Authors: Matthew Wahlrab and Craig Rochester
Case Study
IP planning tailored to business and investor needs — while saving time & money.
Our client: Lexset, revolutionizing AI training with synthetic data
AI is a major factor in the future of computer vision — and for effective AI training, vast data sets are a must. Huge volumes of images are key, along with correct metadata labeling to accurately guide the AI toward making the right classifications.
Yet the data sets used to train AIs are often human-led, meaning that they take a long time to create, they have high error rates (e.g., mislabeling), and they are expensive to procure even when outsourced. It’s a major issue — for which Lexset provides an innovative solution. By algorithmically generating synthetic data, Lexset creates artificial AI-training data sets that match creators’ specifications far better than real-world images, faster and at a much lower cost.
This synthetic data approach simultaneously eliminates the human-led inaccuracies, mislabelings, model biases, and privacy concerns inherent in real-world image sets. With Lexset, AI creators can access vast artificial data sets, generated to fit their exact training specifications, for a fraction of the time and cost. From simulating key (but incredibly rare) edge cases, to teaching security AIs, through to developing at-home try-on retail environments, the applications and potential of Lexset’s technology are vast.
Focus
“By algorithmically generating synthetic
data, Lexset creates artificial AI-training data
sets that match creators’ specifications far
better than real-world images ever could.”
The client’s intellectual property (IP) dilemma: Are we doing enough to protect our technology innovation?
Working with reliable patent attorneys, Lexset had already filed a patent application. They’d received a reasonable response from the USPTO, and were weighing up their next steps. Should they take somewhat narrow claims or fight for broader coverage? Were they doing the right things to protect their existing and future technology, in a way that best served their business development, investor, and board-level interests?
Heading into their next capital raise, protecting their IP had become even more urgent, given its impact on valuation, licensing, and revenue potential. So the crunch point arrived: Lexset could accept a patent with claims that the USPTO had approved — or dig deeper, get creative, and see if there was more value to be realized before making a decision. Lexset turned to us for guidance, and the Rapid Alpha team got to work.
Our strategy for Lexset:
Holistic IP planning for business-boosting results
1. Outlining an IP strategy to suit Lexset’s stakeholders and future investors
Through in-depth conversations with Lexset’s leadership team, we gained a detailed understanding of the company’s situation when they filed their initial patent application — and how sales, R&D, and business objectives had evolved in the 18-24 months since that time.
We asked questions about the company’s priorities: what would good IP protection look like, and how much would it cost? How would IP strategy support ongoing business goals across the company’s ecosystem? What would an IP strategy look like, if it simultaneously enabled Lexset’s executives to demonstrate strong protection to potential investors, and allowed technical developers to know that their cutting-edge innovations would be adaptably and adequately protected?
2. Enhancing Lexset’s IP strategy with business and technical knowledge, while cutting costs
Leveraging Rapid Alpha’s combined business, IP, and technical expertise, we were able to optimize the legal advice Lexset had already received: encouraging them to take advantage of the nuances of the USPTO’s allowance to increase the overall value of their patent application.
This more innovative and flexible approach enabled Lexset to refresh its filing to reflect the significant research and development shifts experienced since the application was filed.
3.Balancing strategic IP protection with ongoing business development
Given that Lexset’s product
is being actively sold, its potentially patentable subject matter is both
driving revenue and demonstrating clear value. As a result, it was vital that
any IP protection Lexset invested in would accurately track their real-world
operations and use cases.
To ensure that the patent
claims were tailored to current and future business objectives, the Rapid Alpha
team surgically aligned each of Lexset’s patent assets with relevant tangible
benefits for its clients. This ensured that the updated patent claims would
reflect and protect these business realities.
4. Aligning IP strategy with investment objectives
Lexset’s upcoming capital raise was upping the short-term IP stakes — but to invest in protecting their technology wisely, we encouraged them to think long-term, too. The value of their IP protection shouldn’t just lie in having an issued patent: looking ahead, it should also clearly show how the patent claims map onto Lexset’s products. Without this clear link, the patent issuance would have less apparent value.
By ensuring that this value demonstration was watertight, we set Lexset up with a strong position for future due diligence review, creating an IP foundation to use to persuade and build trust with investors.
The timeline: From introduction to implementation
As a standard approach, the
Rapid Alpha team researches, drafts, and moves to implement this type of
holistic IP planning for our clients within 2 weeks to 30 days.
A typical effort involves
gaining snapshots of the company’s IP past, present, and future, detailed
interviews across the stakeholder chain, analyzing existing legal and technical
documentation, and presenting an implementable IP plan that best serves the
client’s specific interests.
Lexset’s outcomes: A coordinated IP strategy
to fit current and future objectives
1. Significant cost savings on legal and administrative fees
Through reviewing their legal analysis and updated R&D technical specifications, the Rapid Alpha team provided revised patent claims that would better protect Lexset’s core IP, its advances since the original patent filing, and its future direction. Taking this business-technical bridging task off the Lexset legal team’s plate, we were able to present it to their patent attorney for sign-off with a substantially reduced time and cost.
2. The confidence to invest purely in business-boosting patent claims
Our stakeholder research allowed the Rapid Alpha team to identify the key patent claims to keep from Lexset’s original patent filing, while eliminating any outdated elements (for example, claims directed to a vertical that had been tried and dismissed since the patent application was first filed). We also provided new claims to file based on business objectives that key stakeholders brought up, but that hadn’t been prioritized originally.
3. IP set up for success, from filing to investor pitching
In working with Lexset’s patent attorney, and leveraging his knowledge of the examiner at the USPTO, we reduced the risk that our strategic updates to the claims would be rejected. This safeguarded the time and funds invested in the issuance, as well as its eventual success. Crucially, we ensured Lexset’s executive leadership team felt they could defend their now accurate, comprehensive, and forward-thinking IP strategy to potential investors, and clearly explain how it tangibly aligned with business development objectives.
