Not a company project yet? Start with the USPTO’s free help.
The SciTech & IP Law Firm works with companies that need IP to hold up in investor due diligence, an acquisition or a licensing deal. If that isn’t you yet, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office runs free programs built for independent inventors. Each one is listed below, with what it does and who it helps.
Fit and scope only; no legal advice or opinion. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. The firm works with companies, including founders signing for a newly formed entity.
The firm serves companies whose IP has to hold up in a raise, a sale or a license.
Every service is a flat fee against a written scope, and most are built around a business event: a launch, a raise, a license or an acquisition. That model works when there is a company, a product and a timeline behind the work. A weekend project or an idea that isn’t built yet needs a different kind of help, and the programs on this page are designed for it.
Early-stage technical startups
Deep tech, software, AI and health companies about to launch, raise or share their work.
Funded or revenue-stage startups
Companies with investors or customers and no in-house IP counsel.
Small and mid-sized product companies
Established entities launching new products, entering trade shows or selling on marketplaces.
University spinouts and national-lab partners
Companies moving lab IP into the business under a license, option or CRADA.
Defense, energy and critical-infrastructure companies
Dual-use, energy and security ventures, and the investors doing diligence on them.
Film and game studios
Production and studio companies that need chain of title before financing or distribution.
Built for companies with something to protect, and a reason to protect it now.
A good fit
- A company, or a founder forming one
- Funding, revenue or an accelerator
- A product, code, prototype or lab data
- A trigger: a launch, raise, license, acquisition or dispute
Not the right fit
- Individual hobby projects
- Idea-only inquiries, with nothing built yet
- The cheapest possible filing
- Expecting the firm to market or sell an invention
- A signature on a self-drafted filing without attorney review
The firm doesn’t market, sell or license inventions. Check any company that says it will.
The USPTO publishes complaints about invention promoters, along with the promoters’ responses, so you can check a company before you pay. Its scam prevention page also links to Federal Trade Commission cases against promotion firms.
If a promotion company referred you here expecting that service, the firm is not the right fit.
Free and official help, matched to where your project is today.
Every link below goes to an official USPTO page.
Have an idea but nothing built yet? Call the Inventors Assistance Center.
USPTO staff, including experienced examiners, answer general questions about patent policy and procedure and help with the forms. Phone 800-786-9199.
Inventors Assistance CenterWorking on your own, with a limited budget? Apply for free help through the Patent Pro Bono Program.
Regional programs give inventors and small businesses who qualify free legal help preparing and filing a patent application. Income, knowledge and invention requirements vary by program, so apply to the one that serves your state.
Patent Pro Bono ProgramWant hands-on help at no charge? Try a certified law school clinic.
More than 70 law school clinics provide patent and trademark services pro bono. Students practice before the USPTO under a faculty supervisor, and each clinic decides which new clients it accepts.
Law School Clinic Certification ProgramFiling your own application? Use the USPTO’s program for self-filers.
The Pro Se Assistance Program offers outreach and education for inventors who file without an attorney or agent. The USPTO still recommends a registered patent attorney or agent where you can use one.
Filing a patent application on your ownComparing prices? Find registered practitioners in the USPTO’s own directory.
Only a registered patent attorney or agent can represent you before the USPTO in a patent matter. The USPTO’s practitioner search lists every one of them, so you can compare options directly.
USPTO patent practitioner searchFiling from outside the U.S. as an individual? Find a registered U.S. practitioner.
Since July 20, 2026, applicants and patent owners domiciled outside the U.S. must use a registered U.S. patent practitioner for papers filed on or after that date. The firm represents foreign companies only, so start with the USPTO’s directory.
The USPTO U.S. counsel ruleUSPTO patent practitioner searchThree cases a 30-minute screening can settle.
If one of these describes you, the screening call is the right next step.
A solo founder with a new LLC and no funding yet
Welcome, when there is a product, a timeline and a budget.
An individual inventor about to form a company
Form the entity first, or sign the engagement as the entity.
A consumer product inventor
Accepted as a company with sales or a launch plan, through the consumer products path.
If your company has a product, a timeline and a reason to protect it now, book a screening.
In a 30-minute video screening, William checks fit and identifies the service that matches your goal. Any legal work after that has its own written scope and flat fee.
“William was instrumental in shaping our IP strategy as a startup.” — Kershina Lindberg, Founder & Scientist
Fit and scope only; no legal advice or opinion. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. The firm works with companies, including founders signing for a newly formed entity.