[SERVICES]Startups and business
Business and IP counsel for startups and growing companies, from formation and founder agreements to fundraising and licensing, each piece of work quoted as a flat fee before it begins.
Registered patent attorneys
Andrew RapackeElectrical and computer engineering. Former Naval Engineering Officer.
Ken BrooksSoftware, AI and machine learning, electrical and mechanical systems.
Chris WattSoftware, AI and machine learning, and MedTech. A full-stack software engineer.[01]10 services
From forming the company to closing a round. Each service is quoted as a flat fee on your strategy call, and none of it is billed by the hour.
Choosing and setting up the right entity for a new company
The agreements a growing business runs on, drafted and reviewed
Letters that put a copier on notice, and replies to letters you receive
Fractional IP counsel on a monthly plan
Counsel on the regulatory side of a medical product launch
The agreements behind raising money from investors
License a technology or brand in or out
Keep what you share with partners and manufacturers confidential
Privacy policies and data protection for products that handle personal data
Move technology between companies, universities and partners
*Refunds subject to the RLG Guarantee Policy in your engagement letter.
[02]Intelligent IP Quiz
Start with what is happening next. Or answer a few questions and the Intelligent IP Quiz points you to what to protect first.
[03]Protect the IP first
For most technology startups the invention is the asset investors pay for. A registered patent attorney searches US and foreign patents and tells you whether it is novel, before you spend on filing. If it isn’t, you get a full refund. If it is, the search fee is credited toward your application.
Patentability search
$999
Flat fee, credited toward your application
Report in about 5 days
Not patentable, full refund*If the search finds your invention is not novel, a full refund or another search, your choice. If you move forward, the $999 is credited toward your application.
*Refunds subject to the RLG Guarantee Policy in your engagement letter.
[04]Startup legal basics
Plain answers to the questions founders ask before they hire, from what a startup lawyer does to what it costs. General information, not advice on your company.
A startup lawyer handles the legal work a young company needs to form, grow and raise money, usually across several areas at once. For a technology company, the most valuable part is often the intellectual property, so the work starts with who owns it and how it is protected.
Here every item on that list sits in one firm, so the patent work and the business work are planned together. More on legal opinions and why VCs ask for them and on IP litigation.
Before the decisions that are expensive to undo. Most founders need a startup lawyer at a handful of predictable moments, and the cost of getting each one wrong is usually higher than the cost of the work.
The core set is short. What matters is that each document exists before the moment it is needed, and that every one of them points ownership of the IP to the company.
| Document | What it does | When you need it |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate of incorporation or formation | Creates the company and sets its type | Day one |
| Bylaws or operating agreement | Sets how the company makes decisions and what happens when an owner leaves | Day one |
| Founders agreement | Splits equity, sets vesting and assigns each founder’s IP to the company | Before real work begins |
| Non-disclosure agreement | Keeps what you share with partners, manufacturers and hires confidential | Before the first outside conversation |
| Employee and contractor agreements | Confidentiality plus a written assignment of the work they create | Before the first hire |
| Advisor agreement | Sets an advisor’s equity, duties and IP assignment | Before you add an advisor |
| Terms of service and privacy policy | Sets the rules for customers and how you handle their data | Before launch |
| SAFE, note or term sheet | Documents money in and what investors receive | When you raise |
| Patent and trademark filings | Protect the product and the name investors are paying for | Before you disclose or launch |
Hiring mistakes are the most common gap. See 5 common legal mistakes when hiring, or download The Startup Legal Stack, our free set of founder resources.
It depends on how the lawyer bills. Hourly billing makes the total hard to predict, because every call, email and revision adds to it. A flat fee sets the price of each piece of work before it starts, so you can budget a raise or a launch around it.
| Billing model | How it works | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Flat fee | One price for a defined piece of work, agreed before it begins | Know exactly what is in scope |
| Monthly plan | A set amount of ongoing counsel each month | Check how unused time and extra work are handled |
| Hourly | Billed in increments for all time spent | The total is open-ended |
| Deferred or equity | Fees delayed until a raise, or paid partly in stock | You give up equity or carry a growing bill |
We do not bill by the hour. Each engagement is quoted as a flat fee before work begins, and ongoing work can run on a Fractional IP Counsel plan. Your fee is set on your strategy call, once the scope is clear.
If the product is the technology, usually yes, and sooner than founders expect. A patent attorney for startups protects the invention before it is disclosed, decides what is worth filing on, and makes sure the company, not a founder or a contractor, owns it when investors look.
Timing matters most. The US gives you one year after your own public disclosure to file, but many countries give you none, so a launch, a demo day or a published deck can cost foreign rights. A provisional patent application is often the quickest way to lock in a filing date first. More on when to file a patent as a startup and on provisional applications as a startup tool.
Investors look at IP when they value a company. See why patents matter to investors, and how IP helps med device startups raise VC funding. Not everything should be patented. Some of what an AI company builds, such as training data and model weights, may be better kept as a trade secret, covered in using trade secret protection for AI IP.
Each fits a different stage. The difference is how much judgment you get with the document and how the price is set.
| Compare | Online legal service | Large law firm | Startup lawyer at a flat fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | Forms and filings | A full team, often across many offices | Drafted documents plus advice on your situation |
| How you pay | A fixed price per form | Usually hourly, sometimes deferred | A flat fee quoted before work begins |
| Patents and trademarks | Limited or none | Usually a separate group | In the same firm, planned with the business work |
| Where it fits | Simple filings you can check yourself | Late-stage rounds and complex deals | Formation through early rounds, with IP at the center |
For a fuller checklist, read how to choose a tech startup lawyer.
[05]The process
What happens at each step and who does the work. Timing depends on the matter and is never a promised date.
Startup engagementCall to signed
[06]Questions
Still deciding? Your first call is free and comes with a straight answer on what to do first.
Book A Free Strategy CallHandles the legal work a young company needs to form, grow and raise money. That means formation, founder and employee agreements, contracts and NDAs, fundraising documents, privacy and regulatory questions, and the patents and trademarks that protect what you build.
Each engagement is a flat fee, quoted before any work begins, so you know the cost up front. The fee depends on the scope, and it is set on your free strategy call. We do not bill by the hour, and ongoing work can run on a monthly Fractional IP Counsel plan.
Yes. Patents and trademarks are federal, and the filings go to the USPTO, so that work does not depend on where your company is based.
Before decisions that are expensive to undo. Forming the company, splitting equity, sharing the idea, hiring the first employee or contractor, raising money and launching are the usual moments. Getting the documents right then costs far less than fixing them in diligence or a dispute.
Yes. Formation, founder agreements and IP assignments are planned together with any patent or trademark filings, so ownership of what you build sits with the company from the start. That is what investors check first.
If your product is the technology, usually yes. A patent attorney checks whether the invention is novel, files before you disclose it, and makes sure the company owns it. A provisional application can lock in a filing date before a launch or a demo day.
Our ongoing legal plans for growing companies. Instead of hiring in-house counsel, you get a set amount of legal work each month for one predictable fee, covering contracts, IP, investor matters and the questions that come up as you scale.
No. The RLG Guarantee covers four services, patentability searches, provisional patents, design patents and trademarks. The startup and business services on this page are quoted as flat fees and are not covered. The guarantee is a refund promise, not a promise of a granted patent, and refunds are subject to the RLG Guarantee Policy in your engagement letter.
[07]Learning Center
A tech startup lawyer is essential whether you’re just launching your tech startup or already have an established company, as understanding the legal complexities ahead…
By definition, a startup is a company with big ideas and a small budget. The goal of a startup is to show prospective investors that, with the right funding, the company…
By Andrew Rapacke, Managing Partner, Registered Patent Attorney In a 2024 analysis of hundreds of startup outcomes, researchers found something striking: having any…
[08]Client reviews
4.7 across 614 public reviews on Google, Trustpilot and Avvo.
#1Top reviewed IP law firm*
Read client reviews“The Rapacke Group stands by their fees with no surprises.”
“From creating a new business and checking to make sure we were in full compliance, the team at The Rapacke Law Group handled everything with ease for us.”
“As a small business owner, Andrew was invaluable to my business. Not only was his firm responsive and professional, Andrew went above and beyond and connected me with the right person in the industry for my business.”
Reviews reflect individual client experiences. Quotes are excerpts. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. *#1 top reviewed means the most public client reviews on Google, Trustpilot and Avvo of any US patent or trademark firm.
Talk through your company and what comes next. The call is free, with no obligation.
