Your engineers should be building.
Not reading patents.
Describe your product in plain English. Start-IP splits it into the features a patent claim looks at, checks each one against existing patents and gives you an IP clearance check (FTO) in minutes, before you invest in development, a launch or a deal.
The problem
Priced for departments. Needed by every builder.
Real patent intelligence has lived inside large legal budgets for decades. Every team that builds a product deserves the same answer, whatever its size.
47 page patent documents
Engineers lose days deciphering claim language that is legally English and spiritually ancient Latin. IP research kills momentum at the worst possible time.
The price of knowing
Traditional FTO analysis is priced like specialist surgery, out of reach for most of the teams who need it. It was built for companies that already have an IP team.
Search isn't an answer
Existing platforms hand you a list and assume you have a specialist to interpret it. The data exists. The expertise to act on it doesn't.
Two products
Everything you need to ship fearless
Technology Discovery
Ask a research question. Get a deep state of the art synthesis from thousands of patents, in the time it takes to drink a coffee. Know the landscape before you build.
"What is the current state of the art in grippers for collaborative robots?"
FTO Analysis
Describe your technology. A multi layer ML pipeline maps each functional element of your implementation against our patent corpus using high dimensional vector embeddings, far more precise than keyword search. Risk levels P0→P3, design around options, strategic directions.
Description in. Risk report out.
Four stages, fully automated. You only write the first one.
- 01
Describe
Plain English. No legal training required.
- 02
Search
ML query expansion into high dimensional semantic vector search.
- 03
Analyze
Element by element claim mapping against every candidate.
- 04
Ship
Risk levels, design around options, strategic direction.
The device from the top of the page: each feature is matched to the closest patents, scored and gathered into one risk report.
Antenna
Retractable antenna mount
Gear train
Compound gear train
Drive motor
Motor to gear coupling
Drive motor
Damped motor mount
Control board
Board with radio receiver
Sealed housing
Gasket sealed enclosure
Risk Report
6 matches
~3 min
Deploy your way
Same brain. Two bodies.
Run Start-IP in our cloud, or own the hardware outright. Same engine, same report quality. You choose where it lives.
For teams who move fast
Start-IP
The full pipeline, hosted by us. Sign in, describe your technology, get your report. The patent corpus updates continuously, so you're never working from stale data.
- Patent corpus updated continuously
- Zero infrastructure to install or maintain
- FTO · Discovery · Prior Art · Novelty, all included
- Cancel anytime, billed monthly
For teams who can't leave the building
Start-IP Box
The same analysis engine, running entirely on hardware we build and ship to your specification. Your technology descriptions and search activity never leave your network.
- Built and shipped to your specification
- Patent corpus synced weekly, fully usable offline in between
- Nothing leaves your network. Built for teams that put confidentiality first
- Identical engine and report formats to the cloud product
Not sure which fits? Book a call and we'll scope it with you. No rate card, no guesswork.
Why Start-IP
You don't need a tool. You need an answer.
Search platforms hand you data. A formal legal opinion gives you certainty on its own timeline. Start-IP gives you a fast first read, so you know what matters before the clock starts.
| Legal opinion | Search platforms | Start-IP | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time to result | 6 to 12 weeks | Days of work | Minutes |
| IP expertise required | High | High | None |
| Output | Legal report | List of patents | Actionable report |
| Risk assessment | |||
| Design around options | |||
| Self serve, instant access |
Start-IP is a first read, not a legal opinion. Take the results to your patent attorney with the groundwork already done.
Our belief
Shipping without IP clarity is like driving a highway without a speedometer.
You might be fine. Or you might not.
Blog
IP Insights for Builders
Practical patent intelligence for engineers and teams who ship.
What is Freedom to Operate, and why should you care before you launch?
Coming soon
Design around strategies: how to build around a blocking patent
Coming soon
Reading a patent claim: what product teams need to know
Coming soon
Articles launching soon. Get notified →
FAQ
Questions we get asked a lot
What is a Freedom to Operate (FTO) analysis?
Does Start-IP replace a patent attorney?
How accurate is the AI analysis?
What patent databases do you cover?
How long does a full FTO analysis take?
Who is Start-IP built for?
Still have questions? Drop us a line →
Early access
Ready to ship fearless?
We're onboarding new teams one by one. No enterprise contracts. No legal background required.
No legal department required.
Patent attorney or IP consultancy? Use Start-IP as your first pass research layer →