Patent It, Keep It Secret, or Let It Go
Turn your idea backlog into clear, documented decisions.
Why Patent / Trade-Secret Triage Matters
An undecided backlog carries quiet risk. Ideas get disclosed before anyone considers filing, trade secrets go undocumented, and budget goes to the wrong filings. A simple, consistent decision for each item fixes that without a large commitment.
Our How Triage Works
A short, low-commitment way to start.
Backlog Review
Under NDA, your existing list of ideas, notes and disclosures gets reviewed item by item.
Working Sessions
Over a short series of scheduled sessions, your technical and business leads walk through each item with our team. Nothing is decided on the spot.
Decision Log
Each item gets a considered, written recommendation: patent, trade secret, defensive publication or drop, with the reasoning behind it.
Trade Secret Notes
For items kept secret, you get a short documentation plan for counsel to review.
Counsel Handoff
Recommendations go to independent patent counsel, who makes the legal calls.
Industry Landscape
Patents require public disclosure in exchange for exclusivity. Trade secrets depend on staying secret and on reasonable protection measures. The right choice depends on facts counsel should confirm. Our recommendations are business input, not legal advice.
Key Coverage Areas & Applications
Idea Backlogs
A pile of unreviewed ideas with no process behind it.
New IP Programs
A first step before committing to a full engagement.
Budget Planning
Focus filing budget on the items that matter most.
Before a Sprint
Clear the backlog so a Sprint can focus on new inventions.
Patent / Trade-Secret Triage: Common Questions
Our Credentials
Founded by James Borzilleri, named inventor and technology founder
James Borzilleri built this practice around a problem he met personally. He is a named inventor on an issued U.S. patent and on multiple pending U.S. patent applications, and working through that first filing himself showed him where the process tends to break: inventions that were never written down, records that arrive too thin for counsel to work from, and valuable work that leaves with the engineer who created it.
Rather than accept those gaps, he designed the technology and the working method behind Idea Partnership himself, then refined them across years of founding and advising technology companies in fintech and adjacent fields. The result is a repeatable way to turn what your team already builds, and what your roadmap still needs, into a documented invention record that patent counsel can file from.
Idea Partnership is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice, opinions, or patent filing or prosecution services. We work alongside each client's qualified patent counsel, who is responsible for all legal advice, opinions, drafting, filing, and prosecution.
Ready to Get Started with Patent / Trade-Secret Triage?
Schedule a strategy call to discuss your backlog and whether Triage is the right first step.
Book Your Free 15-Min CallIdea Partnership is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Decisions about patents, trade secrets and publication should be confirmed by independent licensed patent counsel.