Patents for Startups: Costs, PPA vs Non‑PPA, App Patenting and AI’s DeepSeek IP Implications

Mr. Tran, founder of PATENTNPC, explains that patents are legal rights granting 20 years of exclusivity from filing to block others from making, using, or copying an invention, creating business moats, higher valuation, and tangible assets usable in M&A, financial statements, and sometimes as loan collateral (generally requiring revenue). Patents generally cannot be extended, but companies—especially pharmaceuticals—use improvement patents to prolong protection. He estimates software patents typically cost $7,000–$12,000 and advises startups to seek fixed fees and experienced smaller firms over big firms with high hourly rates and conflicts. He contrasts provisional applications (informal but must be detailed) with nonprovisionals, and describes integrating provisional filings with lean MVP iteration. He covers utility vs design patents, mobile app patenting (software, UI, and performance improvements), and warns against revealing unprotected ideas on Kickstarter. He discusses industries’ IP habits, open source plus layered IP, and AI competition highlighted by China’s DeepSeek, including efficiency tricks, OpenAI-related training/copyright tensions, safety concerns, and international patent workflow.