SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Sep 24, 2026 – Fearn has launched a patent firm combining AI drafting software, patent professionals and fixed fees for technology companies. Its FearnOS system links patent claims to supporting material, with human review before filing.
The firm drafts and prosecutes patents across software, hardware, robotics, semiconductors, defense, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. It reports provisional filings in three business days. Its guarantee puts the drafting fee at risk if a non-provisional application receives no allowed claims.
Fearn has raised $5.5 million from Kindred Ventures, a16z Speedrun, Designer Fund and Essence VC. The company reports many users, ranging from venture-backed startups to public companies.
“We started Fearn because the technology and the economics of patent law are now inseparable,” said Han Kim, co-founder and CEO 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.”
Drafting and Portfolio Management
FearnOS represents each patent as a graph connecting its claims, supporting text, figures and technical material. It combines AI with checks while preserving attorney edits and records of how each section was produced. A patent professional with experience at a law firm reviews every application.
Clients can control access to individual patents and view complete version histories. FearnOS also provides secure connections to systems containing clients’ technical documentation.
Conventional applications require 30 to 40 attorney hours and cost $18,000 to $40,000 in legal fees. It reports that comparable work can require 30 minutes of attorney time using FearnOS.
The firm charges $2,500 for provisional applications and $9,000 for non-provisional applications, with the latter including USPTO fees. Fearn reports gross margins above 80%. It estimates the global patent market at $14 billion, with early-stage companies filing 150,000 new applications annually.
Customer Applications
According to Fearn, U.S. defense technology company Photon Spear used Fearn to file a patent covering space hardware. Its material remained on privately hosted infrastructure.
Serova Bio uses FearnOS for patent work involving cancer vaccines designed with AI. The work involves coordinating claims, supporting disclosures and a growing portfolio as the science develops.
Daniel Mukasa, CEO at AbInitio Bio said: “For a company my size, the hard part is getting a strong first draft together quickly. Fearn got me there in a weekend. That kind of speed, early, is hard to overstate when you’re moving at startup pace.”
“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 partners 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.”
Fearn is extending FearnOS to cover patent families, international filings, office actions and portfolio strategy. This is needed to help clients assess product coverage, identify gaps and plan subsequent filings.
Source: Fearn
About Fearn
Fearn is a patent law firm based in San Francisco, California, United States. Caltech alumni Han Kim and Angela Gao founded the company in 2025. It drafts patent applications from invention disclosures and handles prosecution through examination. Former patent lawyers review applications before clients submit them to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Fearn uses proprietary software models to prepare application drafts. Its work covers software, AI, hardware, robotics, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. Technical fields include machine learning, electronics, infrastructure, therapeutics, diagnostics, genomics and drug formulations. Customers include technology startups, research teams, and Fortune 500 businesses. The company charges fixed fees for patent work.
