Software and Internet
Apps, SaaS platforms, data pipelines, AI and machine-learning workflows, and automation. Software patents live or die on how well the specification explains the system: architecture, data flows, and what makes the approach technically different. Having written code myself, I draft applications that hold up under examination and make sense to the engineers who built the product. Typical matters: utility applications for software systems, patentability opinions, software copyright registration, and open-source questions.
Electronics and Hardware
Embedded systems, sensors, consumer devices, wearables, and IoT products. Hardware inventions often combine mechanical, electronic, and software elements, and the strongest protection usually claims the combination. Typical matters: utility and design patents, freedom-to-operate reviews before manufacturing commitments, and licensing.
Medical and Health Tech
Devices, diagnostics, digital health tools, and clinician-led inventions. Health tech sits at the intersection of patent strategy, regulatory timelines, and data rules, so filing decisions need to respect the whole path to market. Typical matters: provisional-to-utility strategies timed around validation work, design patents on device housings, and confidentiality practices for clinical collaborations.
Mechanical Systems
Mechanisms, tools, manufacturing processes, and robotics. My Corvallis practice years were full of practical mechanical inventions, including a portable bottling machine, and I still think these are some of the most satisfying patents to draft: the invention is real, inspectable, and buildable. Typical matters: utility and design applications, prior-art searches, and manufacturing-partner NDAs.
Energy and Sustainability
Clean-tech, efficiency systems, and control and monitoring technology. Southern Oregon and the North State have growing renewable and resource-innovation sectors, and these inventions often pair a physical system with control software. Typical matters: utility patents on systems and methods, portfolio planning for grant-funded R&D, and university spin-out questions.
Consumer Products
Everyday inventions, direct-to-consumer products, and e-commerce innovations. Consumer products face fast copycats, so the right mix is often a design patent, a strong brand registration, and marketplace enforcement readiness rather than a single expensive filing. Typical matters: design patents, trademark registration, Amazon Brand Registry groundwork, and knockoff takedowns.
Not sure which protection fits your industry?
Start with the plain-English protection guide or tell me what you are building.