Ben Esplin 9/10/26 Ben Esplin 9/10/26

AI Review

In my earlier post, “What Inventors Give Me Now,” I wrote about how language model technology helps me absorb more of an inventor’s technical understanding. This post explores how the technology has impacted another stage of patent application preparation: inventors are using AI agents to give me more substantive feedback on claim scope, arguments, and strategy. We often discuss their suggestions and discard them. But some contain genuinely useful insights, and even a proposed revision we reject can reveal a concern worth addressing. The opportunity is not to turn inventors into patent attorneys. It is to bring more of what they know into the decisions we make together.

Ben Esplin 9/2/26 Ben Esplin 9/2/26

AI Disclosures

The conventional wisdom about AI and patent drafting focuses on speed. My own experience with inventors on complex, technical inventions has been different. The real shift is not in how fast I can write, it is in how much I can absorb. Language model technology has collapsed my ramp-up time on unfamiliar technology and expanded how much technical depth I can synthesize without losing the signal, and that has quietly changed what inventors are willing to hand me in the first place.

Ben Esplin 8/27/26 Ben Esplin 8/27/26

Trade Secrets and the Art of Planned Exposure

When a customer or partner asks for more visibility into how a product actually works, the instinct is often to choose between two bad options: hand over the crown jewels, or say no and risk the relationship. This post argues that trade secret protection, properly structured, does not just guard against exposure, but instead it allows for planned exposure. By pairing trade secret protection with precisely negotiated use restrictions, a company can be exact about what a partner or customer is getting and exact about what they can do with it, turning disclosure from a risk to be tolerated into a tool that closes deals.

Ben Esplin 7/21/26 Ben Esplin 7/21/26

The Cost of a Second Brain: Why Our AI Lifeline Just Met the Meter

AI can be a key to producing great results for your clients. But as flat-rate subscriptions give way to metered utility billing, any brute-forcing of your workflow is turning a predictable software budget into an expensive shock.

Ben Esplin 5/20/26 Ben Esplin 5/20/26

An Abdication of Duty: The Supreme Court Denies Certiorari in USAA v. PNC Bank

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court denied certiorari in USAA v. PNC Bank, permanently wiping out a $223 million infringement verdict and leaving the broken state of Section 101 intact. This post explores the impact and origins of the mess.

Ben Esplin 4/29/26 Ben Esplin 4/29/26

CONSTELLATION DESIGNS: A New CAFC Decision That Provides Insight Into What Makes A Claim “Abstract,” And Some Strategy Observations

A recent Federal Circuit decision “splits the baby” in determining patent eligibility with respect to patent claims arising from the same innovation. This post explores the Constellation Designs case, examining what the differences between the invalidated and upheld claims tell us about the CAFC’s application of the Alice/Mayo Test, and proposes an interesting thought experiment involving blending patent and trade secret protection.

Ben Esplin 4/17/26 Ben Esplin 4/17/26

Data-Driven Excellence: A Top-Tier LexDana Ranking

LexDana’s 2026 Patent Intelligence Rankings have placed me at #11 nationwide for Overall Performance. This brief post explores the data behind these rankings and why this recognition is truly a testament to the brilliant innovators we represent and the exceptional team at Esplin & Associates.

Ben Esplin 3/19/26 Ben Esplin 3/19/26

Trade Secrets as Assets: Turning Intellectual Capital into a Legally Undeniable Moat

Most companies treat trade secrets as a passive legal status—something they “have” simply because they haven’t told anyone. In my latest post, I break down why this is a high-risk strategy and propose a more proactive approach. Learn what specific data points should be generated for every trade secret asset to transform vague know-how into a defensible “Innovation Ledger,” and how this documentation provides critical leverage during M&A due diligence, technical collaborations, and internal audits.

Ben Esplin 2/25/26 Ben Esplin 2/25/26

The Double-Duty Moat: How IP Strategy Unlocks R&D Tax Credits

Founders love R&D tax credits, but the IRS documentation requirements can be an administrative nightmare. This week, I explore how working with an IP attorney to secure your patents and trade secrets naturally generates the exact “contemporaneous proof” the IRS demands. Learn how to use a single strategic effort to build a legal moat and unlock non-dilutive capital.

Ben Esplin 2/12/26 Ben Esplin 2/12/26

Achieving More with Less: A 2026 Update on AI-Assisted Patent Strategy

A few months after launching our AI-assisted application service, the results are in: inventors are producing higher-quality provisional patent application content than ever before. By rewarding client "sweat equity" with a unique fee structure, we are enabling more aggressive filing strategies that fit within existing budgets. This week, I discuss how this "Inventor-in-the-loop" approach is redefining a core value proposition of modern patent prosecution.

Ben Esplin 2/4/26 Ben Esplin 2/4/26

USAA v. PNC Bank and the Definition of the Abstract Idea

The USAA v. PNC Bank petition for certiorari brings the Section 101 “abstract idea” exception back to the Supreme Court, highlighting the logical tension in labeling processes involving tangible objects as abstract. This post explores the fundamental difficulty of distinguishing between abstract concepts and their physical applications when every idea is, by its very nature, abstract.

Ben Esplin 1/28/26 Ben Esplin 1/28/26

Federal Circuit Update: The High Cost of Vague Trade Secret Identification

In the era of high-speed innovation, Intellectual Property Conservation is about clarity, not volume. Following a new ruling from the Federal Circuit, we examine the “Identification Trap” that causes even the most technical “secret sauce” to lose legal protection. Learn how to define your moat before the audit begins and why a single, precisely identified secret is worth more than a thousand unexplained exhibits.

Applified Marketing Group 1/22/26 Applified Marketing Group 1/22/26

A New Partnership Focused on Trade Secret Litigation Financing

Congratulations to Tangibly and SIM IP on their new partnership! This piece takes a look at what this could mean for companies that generate intellectual property and take protecting it seriously.

Applified Marketing Group 12/11/25 Applified Marketing Group 12/11/25

Defining the "Something More": How In re Desjardins and the "SMED" Memo Reshape AI Eligibility

For over a decade, the patent eligibility of software and artificial intelligence has been haunted by the vague requirement of Alice Corp.: to demonstrate that a claim contains "something more" than an abstract idea. On December 4, 2025, USPTO Director John A. Squires provided the definitive answer to what that "something more" actually looks like, codifying the recent decision in In re Desjardins as the binding framework for the future of AI prosecution.

Applified Marketing Group 12/3/25 Applified Marketing Group 12/3/25

Revised Inventorship Guidance for AI-Assisted Inventions: A New Direction from the USPTO

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published its Revised Inventorship Guidance for AI-Assisted Inventions on November 28, 2025, immediately rescinding in its entirety the guidance issued under the previous administration, and creating uncertainty concerning the patentability of at least some AI-assisted inventions.

Applified Marketing Group 11/21/25 Applified Marketing Group 11/21/25

Modular Prompting: Building Reliable AI Workflows for Legal Practice

The question practitioners face is not whether to adopt AI, but how to adopt it in ways that acknowledge its fundamental limitations while capturing genuine value—and the answer lies in modular prompting, a framework for building reliable, repeatable workflows that constrain AI’s outputs and improve consistency across time.

Applified Marketing Group 11/6/25 Applified Marketing Group 11/6/25

2026 Patent Fee Schedule: New Service for AI-Assisted Applications

We have updated our Patent Fee Schedule for 2026 with a new offering for early-stage companies: professional preparation assistance and filing of a US Provisional Patent Application for inventors who would like to generate their own application draft using a generative-AI tool like Idea Clerk.

Ben Esplin 8/21/25 Ben Esplin 8/21/25

Protecting the Data Advantage: Why Trade Secrets Programs Are Essential for Data-Driven Technology Companies

Data-driven technology companies face a critical risk shift as they mature—from proving market value to protecting their innovations from competitors—making trade secrets programs essential for safeguarding the proprietary data sources, AI methodologies, and analytical processes that drive their competitive advantage in the $14.4 billion data monetization market.