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Discuss – Do AI agents deserve all the hype they are getting?

2•MicroWagie•1h ago•0 comments

Ask HN: Anyone Using a Mac Studio for Local AI/LLM?

47•UmYeahNo•1d ago•29 comments

LLMs are powerful, but enterprises are deterministic by nature

3•prateekdalal•5h ago•3 comments

Ask HN: Non AI-obsessed tech forums

27•nanocat•16h ago•21 comments

Ask HN: Ideas for small ways to make the world a better place

16•jlmcgraw•18h ago•20 comments

Ask HN: 10 months since the Llama-4 release: what happened to Meta AI?

44•Invictus0•1d ago•11 comments

Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (February 2026)

139•whoishiring•4d ago•517 comments

Ask HN: Who is hiring? (February 2026)

313•whoishiring•4d ago•512 comments

Ask HN: Non-profit, volunteers run org needs CRM. Is Odoo Community a good sol.?

2•netfortius•13h ago•1 comments

AI Regex Scientist: A self-improving regex solver

7•PranoyP•20h ago•1 comments

Tell HN: Another round of Zendesk email spam

104•Philpax•2d ago•54 comments

Ask HN: Is Connecting via SSH Risky?

19•atrevbot•2d ago•37 comments

Ask HN: Has your whole engineering team gone big into AI coding? How's it going?

18•jchung•2d ago•13 comments

Ask HN: Why LLM providers sell access instead of consulting services?

5•pera•1d ago•13 comments

Ask HN: How does ChatGPT decide which websites to recommend?

5•nworley•1d ago•11 comments

Ask HN: What is the most complicated Algorithm you came up with yourself?

3•meffmadd•1d ago•7 comments

Ask HN: Is it just me or are most businesses insane?

8•justenough•1d ago•7 comments

Ask HN: Mem0 stores memories, but doesn't learn user patterns

9•fliellerjulian•2d ago•6 comments

Ask HN: Is there anyone here who still uses slide rules?

123•blenderob•4d ago•122 comments

Kernighan on Programming

170•chrisjj•4d ago•61 comments

Ask HN: Any International Job Boards for International Workers?

2•15charslong•16h ago•2 comments

Ask HN: Anyone Seeing YT ads related to chats on ChatGPT?

2•guhsnamih•1d ago•4 comments

Ask HN: Does global decoupling from the USA signal comeback of the desktop app?

5•wewewedxfgdf•1d ago•3 comments

We built a serverless GPU inference platform with predictable latency

5•QubridAI•2d ago•1 comments

Ask HN: Does a good "read it later" app exist?

8•buchanae•3d ago•18 comments

Ask HN: Have you been fired because of AI?

17•s-stude•4d ago•15 comments

Ask HN: How Did You Validate?

4•haute_cuisine•1d ago•6 comments

Ask HN: Anyone have a "sovereign" solution for phone calls?

12•kldg•4d ago•1 comments

Ask HN: Cheap laptop for Linux without GUI (for writing)

15•locusofself•3d ago•16 comments

Ask HN: OpenClaw users, what is your token spend?

14•8cvor6j844qw_d6•4d ago•6 comments
Open in hackernews

Ask HN: Would you use a fast/cheap "prior art" service instead of a patent?

5•shaheeniquebal•2mo ago
We’re exploring a tech-focused IP platform that helps startups publish fast, affordable “prior art” disclosures. The goal is to protect inventions without the cost or delay of patents, especially in this AI age where things move quickly.

The core proposition is: for a few hundred dollars, you get a timestamped, public disclosure that blocks others from patenting your idea.

We're trying to validate if this is truly valuable for early-stage founders.

Would you consider this a valid alternative to a low-value patent?

What would make you trust a platform offering this?

Is the $250-$500 price point compelling?

We also have a completely anonymous 60-second survey if you prefer that format: https://forms.gle/KSSWGc68RkNT9G8n6

We'll share a summary of the results here afterward. All perspectives are appreciated.

Comments

incomingpain•2mo ago
It's not so much for founders. Founders should just do the idea; see if others are doing it first. Form the LLC that can roll over and die if it smacks into a patent.

Your customers are the patent lawyers who need to do that research.

Your competitor is every AI.

brudgers•2mo ago
There is no poor man’s patent.

Invention might not require them, but “patent” always means lawyers because patents are entirely a legal construct. Good luck.

stevenalowe•2mo ago
If I remember correctly, one has a year to patent an invention once it is publicly disclosed so I don’t see how this service offers any protection
l___l•2mo ago
How does disclosing an invention protect it? Protect it from what and for how long? If a patent isn't filed eventually then competitors can file.

Why not publish the invention on a blog?

Why not keep the invention a secret?

bruce511•2mo ago
"Disclose" is kinda ambiguous here.

One of the hindrances to getting a patent is prior art. Meaning that the thing you're trying yo patent already exists.

After a patent is issued lots of people typically say "but that's obvious". Ok, so let's capture the obvious before someone patents it.

Equally, I might be doing something which is patentable, but I have no interest in patenting it. By registering it somewhere I make it easy for the patent office to search, thus turning down a patent application. Thus preventing me being sued by some new patent holder.

But to answer the question, no I wouldn't use a service like this. Partly because I wouldn't spend the money and partly because (in isolation) the service doesn't work. Unless the patent office is involved and actively using it, bad patents still get granted.

Yes, it might add some weight to a court case where I'm being sued, but honestly if I get there I've already lost. And my code backups show the same thing anyway.

Plus, which of the thousands of things I am doing, should I register? Am I supposed to trawl through my code deciding on each line if it's novel? If I do all this work I might as well just get a patent. That can at least be used in cross-licencing agreements.

Yes, software patents are a blight, but I'm not sure this is really a solution.

vunderba•2mo ago
This sounds vaguely like a "patent equivalent" of places like Copyright House. I think the biggest thing you'd have to convince people of is why they'd use your service versus just self-publishing the patent notes on their blog which counts as self-disclosure and should (operative word) give you a year's grace to file for the actual patent.

https://copyrighthouse.org