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The AI native patent law firm for startups.

One fixed price to allowance. Money back on select plans. Captured from your code, docs and designs.

See whether what you built is patentable. Free, about 10 minutes, no card.

Start a free patentability check

Talk to your patent attorney about what is coming up. 15 minutes, no commitment.

Book a 15 min call

Your attorney: Michael Carey, hundreds of AI patents, 90% allowed. About 10 minutes. No card.

Hundreds of AI patent applications prosecuted · 90% allowed
Partner at New York’s No. 1 consumer electronics patent firm
Harvard JD, MS Physics · Filed the MuTag patent, later acquired by Apple
Built by the founders ofPonyoInformuFENIX.AI
Partner atChau IP Lawpatent work forSamsungQualcommIBMAdobeSalesforceViasat
Attorney backgroundHarvard LawMS PhysicsU.S. Air Force

Allowance rate from the firm’s own records on corporate AI matters. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Two engineers working through code at their monitors
WHY THIS FIRM EXISTS

Good patent lawyers skip startups. We fixed the reason.

It was never about the inventions. It was about who sits between the inventor and the attorney.

  1. AT A LARGE COMPANYA patent manager sits in the middle.They harvest the idea, structure the facts, answer the inventor’s questions and hand the attorney a clean disclosure. The attorney meets the inventor once, files, and prosecutes.
  2. AT A STARTUPNobody sits in that seat.The founder asks the questions, the attorney does the harvesting and bills for the overhead, and most startups never file at all. Experienced patent attorneys learned to say no.
  3. AT TAO IPPatent AI takes the seat.It interviews you, structures the disclosure, answers your questions and scores readiness. Your attorney meets you once with everything ready. The same attorney the largest technology companies use, at a founder’s price.
Start with Patent AI →

A streamlined patent journey.

Tao IP pairs Patent AI with a partner level patent attorney so you can protect what matters and keep shipping. Four stages, one fixed price, one accountable firm.

Your attorney+Patent AI+You
01

Ideation

Patent AI reads your code, PRs and design docs, tells you which ideas have real patent potential, and turns them into invention records ready for drafting. Free.

02

Priority drafting and filing

Your attorney and FENIX turn the record into a provisional within 3 business days, then a full nonprovisional within 14 days with complete claim sets, drawings and forms. Filed on time or free.

03

Patent prosecution

As the USPTO responds, the portal summarizes every office action and the next best move. Your attorney argues and signs. Included, not billed per response.

04

PCT and international

When the US filing is in, we coordinate PCT and national phase in the countries that matter, with every deadline in one timeline.

From your idea to an allowed claim, in four steps.

STEP 1

Describe it, or connect your repo

Patent AI turns your code, PRs or notes into an invention record.

STEP 2

Free patentability check

Signals, gaps and public art unit statistics before you spend a dollar.

STEP 3

One fixed price, agreed before work starts

Sign, then pay at three milestones. No hourly bills.

STEP 4

Drafted with AI, filed by your attorney

Your attorney reviews, files and prosecutes to allowance.

Wherever you are in the journey.

FREE PATENTABILITY CHECK

Find out if you have something, before you spend any money.

Patent AI interviews you the way a large company’s patent manager would, reads what you share, and writes your invention disclosure: what you have, what is strong, what is missing, with a readiness score. Then you decide whether to book 30 minutes with your attorney, free.

Start free check

Have an invention that needs protecting?

Ask Patent AI for the instant answer, or toggle to “Attorney” and your patent attorney will respond.

Patent AI is software output, not legal advice.

Two doors, one firm.

Work in the portal, or send your agent through our MCP connector. Either way, every invention lands in one matter that your attorney reviews.

Three things your agent only gets through us.

Connect Claude, Cursor or any agent through our MCP, or work in the portal. Either way it gets three things a plain AI chat cannot give you.

Patent AI

Attorney written intake. Patent AI interviews you, turns code, PRs and notes into an invention disclosure your attorney can draft from, with the gaps flagged before you spend a dollar.

Examiner data

Public USPTO prosecution history for the art unit and examiner your application will meet: allowance rate, office actions to allowance, whether interviews help, 101 rejection rate. Plus the firm’s own allowance data by art unit, built over hundreds of AI matters. The data large firms buy from analytics vendors, inside your agent.

Software output, not legal advice.

Your invention memory

Optional. Your company context, glossary, inventors, prior filings and your attorney's decisions, kept for you so the second application starts from the first. You own it. Export or delete it any time. Never used for another client.

Every invention, deadline and document in one place.

Open the portal demo →
Michael Carey
YOUR PATENT ATTORNEY

Michael Carey. Hundreds of AI patents prosecuted. 90% allowed.

Harvard Law JD, MS Physics, BS Mathematics. Partner at F. Chau & Associates, the New York firm behind thousands of US patents for clients including Samsung, Qualcomm, IBM, Adobe, Salesforce and Viasat. The firm’s own allowance data by art unit and examiner, built over hundreds of AI matters, shapes how your claims are drafted and where they are filed. Founder of FENIX.AI, the drafting engine that powers this firm. Before law: a US Air Force Major who flew C130s on combat deployments. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

He filed Lang’s first patent, the MuTag AI patent. Apple bought it.

One fixed price from invention to first allowance.

Paid at three milestones. Government fees billed at cost. Prices are professional fees.

See full pricing →
Provisional
$2,500
  • Prior art search
  • Provisional drafted and filed
  • Drawings
  • Credited in full to any plan within 12 months
Standard
$18,000
  • Provisional and nonprovisional
  • Up to 3 office action responses
  • 2 examiner interviews
  • 1 RCE
  • Docketing and platform
Protected
Most chosen
$21,000
  • Provisional and nonprovisional
  • Up to 3 office action responses
  • 2 examiner interviews
  • 1 RCE
  • Docketing and platform
  • If no claim is allowed within scope: choose a free RCE refile or a 60% refund of professional fees
Guaranteed
$23,000
  • Provisional and nonprovisional
  • Up to 3 office action responses
  • 2 examiner interviews
  • 2 RCEs
  • Docketing and platform
  • If no claim is allowed within scope: a free refile first, then 100% of professional fees back

Examiner data and invention memory are included in every plan. Memory is off until you turn it on.

One fixed price to first allowance.

Paid at three milestones. Government fees at cost.

Provisional
$2,500

Credited in full to any plan within 12 months.

Standard
$18,000

Provisional, nonprovisional, 3 office actions, 2 interviews, 1 RCE.

Protected
Most chosen
$21,000

Provisional, nonprovisional, 3 office actions, 2 interviews, 1 RCE. Free refile or 60% back if no claim is allowed.

Guaranteed
$23,000

Provisional, nonprovisional, 3 office actions, 2 interviews, 2 RCEs. Free refile, then 100% back.

Examiner data and invention memory are included in every plan. Memory is off until you turn it on.

See full pricing →
Our guarantee

Filed on time, or free. Money back on select plans.

Read the guarantee terms →
1
Filed on time, or the filing fee is on us
Provisional within 3 business days, nonprovisional within 14 days of a complete invention record.
2
We tell you not to file if it is not worth it
Below our patentability threshold we say no and charge nothing.
3
Protected and Guaranteed refund professional fees
If no claim is allowed within scope: a free refile first, then 60% (Protected) or 100% (Guaranteed) back.
Our guarantee

Filed on time, or free. Money back on select plans.

Filed on time or the filing fee is on us. We say no if it is not worth filing. Protected and Guaranteed refund professional fees if no claim is allowed.

Guarantee terms →

Compared with the usual ways to get a patent.

BigLaw (hourly)BoutiqueTao IP
Price to first allowance$30K to $60K$17K to $32K$18K to $23K, fixed
How you payMonthly invoicesPer task3 milestones
GuaranteeNoneNoneRefund on select plans
Captures inventions from your code and docsNoNoYes
Who does the workAssociates, partner reviewsOne attorneyAI drafts, your attorney reviews, files and argues

Market ranges are estimates for utility patents in software, AI and hardware, professional fees only. Sources on the pricing page.

Encrypted in transit and at rest

Your invention data is stored encrypted, isolated per company.

Audit log on every matter

Every read and write on a matter is recorded and visible to you.

Never used to train models

Your data is never used to train any model, ours or anyone else's.

Private model deployment

For sensitive teams: open weight models on infrastructure you control. Coming soon.

A FOUNDER’S STORY

Why I built this with Michael.

“In 2017 I was a first time founder with a hardware startup and no idea how patents worked. Michael Carey filed our first one, on the AI behind MuTag. He read the engineering, asked the right questions and did the work very well. The patent was granted in about 13 months and was later acquired. This firm is the experience I wanted back then: a fixed price, a fast filing, and an attorney who understands what you built.”

Lang Mei
Lang MeiTechnology cofounder of Tao IP and a past client of Michael Carey. Not a lawyer.
PatentUS 10,154,379
TitleArtificial intelligence for loss prevention tags
Filed13 November 2017
Granted11 December 2018
See the patent record →

Lang is a cofounder of the technology company behind Tao IP and has a financial interest in it. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Questions founders ask first.

Is this a real law firm?

Yes. Legal services are provided by F. Chau & Associates, LLC (Chau IP Law), a New York intellectual property firm. Michael Carey, a registered patent attorney and partner there, is the attorney of record. The platform is provided by MSL Group LLC, a separate technology company. Lang Mei, its technology cofounder, is not a lawyer.

Why would a top patent attorney take a seed stage startup?

Because the part that made startups expensive to serve is gone. At a large company a patent manager harvests the idea and hands the attorney a clean disclosure. Patent AI does that job for you: it interviews you, structures the disclosure, answers your questions and flags the gaps. Your attorney meets you once with everything ready, files, and prosecutes. Same input as a large client, at a fixed price.

What counts as "allowed"?

At least one independent claim covering the core invention described in your engagement letter. A trivially narrow claim does not count.

Are government fees included?

No. USPTO fees are billed at cost, typically about $2,070 to grant for a small entity. They are listed on the pricing page.

Is Patent AI legal advice?

No. Patent AI gives software output. Your attorney gives legal advice, only after you engage the firm.

Can I pay over time?

Yes. Three milestones: at start, at nonprovisional filing, and at the first office action response. Payments sit in trust until earned.

Is my invention data confidential?

Encrypted, isolated per company, never used to train models, exportable at any time. Communications with your attorney after engagement are privileged.

Is examiner data a prediction?

No. It is public USPTO history for an art unit or examiner: how often they allow, how many office actions it usually takes, whether interviews help. It describes the past, not your outcome, and it is not legal advice. Your attorney decides the strategy.

Who owns my invention memory?

You do. It lives inside your engagement with the firm, is never used for another client, and you can export or delete it from Settings. It is off until you turn it on.

Is this a real law firm?

Yes. Legal services are provided by F. Chau & Associates, LLC (Chau IP Law), with Michael Carey as the attorney of record. The platform is provided by MSL Group LLC, a separate technology company; Lang Mei is its technology cofounder, not a lawyer.

Are government fees included?

No. USPTO fees are billed at cost, about $2,070 to grant for a small entity.

Is Patent AI legal advice?

No. Patent AI gives software output. Your attorney gives legal advice, after you engage the firm.

Find out if your idea is patentable. Free, in about 10 minutes.