When you are pitching investors, you are not just selling a product -- you are selling a vision with a moat.

A strong story about your team, market, and traction matters. But serious investors also look for tangible assets and risk mitigation. That is where a provisional patent application (PPA) becomes more than just legal paperwork -- it becomes a business tool.

"Patent Pending": A Simple Phrase With Big Signaling Power

Being able to say your technology is "Patent Pending" instantly upgrades your pitch. It tells investors that:

  1. You're Proactive

    You are not just talking about building a defensible business -- you have already taken concrete steps to protect your core technology.

    That signals strategic thinking, follow-through, and a founder who takes IP seriously.

  2. You Understand Value

    Investors know that intellectual property (IP) can drive valuation, strengthen acquisition outcomes, and support better terms in future negotiations.

    By filing a PPA, you are showing that you view your technology as a real asset, not just a cool feature, and that you understand long-term value often lives in what you own, not just what you build.

  3. You're Working on a Moat, Not Just a Product

    A credible patent strategy helps create barriers to entry for competitors, a more defensible position if copycats emerge, and stronger leverage in partnership or licensing conversations.

    Investors hear "we're building a moat" all the time. "We've filed a provisional patent on our core invention" is the concrete version of that.

How a PPA De-Risks Things for Investors

Investors are, at their core, risk managers. A filed PPA helps on multiple fronts.

  1. Establishes Priority

    A PPA locks in your filing date for what you have disclosed and helps protect you if someone else later comes up with something similar and tries to file. In a first-to-file world, that early date matters.

  2. Reduces IP Theft Anxiety

    With "Patent Pending" status, you can talk more openly about how your technology works, share just enough detail to prove defensibility without feeling totally exposed, and calm the classic worry: "If I tell them too much, can they just steal it?"

    You still need to be smart about what you disclose, but a PPA makes those conversations more comfortable on both sides.

  3. Creates a Tangible (and Transferable) Asset

    Even before it becomes a granted patent, a filed patent application can be listed as an asset, assigned to an acquirer, and form the basis for future licensing deals.

    To an investor, that is more compelling than "We'll think about patents later." It is something real they can point to in an investment memo or internal discussion.

How to Talk About Your PPA in a Pitch

Do not just drop "Patent Pending" as a throwaway line -- frame it strategically. You might say something like:

"Our core technology, which underpins our competitive advantage, is protected by a provisional patent application filed on [Date]. This 'Patent Pending' status secures our IP position and helps create a defensible moat as we scale."

Or:

"We have already filed a provisional patent on the core system architecture. As we validate and refine the product over the next year, we will convert that into a full utility patent to further strengthen our IP position."

You are not claiming to have a granted patent. You are showing that you understand the process, you have already started it, and you are building with defensibility in mind.

A High-ROI Move in a Competitive Funding Environment

For a relatively small investment, often as low as the USPTO's micro-entity provisional filing fee plus whatever you spend on prep, a PPA can:

  • Upgrade your story from "we might protect this someday" to "we are already protecting it."
  • Help differentiate you from other teams with similar products but no IP plan.
  • Show you are serious about building something investors can actually own a piece of, not just rent temporarily from the market.

In a crowded pitch environment, small credibility boosts can tilt decisions.

Where AutoInvent Fits In

If you want the investor signaling benefits of "Patent Pending" without spending months or thousands on lawyers up front, AutoInvent is built for that. AutoInvent:

  • Turns your core tech idea into patent-style text and structured sections in minutes.
  • Helps you generate patent-style sketches and descriptions that explain how your system works.
  • Guides you step-by-step through actually filing your provisional patent yourself with the USPTO.
  • Lets you go from "we should probably patent this" to a filed provisional patent in under 10 minutes for under $100 (plus the USPTO fee).

So when you walk into that investor meeting, you are not just promising defensibility -- you can confidently say your core technology is already Patent Pending.