Fearn launches AI patent firm for startups after USD $5.5m

Fearn has launched an AI-focused patent prosecution firm for startups and raised USD $5.5 million, entering what it estimates is a global patent market worth more than USD $14 billion.

The San Francisco-based company combines former large law firm patent lawyers and PhDs with in-house AI models built for patent law. It is targeting startups seeking faster patent drafting, fixed fees and shorter filing times than are typical in traditional patent practice.

Pricing starts at USD $2,500 for provisional patent applications and USD $9,000 for non-provisional applications, including US Patent and Trademark Office fees. Provisional filings can be made in as little as three business days, and a review-ready patent application can be produced within hours after a founder explains an invention.

The funding came from Kindred Ventures, a16z Speedrun, Designer Fund and Essence VC. Fearn says it is already working with hundreds of users, from venture-backed startups to listed companies.

The model

Fearn was founded by Han Kim and Angela Gao, both Caltech alumni. Kim previously prosecuted patents at Morrison & Foerster, and Gao holds a PhD in computer science and AI.

The founders initially built software for law firms before deciding to create a law firm around their own technology. They argue that conventional legal billing creates weak incentives to pass on time savings from automation because faster work can reduce billable hours.

That view is central to Fearn's business model. Instead of charging by the hour, the firm uses fixed fees and says it will refund its USD $9,000 drafting fee for a non-provisional application if the examiner allows no claims and Fearn handles the matter through examination.

According to the company, a standard patent application often takes 30 to 40 hours of attorney time and costs between USD $18,000 and USD $40,000 in legal fees. Fearn says work on that scale can require as little as 30 minutes of attorney time on its system, though every application is still reviewed by a former large law firm patent specialist.

Patent workflow

At the core of the firm is a drafting and client management platform called FearnOS. The software treats a patent not as a linear document but as a graph linking claims to supporting text, figures and technical source material.

This structure is designed to preserve manual attorney edits while keeping a record of how each section was created. Clients can also use the platform to manage portfolios, view version histories and connect technical documentation from existing internal systems.

Fearn is operating in a legal market where AI adoption has become a strategic issue for both specialist firms and the largest legal partnerships. Sensitive client data and pre-filing intellectual property have made deployment more cautious than in some other white-collar sectors.

The company argues that startups need access to the same kind of technical infrastructure being developed inside major firms, but without the fee structures of established legal practices. It is focusing on patent prosecution across software, AI, hardware, robotics, semiconductors, defence, biotech and pharmaceuticals.

Client base

Several early users cited speed as the main reason for choosing the service, including London-based game studio Iconic, defence technology company Photon Spear and Serova Bio, which is developing AI-designed personalised cancer vaccines.

Fearn says Iconic moved from invention disclosures to filed applications in days as it sought to protect technology for AI characters that improvise in real time. Photon Spear used the firm to file a hardware-related space technology patent within days while keeping its material on privately hosted infrastructure.

AbInitio Bio was also cited as a customer. The company's Chief Executive Officer described speed at the first-draft stage as especially important for smaller businesses.

"We started Fearn because the technology and the economics of patent law are now inseparable," said Han Kim, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Fearn. "If AI makes the work faster, the client should feel that in the turnaround time and the bill. That only works if you build the firm around the technology from day one. Our goal is to give startups the quality of a top patent practice with a speed, price and level of visibility that the traditional model was never designed to offer."

Fearn's backers frame the launch as part of a broader shift in professional services, where AI is changing how firms organise work and price it. Investors see patent law as a field where document-heavy workflows, technical subject matter and repeatable processes make those changes easier to test.

"AI is beginning to change the underlying economics of professional services, and patent law is an especially compelling place for that shift," said Steve Jang, Founder and Managing Partner of Kindred Ventures. "Fearn has built the technology, legal expertise and business model together. That allows the firm to improve speed and quality while passing the benefits of that efficiency directly to the customer."

"Speed is the whole game at seed stage. A patent process that takes a quarter doesn't protect you; the field has moved by the time you file. Fearn works at the speed we actually operate at," said Andrew Bowell, Chief Executive Officer of Iconic.