The Deep-Tech IP Foundation
Build the IP foundation before your next round — not after your acquirer asks for it.
A structured engagement for seed to Series A deep-tech companies to put a credible, defensible intellectual property program in place — strategy, disclosure process, training, and ongoing IP committee leadership — without hiring a full-time IP executive.
The IP decisions you make in the first 24 months are the ones that determine your exit value.
Disclosure is a one-way door.
Every conference talk, demo, or pre-print without a prior filing forfeits international rights immediately. Most early-stage teams discover this too late.
Acquirers diligence your portfolio, not your pitch.
By the time a strategic is in your data room, the IP story is set. A credible, organized portfolio moves the price meaningfully. A thin or chaotic one caps it.
Patents and trade secrets are a strategic portfolio, not paperwork.
Which inventions to patent, which to hold as trade secrets, where to file, when to file — these are business decisions that compound over years. Outside counsel drafts; they don’t decide.
A complete IP program, delivered in weeks — not quarters.
Base documents, specialized for your company
A comprehensive IP strategy, invention disclosure form, and operational process — all adapted from proven templates to your technology, funding sources, and commercial trajectory. Includes an AI-assisted IDF skill so inventors can complete disclosures interactively.
Management training
A working session with founders and C-suite on strategic framing: patent vs. trade secret choices, international filing priorities, how IP shows up in fundraising and M&A conversations, and how to run an IP Committee without it consuming the executive team.
Staff training
Structured sessions for engineers, researchers, and technical leads. Covers the five discipline points that prevent accidental rights loss, how to complete the IDF, and the inventor incentive model. Delivered as one or two sessions depending on team size.
Ongoing IP Committee leadership
Chair your monthly IP Committee, review invention disclosures, advise on filing decisions and portfolio strategy, liaise with outside patent counsel. This is the work that makes the program actually run — and the part that startups most commonly skip.
Strategic advisory, on demand
Additional IP, innovation strategy, and licensing business consulting available per-client. Engagements are scoped when specific needs arise — licensing negotiations, competitive portfolio analysis, pre-acquisition IP prep, standards body strategy.
Transparent pricing. No discovery budget required to learn what this costs.
Program setup
$10,000
Flat fee · delivered in 4–6 weeks
- Company-specific IP strategy document
- Invention disclosure form & AI-assisted drafting skill
- IP Committee charter and operational process
- Management working session (2 hrs)
- Staff training session(s) (2–4 hrs)
- Inventor incentive model recommendation
Covers items 1–3. Billed at engagement start.
Ongoing program leadership
$3,500/ mo
Minimum 6 months · 30-day notice after
- Monthly IP Committee chairmanship
- Invention disclosure review & disposition
- Filing strategy and counsel coordination
- Portfolio lifecycle review
- Up to 4 hours of direct engagement per month
Covers item 4. Additional strategic advisory (item 5) billed separately at an agreed hourly rate.
Who you’re working with
Operator-side IP, not outside counsel.
Gold Coast Innovation is led by Chris Ullrich, a technology and IP strategist with more than 25 years of direct experience across semiconductors, consumer electronics, aerospace, and deep-tech startups. His name is on 85+ patent families with 1,000+ forward citations — independent validation that the underlying inventions shaped downstream industries.
Beyond filing, Chris has built and managed IP portfolios of 3,000+ patents and licensed technology into over 3 billion products. Gold Coast Innovation’s expertise has contributed to more than $300M in licensing revenues and litigation settlements with major OEMs. He has served on standards bodies, advised on pre-acquisition IP positioning, and led commercial licensing programs end-to-end.
Gold Coast Innovation doesn’t provide legal services. We work alongside your outside patent counsel and your executive team on the strategic decisions — what to patent, what to hold as trade secret, where to file, how to prosecute, when to license, and how to present the portfolio to investors and acquirers.
Honest fit before honest pricing.
A strong fit
- Seed to Series A deep-tech company (hardware, semi, aerospace, robotics, energy, biotech adjacencies).
- Technical founders who know their innovations are patentable but haven’t had time to build a program.
- Raised institutional capital; investors or the board have started asking about IP defensibility.
- Working on federally funded R&D (SBIR, OTA, STTR) and need Bayh-Dole compliance.
- Planning a strategic partnership, customer licensing deal, or potential exit in the 12–36 month horizon.
Probably not a fit
- Pre-seed, pre-product companies that haven’t made technology choices yet.
- Pure software companies with no patentable subject matter and no trade-secret discipline required.
- Companies that have already filed 20+ patents and have an in-house Chief IP Officer.
- Projects needing patent drafting, claim writing, or prior-art searching — that’s outside counsel’s job, and we work alongside them.
What you’re probably wondering.
How is this different from hiring outside patent counsel?
Counsel drafts and prosecutes patents — that’s specialized legal work, and you need them. This engagement sits one layer up: the strategic and operational decisions about which inventions to capture, which to patent, which to keep as trade secrets, where to file, how to prioritize counsel’s time, and how to run the internal process that feeds them. Most startups skip this layer because they don’t know it exists as a distinct discipline. It’s the difference between “we filed some patents” and “we have a portfolio.”
We already have a patent attorney. Does this conflict?
No — it complements. Good outside counsel want a clear, organized inventor-side partner who can triage disclosures, frame claim strategy, and manage the relationship. Gold Coast Innovation works alongside your existing counsel (or can help you select counsel if you don’t yet have a firm).
What happens after the initial 4–6 weeks?
You have a complete IP program in place — strategy, disclosure process, training, and an IP Committee cadence. The monthly retainer keeps the program running and evolving as new inventions surface, filings progress, and your commercial strategy matures. Companies typically retain for 12–24 months before bringing the function in-house or continuing on a lighter advisory basis.
Can we engage for the foundation only, without the retainer?
Yes, and some companies do. But the retainer is where most of the value compounds — the documents are the easy part; running the program, reviewing disclosures, and making real-time filing decisions is where portfolios get built or lost. We’ll be direct with you about the tradeoff during the discovery call.
Do you sign NDAs and work inside our confidentiality framework?
Yes — mutual NDAs are signed before any substantive discovery conversation. Engagement letters include standard confidentiality, conflict-check, and data-handling provisions. For federally funded or export-controlled work, we structure engagements to comply with the applicable regime (ITAR, EAR, DFARS data rights).
Start here
A 30-minute call will tell us both whether this is the right fit — and what the right shape of the engagement looks like for your company.
Gold Coast Innovation provides technology and IP strategy services. We do not provide legal services or legal advice and are not a substitute for patent counsel. Engagements are structured to complement, not replace, your company’s relationship with qualified outside patent attorneys.