Ask HN: Pre-seed startup, should we get patents filed before demo day?

[AndriusSutas]

How much would a patent filing (i.e. it would be patent pending) on biometric technology increase valuation for a pre-seed two-person team startup based in London and funded by an accelerator?

We have two options: 1) Focus on getting end-users with an app we will be releasing to showcase our tech 2) Focus our time on filing a patent

Due to time to the demo day we can realistically focus only on a single point. Could not find a definite answer myself, so asking has anyone been in similar situation?

I appreciate there cannot be a binary yes/no answer, so I am really looking to better understanding the tradeoffs based on first-hand experience!

[AnotherMarc]

For US (not sure if it's the same in UK), you might go with a provisional patent filing only. It's a lot easier and less expensive to file. You then have a year (I believe) to file for the actual patent.

My firsthand experience is with software, as opposed to biotech, and there the answer would usually be to focus on customers first. But I know that patents are more important to biotech investors, and companies. Hopefully the accelerator funding you has enough mentor presence in your space to get a more definitive take on the tradeoffs and timing.

[AndriusSutas]

UK also has provisional ones. That is exactly our strategy if we were to decide to file one, thanks!

(as a side note, we are working on biometrics not biotech: http://www.lockergnome.com/technobabble/2005/03/17/biotech-o...)

[phantom_oracle]

Don't take this the wrong way, but why isn't your accelerator providing a qualified lawyer who can counsel you on this?

[AndriusSutas]

They did. Consulting is only advisory and includes patent research. Anything else and we would need to pay.

[adventured]

If the success of what you're doing depends very heavily on the patent, then focus on getting that above all else. Given the time trade off you're talking about, be very sure about that.

It's probably a difficult equation to resolve, or you wouldn't have posted for input here.

If the patent is strong, important to what you're doing, and likely to be approved based on research that has been done on existing patents, then it should boost the value of your seed round very meaningfully (and it's important to find investors that understand the value proposition). If any of those three things are not true, then your patent filing is not worth focusing on exclusively (that is, put more time into the product / users, put some time into the patent).

[AndriusSutas]

Thanks for the input!