ready for counsel
You receive candidate inventions with commercial-use evaluation, prior art research, drawings and disclosures, ready for counsel to review.
- 03
Own a filed application
Independent licensed patent counsel assesses patentability, finalizes and files, so your company holds a filed provisional patent application. Legal judgments stay with counsel.
What you gain
New inventions your team does not have to find time to create.
Concepts grounded in your capabilities and commercial priorities, developed alongside your experts.
New products & services
Gain technical concepts for new offerings, informed by customer needs, your capabilities and research into the competitive landscape.
Extensions to existing products
See new functions, configurations and applications that could expand what an existing product does or who it serves.
Better ways to operate
Get alternative technical approaches to your workflows and operations, with a look at their feasibility and potential commercial uses.
We generate and refine candidate inventions, evaluate potential commercial uses and research prior art. Independent licensed patent counsel assesses patentability and handles application drafting and filing. Concept development is not a promise of a market-ready product, commercial success or a patent grant.
Start with an audit of your codebase
A read-only review under NDA finds the inventions your team has already built and screens them against prior art. When you are ready for more, the full engagement uses our proprietary invention engine to create new ones.
See the Codebase Invention AuditFields we work across
Not just software.
Hardware, semiconductors, mechanical systems, medical devices and software, prepared with the same discipline.
Software & Systems
Platforms, data systems, distributed architectures, security and control software.
Hardware & Electronics
Devices, sensors, embedded systems, power electronics and connected products.
Semiconductors
Circuit design, device structures, packaging, test and fabrication processes.
Mechanical & Industrial
Mechanisms, manufacturing methods, robotics, materials handling and equipment.
Medical & Life-Science Devices
Instruments, diagnostics hardware, delivery mechanisms and clinical workflows.
Who we work with
Built for established technology companies.
A high-touch engagement for organizations developing products, services and technical processes. No finished invention is required.
A strong fit
- Mid-cap and larger companies, and well-funded growth companies
- Engineering, product or operations teams with technical domain expertise
- Leadership exploring new offerings, process improvements or portfolio development
Not the right fit
- Solo or individual inventors
- Single idea submissions or invention marketing requests
- Teams looking for the lowest cost filing option
Invention as a Process, Not an Accident
Thomas Edison's advantage was never a single flash of genius. It was Menlo Park: a disciplined lab that turned raw observations into documented, filed inventions, over and over. That is the model we run for our partners.
The Survey
Discovery
Edison's teams studied a problem exhaustively before building anything. We do the same: your products, processes, competitive landscape, and roadmap.
The Lab
Invention Development
We use business inputs and competitive research in our proprietary ideation process to develop new offerings, product extensions and technical process improvements. We evaluate potential commercial uses and research prior art.
The Patent Record
Invention Documentation
We document selected concepts, variations and research findings. Independent licensed patent counsel assesses patentability, reviews the technical materials and drafts and files provisional applications.
The Portfolio
Ongoing IP Strategy
One filing is a start, not a strategy. We help build a longer-term roadmap of continuations and new filings aligned to how your business competes.
How We Build Your IP
A systematic process for creating new inventions, evaluating their potential uses and preparing them for independent patent counsel
Innovation Discovery
We study your business and competition, then use our proprietary ideation process to develop new product, service and process concepts, alongside existing innovations.
- Business inputs & competitor research
- Proprietary concept generation
- Product & process improvements
Invention Documentation
We evaluate potential commercial uses, research prior art and document selected inventions. Independent licensed patent counsel assesses patentability and handles drafting and filing.
- Prior art research
- Technical documentation
- Patent attorney coordination
IP Portfolio Strategy
Ongoing strategy intended to help build a patent portfolio that may support competitive advantage and can be a factor in company valuation.
- Portfolio planning
- Continuation strategy
- Competitive analysis
Revenue Share Partnerships
For qualified partners, we co-invest in IP development. We share in the upside, aligning our success with yours.
- Aligned incentives
- Reduced upfront cost
- Long-term partnership
Our delivery commitment
Subject to your engagement agreement: half up front, half at completion. If a counsel-filed provisional patent application describing at least two distinct inventions, as defined in that agreement, is not delivered within 90 days, you receive a refund of fees paid. Delays caused by late materials, reviews or signatures on your side extend the period. This is not a promise of a patent grant or any commercial outcome.
Without a plan
- Competitors rebuild your features and compete on price
- Growth stalls without new revenue-producing offerings
- Others may file on similar ideas first
- Inventions may be disclosed publicly before anyone evaluates them
- Diligence reviewers may find an undocumented technology story
- Counsel receives incomplete material and timelines slip
With a plan in place
- Your company owns rights that a competitor cannot simply rebuild
- New product and service concepts give growth somewhere to go
- Your team's best ideas are captured before they ship
- You choose what to file with research in hand
- Your counsel receives complete packages and timelines hold
- You walk into diligence with a documented technology story
Outcomes depend on each invention, prior art and counsel's judgment. Idea Partnership is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
Playbooks for Technology Teams
Short practical guides for the people who own the work. Each one walks through the points in a program where IP decisions get made, or quietly missed.
The CTO's IP Readiness Playbook
What investors and acquirers ask about your IP, when to start, and what your team can prepare before counsel gets involved.
Read the playbookSemiconductor IP Playbook
Where protectable work hides in a chip program, how to split patent and trade secret work, and timing around tape-out.
Read the playbookHardware and Electronics IP Playbook
Capturing inventions at each build stage, and the firmware, supplier and launch decisions that follow a device.
Read the playbookMechanical and Industrial IP Playbook
Finding protectable work in products, tooling and process, and keeping shop floor know-how where it belongs.
Read the playbookWritten by James Borzilleri. General information only, not legal advice.
Free IP Guides to Get You Started
Everything you need to understand patents, protect your innovations, and build a valuable IP portfolio. Enter your email for instant access.
Patentability Basics for Technology Teams
Learn the three pillars of patentability and how to evaluate whether your innovation qualifies for patent protection. Step-by-step, from concept to filed application.
Read the Full GuideWhy Prior Art Search Matters
Prior art is the most underrated step in patent development. Learn how to search effectively, avoid costly rejections, and strengthen your claims before filing.
Read the Full GuidePatent Fees and Portfolio Strategy for 2026
A complete breakdown of USPTO fees, micro-entity discounts, and strategic filing decisions to maximize IP value per dollar spent.
Read the Full GuideLatest Insights
Thought leadership on patents, IP strategy, and innovation
Where Patentable Inventions Hide in a Mature Codebase
The parts of a production codebase that most often hold novel technical methods, and how to review them without slowing your engineers down.
Before You Launch: An IP Checklist for Product and Engineering Leads
A launch, demo or conference talk can narrow your filing options. A short pre launch checklist to work through with your patent counsel.
Engineering Turnover and Lost Inventions: Capture the Work Before People Move On
When the people who built a system leave, the knowledge behind its inventions often leaves with them. How to record that work while they are still here.
Invention Development Questions
Build your moat before the market catches up.
Every market is speeding up. A short call about where your business is headed, what is worth owning and where new revenue could come from. You leave with a clear next step either way.
Engagements are for mid-cap and larger companies. Patent filings are reviewed, finalized and filed by independent licensed patent counsel.