Document IP Assumptions, Legal Constraints, and Critical Dependencies
Explicitly identify all technical, legal, and financial assumptions underlying your patent and protection strategy. Capture constraints such as prior art, public disclosures, grant encumbrances, and international filing costs, along with critical dependencies on university TTO speed and external patent attorney availability.
Completing this action highlights the fragile assumptions and external bottlenecks that could invalidate the IP protection strategy. It enables proactive risk mitigation and provides transparency to future investors during legal due diligence.
The founder must output an IP Dependency and Risk Register detailing each assumption, its impact, and verification status. This document must explicitly cross-reference external patent search reports and academic publication histories.
Five questions an expert would ask when reviewing your output
Use these to challenge assumptions, pressure-test your logic, and check the quality of this action's output in the context of the parent task and wider venture development.
- 1
Which unverified assumption regarding prior art poses the greatest threat to your broad claim scope?
- 2
How will your patent strategy adapt if the university TTO delays signing the option agreement past your fundraising target date?
- 3
What public disclosures or academic paper submissions have occurred, and how precisely do they impact your novelty window?
- 4
Why do you assume the international patent prosecution costs can be covered by your current pre-seed budget projections?
- 5
What critical dependencies on third-party proprietary software or material transfer agreements remain unaddressed?