Company profile · 2 min read
Fearn: staged patent work for startups
Fearn presents an AI-native patent firm with fixed-fee stages and former Big Law patent expertise.
Cofounder of Lazyweb (a16z Speedrun). Previously grew subscriptions and built native ads at Duolingo. Writes First1000 (90,000+ subscribers).
Published · Updated
Fearn combines patent expertise and staged pricing for startups deciding what to protect and how to build an IP portfolio.
What it does
The public pricing page lists a $2,000 landscape stage and provisional work from $2,500, with one fixed fee per stage and no hourly billing. The homepage and customer stories frame speed and portfolio planning as the main benefit.
Buyer and task
High-growth startups deciding what to protect and how to budget a first patent portfolio.
Workflow boundaries
These are published service terms and company-selected stories, not legal advice or an independent assessment of patent quality.
What I would ask
Ask which stage is appropriate for the invention, who provides legal judgment, and how scope changes affect the fixed fee.
Why it fits
Fearn makes the patent decision legible as a sequence of paid stages rather than one opaque law-firm quote. Its public pricing page lists a $2,000 landscape, a $2,500 provisional stage, a $9,000 PCT stage with the provisional credited in full, a $7,500 US national-phase entry and $3,500 office-action responses. The page also says it uses fixed fees instead of hourly billing and lays out the path from priority date to international filing and examination.
That is useful for a startup that has an invention, a financing or acquisition timeline and a limited budget, but needs help deciding what to do first. A landscape can inform whether to spend on a filing; a provisional can secure an early date while the product develops; the later stages carry different geographic and examination questions. The price list clarifies the commercial sequence, but it does not answer whether an invention is patentable, whether a claim is strategically valuable or whether the quoted scope fits a particular case.
The right buyer conversation is therefore about judgment and scope. Ask who performs the legal work, what the fixed fee includes, what happens when an invention changes and how a landscape result affects the filing recommendation. Fearn’s startup-speed framing is a service position, not a legal opinion or an independent outcome measure.
Quick facts
| Field | Sourced detail |
|---|---|
| Buyer | Startups deciding what to protect and how to stage filings |
| First paid stages | Landscape $2,000; provisional $2,500 |
| Later stages named | PCT $9,000; US national phase $7,500; office-action response $3,500 |
| Billing model | Fixed stage fees; provisional credited toward the listed PCT stage |
Sources checked
official Speedrun profile · company homepage · source page
Sources checked — September 20, 2026.
About the author
Cofounder of Lazyweb (a16z Speedrun). Previously grew subscriptions and built native ads at Duolingo. Writes First1000 (90,000+ subscribers).
I cofound Lazyweb and publish Mudpie. This is an owner-written publication, not an independent testing organization. Research notes distinguish observations, sourced reporting and editorial judgment.
First1000 ↗ · X ↗