Questions We Hear Most

ipCapital Group (ipCG) is the world’s premier intellectual property innovation consultancy, founded in 1998 by John Cronin — one of IBM’s most prolific inventors with 170+ US patents. We help organizations invent, protect, value, and monetize their IP assets across the full lifecycle.

Our services span eight integrated stages — from initial IP landscape analysis and invention harvesting through patent valuation and monetization — delivering tangible deliverables like invention disclosures, landscape maps, valuation models, and licensing-ready packages.

No. ipCapital Group is not a law firm and does not practice law. We complement patent counsel by providing the highest-quality invention documentation, competitive intelligence, and strategic context — making their job easier and more effective. All legal opinions and patent filings are handled by qualified patent counsel.

We are technology-agnostic with deep expertise across 50+ sectors including semiconductors, AI/ML, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, clean energy, automotive, software, telecommunications, fintech, and many more. Our cross-industry experience enables pattern recognition that single-sector specialists can’t provide.

Three things set us apart. First, our team members are named inventors on thousands of patents — we practice innovation, not just study it. Second, we cover the entire IP lifecycle from landscape analysis through monetization, while most firms handle only one piece. Third, every engagement produces tangible deliverables — invention disclosures, landscape maps, valuation models — not slide decks and theory.

Our methodology, refined over 25 years and 2,000+ engagements, organizes the IP lifecycle into eight stages: Understand, Analyze, Strategize, Capture, Invent, Protect, Quantify, and Capitalize. Each stage has specific services and deliverables, creating clear value at every step. Most clients enter at whatever stage fits their current needs — you don’t have to start at stage one.

Learn more on our Services page.

An ipScan is a facilitated invention harvesting engagement where our team systematically interviews inventors and stakeholders to extract a prioritized inventory of patentable ideas, trade secrets, and defensive publications. Sessions typically yield 50–150+ invention concepts that would never surface through internal processes alone. One Fortune 500 client generated nearly 150 concepts, leading to 80+ patent applications with a 98% issuance rate.

Yes. Our ipStrategy service includes filing and protection roadmaps that cover international jurisdictions, budget allocation across geographies, and strategic decisions about where to build, buy, or license IP. Our Patent Budget Calculator also covers 11 international jurisdictions including the US, EP, Japan, China, and others to help you plan filing costs.

AI accelerates our research, landscape mapping, and analytics, but every deliverable is reviewed and validated by experienced IP professionals. Client data is never used to train third-party models, and we maintain strict data isolation. Clients can request information about specific AI tools used in their engagement at any time, or request work be performed without AI assistance.

Read our full AI Policy for details.

It starts with a free 30-minute discovery call — no obligation, no pitch. We listen to understand your technology, business context, and goals. From there, we put together a tailored proposal. Once the proposal is signed and scope is agreed upon, we schedule a kickoff call and get to work.

Schedule a discovery call to get the conversation started.

Every engagement is custom-scoped to match your goals, portfolio size, and timeline, so we don’t publish a price list. We work with everyone from Fortune 500 companies to startups, SMBs, and individual inventors — and design proposals that fit.

Visit our Pricing page to learn more about our approach, or request a free discovery call to get a tailored proposal.

Timelines depend entirely on the scope and complexity of the project — there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. Every engagement is custom-scoped with a timeline built to match your needs. We also accommodate urgent and rush projects when speed is critical.

Absolutely. We work with organizations of all sizes — from Fortune 500 enterprises to mid-market companies, startups, SMBs, and individual inventors. Many of our startup clients are at critical inflection points where getting their IP strategy right early has outsized impact. Every engagement is scoped and budgeted to fit.

See our Pricing page for more on how we work.

Yes. While most engagements are project-based, we do work with clients on long-term retainers — typically after an initial project where ongoing support is needed. Retainers are common for clients who need continuous IP strategy advisory, regular invention sessions, or portfolio management support.

Client confidentiality is foundational to everything we do. We have a standard mutual non-disclosure agreement (MNDA) available on request, and we execute it before any substantive discussions begin. All client data is subject to strict access controls, and our AI Policy details additional safeguards for AI-assisted work.

Yes — available on request. Because our work spans sensitive IP matters, we share case studies and references that are relevant to your specific technology and industry. Reach out through our contact form and let us know your area of interest so we can connect you with the most relevant examples.

Hugh is our conversational intelligence agent trained on decades of IP strategy expertise and 70+ episodes of the Invent Anything podcast. You can explore IP strategy questions, navigate podcast content, and get real-time guidance on invention methodology, portfolio planning, and competitive positioning — all without scheduling a call.

Try Hugh AI

We offer several free tools to help you explore your IP needs:

• Hugh AI — conversational IP strategy assistant
• Patent Monetization Calculator — estimate your portfolio’s licensing market size
• Patent Budget Calculator — estimate filing and prosecution costs across 11 jurisdictions
• Provisional Patent Readiness Checklist — self-assessment for filing readiness