DOCUMENT 06 · AUGUST 2026
Intellectual-Property Strategy
Patent, trade-secret, brand, software, ownership, and freedom-to-operate planning framework — for discussion with qualified IP counsel.
Strategic objective
Build a layered IP position around the system architecture, control methods, safety and calibration techniques, software, data structure, industrial design, brand, and accumulated engineering know-how — without claiming patentability before a professional prior-art review.
Patent candidates
Coil zoning and field-control architecture, calibration and closed-loop output methods, thermal and safety controls, configurable protocol management, session verification, service diagnostics, and research-mode constraints. Claims should focus on genuinely novel combinations identified by counsel.
Trade-secret candidates
Nonpublic calibration procedures, manufacturing tolerances, supplier specifications, tuning methods, test fixtures, failure data, software deployment methods, pricing models, and customer insights — kept confidential where secrecy provides more durable value than public patent disclosure.
Brand & design assets
Conduct clearance searches before adopting Project Resonance, EF Resonator, or another product name. Seek federal trademark protection for approved names and logos. Evaluate design-patent protection only after the industrial design is stable.
Software, data & copyright
Maintain controlled source repositories, access logs, version history, and copyright notices. Contracts must address ownership of firmware, interface designs, documentation, databases, models, and contractor-created code, including all third-party and open-source components.
24-month IP action plan
| Window | Action |
|---|---|
| 0–30 days | Ownership cleanup — confirm the operating entity; inventory concepts, drawings, names, files, contributors; execute founder assignments; establish an invention-disclosure log and secure repository. |
| 30–60 days | Counsel and landscape — engage registered patent counsel; define invention themes; targeted prior-art landscape work; preliminary trademark clearance; identify public disclosures that could affect rights. |
| 60–120 days | First filing gate — prepare a technically complete provisional application only after engineering documentation supports it (nonprovisional normally required within 12 months). |
| 3–9 months | Capture improvements — monthly invention reviews during modeling and alpha development; supplemental provisionals when material new subject matter is created. |
| 9–12 months | Conversion decision — before each 12-month deadline: file nonprovisional/international, narrow claims, preserve as trade secret, or discontinue. |
| 12–18 months | Freedom to operate — commission a claim-focused FTO analysis before design freeze and commercial commitments. A patentability search is not a substitute for an infringement-risk review. |
| 18–24 months | Portfolio and brand — update filings for beta improvements, file approved trademarks, record assignments, audit contractor compliance, prepare an investor-ready IP schedule and risk summary. |
Ownership, controls & budget
People & contractors
Every founder, employee, consultant, engineering firm, and manufacturer signs confidentiality, invention-assignment, and work-product ownership terms before receiving sensitive information or beginning work.
Information controls
Classify confidential information; limit access by role; watermark controlled files; log disclosures; use approved repositories; document reasonable measures supporting trade-secret status.
Investor diligence package
Maintain an IP schedule listing applications, marks, domains, copyrights, trade secrets, licenses, assignments, invention disclosures, and disputes — with dates, owners, inventors, deadlines, status, and costs.
Planning budget
Reserve approximately $150,000–$350,000 over 24 months for counsel, searches, initial U.S. filings, follow-on filings, trademark work, assignments, contract review, and FTO analysis. Management estimate; actual fees depend on scope and jurisdictions.
Counsel decisions required
- What subject matter is potentially patentable, and who are the legally correct inventors?
- What must remain secret, and what reasonable measures are required to protect it?
- Which names and logos are clear for use and federal registration?
- What third-party patents, licenses, software terms, or contractor rights affect freedom to operate?
- Which U.S. and international filings justify their cost before each deadline?
Portfolio principle
Use patents for inventions competitors could discover by examining the product. Use trade-secret controls for valuable methods that can remain confidential. Use trademarks for market identity, copyright for original expression, and contracts to ensure the company — not individual founders, employees, or vendors — owns the resulting assets.
Official U.S. references: USPTO Provisional Application for Patent · USPTO Trade Secret Policy · USPTO Trademark Basics · USPTO Patent Assignments (uspto.gov)