--- title: AI Patent Firm Fearn Launches for Startups With Fixed Fees From $2,500 a Filing description: Fearn, backed by Kindred Ventures and a16z Speedrun, drafts startup patents with AI and ex-Big Law attorneys for $2,500 a provisional and $9,000 a full filing. author: Darie Nani (Editor-in-Chief) date: 2026-09-23T15:12:58.445Z updated: 2026-09-23T15:12:58.458Z canonical: https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/fearn-ai-patent-firm-startups-fixed-fees image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/fearn-founders-han-kim-angela-gao.webp categories: Artificial Intelligence, Startups content_type: News region: San Francisco publication: Sovereign Magazine about: - type: Organization name: Fearn description: Fearn is a San Francisco patent firm for startups that pairs former Big Law patent attorneys with its own AI models. It drafts and prosecutes patents across software, hardware, robotics, semiconductors, defense, biotech and pharmaceuticals at fixed fees, and is backed by Kindred Ventures, a16z Speedrun, Designer Fund and Essence VC. url: https://fearn.ai/ industry: Legal services --- Fearn, a San Francisco patent firm that pairs former Big Law patent attorneys with its own AI models, has launched for startups with fixed prices of $2,500 for a provisional patent application and $9,000 for a non-provisional, including USPTO fees. A conventional application takes 30 to 40 hours of attorney time and costs $18,000 to $40,000 in legal fees, the company says. On Fearn's software the attorney time can fall to as little as 30 minutes, and provisional applications are typically filed within three business days. If a non-provisional application receives no allowed claims, Fearn refunds the $9,000 drafting fee. The company has raised $5.5 million from Kindred Ventures, [a16z Speedrun](https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/space-a16z-speedrun-streaming-filesystem), Designer Fund and Essence VC. It drafts and prosecutes patents in software, hardware, robotics, semiconductors, defense, biotech and pharmaceuticals, and says it has hundreds of users, from venture-backed startups to public companies. ## Patent Attorney Costs and the Billable Hour > "If AI makes the work faster, the client should feel that in the turnaround time and the bill." > — Han Kim "We started Fearn because the technology and the economics of patent law are now inseparable," said Han Kim, Fearn's co-founder and chief executive. "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." A provisional application gives an inventor a filing date and 12 months of patent-pending status without being examined. A non-provisional application is examined by the USPTO and can later become a granted patent. Fearn charges a flat fee for each, so a startup knows the cost before the work starts, and the firm reports gross margins above 80%. ## Fearn's Founders and the Move From Legal Software to an AI Law Firm Kim and Angela Gao met at Caltech and founded Fearn in 2025. Kim had prosecuted patents at Morrison & Foerster, and Gao earned her PhD in computer science and AI at Caltech before working on AI at Google Research. They first built software for law firms. Under hourly billing, time the software saved was revenue the firm lost, and firms were wary of running AI over sensitive, unfiled inventions. Kim and Gao decided to start a firm themselves and build it around their own technology. Harvey, which was valued at $15.6 billion this month, sells AI to law firms and in-house legal teams across most areas of practice, and Solve Intelligence, Patlytics and DeepIP sell AI patent drafting software to law firms and corporate IP departments. AI-native firms that do the legal work themselves include Garfield.law, the first AI-driven firm approved by the Solicitors Regulation Authority in England and Wales, and Crosby, which reviews contracts. "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 at 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." ## How FearnOS Drafts a Patent Application Fearn's drafting and client management system, FearnOS, treats a patent as a graph rather than one long document. It links each claim to the text, figures and technical material that support it, keeps attorney edits intact and records how each section was produced. Fearn combines its AI models with fixed rule-based checks, and a former Big Law patent attorney reviews every application. Clients manage their patents on the same platform, with access controls for each patent, a full version history and connections to the systems where their technical documents are stored. Fearn is extending FearnOS to cover patent families, international filings, responses to patent office objections and longer-term portfolio planning. ## Fearn Customers in Games, Defense and Biotech Iconic, a London game studio, went from describing its inventions to filed applications in days, to protect technology for AI characters that improvise in real time. "A patent process that takes a quarter doesn't protect you, the field has moved by the time you file," said Andrew Bowell, Iconic's chief executive. Fearn says US defense technology company Photon Spear filed a patent on hardware for space in several days while keeping its material on privately hosted servers. Serova Bio uses Fearn for patents on AI-designed personalized cancer vaccines. Daniel Mukasa, chief executive of AbInitio Bio, said Fearn got him to a strong first draft in a weekend. "That kind of speed, early, is hard to overstate when you're moving at startup pace," he said. ## FAQ **Q: What is the average cost for a patent?** Costs depend on the complexity of the invention and the firm. Fearn puts a conventional US patent application at $18,000 to $40,000 in legal fees. Its own fixed prices are $2,500 for a provisional application and $9,000 for a non-provisional application, including USPTO fees. **Q: How much does it cost to submit a provisional patent?** At Fearn a provisional application costs a flat $2,500 and is typically filed within three business days. USPTO filing fees are reduced for small businesses and individual inventors who qualify as small or micro entities. **Q: Can I use AI to draft a patent application?** Yes. The USPTO said in 2024 guidance that practitioners and applicants may use AI tools, and that the existing duty of candor and good faith applies to that use. At Fearn, AI models draft the application and a former Big Law patent attorney reviews every application. **Q: Is there an AI law firm?** Yes. Fearn is an AI-native patent firm for startups in the US. Garfield.law, in England and Wales, was the first AI-driven firm approved by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and Crosby uses AI to review contracts for companies. **About Fearn** Fearn is a San Francisco patent firm for startups that pairs former Big Law patent attorneys with its own AI models. It drafts and prosecutes patents across software, hardware, robotics, semiconductors, defense, biotech and pharmaceuticals at fixed fees, and is backed by Kindred Ventures, a16z Speedrun, Designer Fund and Essence VC. [Website](https://fearn.ai/)