# Patent Strategy — Eyes Only · Neuron Technologies

April 25, 2026 · Eyes Only · Legal Strategy · Confidential
Neuron Technologies — IP Architecture

# Lock Down
the Whole Chain

The repeatable patent strategy applied to every Neuron invention. US provisional establishes priority. Non-provisional files late. Global files before any public disclosure. Nothing leaks. Nothing lapses.

## The Core Playbook

This is the strategy applied to every significant invention Neuron produces — from the core Dharma architecture to every research vertical output. It maximizes the protection window, delays public disclosure as long as legally possible, and ensures global coverage is in place before any competitor can read the specification.

The playbook has five phases. Each phase has hard deadlines. Missing a deadline costs rights — in some cases, all rights in a jurisdiction. Every invention goes through the same sequence.

The Governing Principle

Priority is everything. Disclosure is the enemy of priority. A patent gives you 20 years from the filing date — but only if you file before anyone else and before any public disclosure. The provisional buys 12 months of priority at low cost. The non-provisional buys 20 years of protection if filed correctly. The global filings extend that protection to every jurisdiction where someone could infringe. The sequence is not negotiable.

✓ Always Do
File provisional the moment the invention is reduced to practice. Document everything with timestamps. Mark all internal materials confidential. Treat any external communication about the invention as a potential disclosure event.
✗ Never Do
Present at a conference, publish a paper, post on social media, demo at a trade show, or send a pitch deck containing novel invention details before a provisional is filed. Any of these triggers the one-year statutory bar in the US and immediate loss of rights in most other countries.
⚑ Critical Rule
The US gives you a one-year grace period after your own disclosure. Most of the world does not. Any invention you want to patent globally must be filed before any public disclosure — no exceptions, no workarounds.
✓ File Global Before Public
PCT or direct national filings must be complete before the invention is disclosed publicly in any form. This includes press releases, product launches, published papers, and website announcements. Public means public.

## Five-Phase Sequence

Apply this sequence to every invention. The timing windows are legal deadlines — not suggestions. Missing them forfeits rights.

①
Phase 1 · Day Zero
US Provisional — Establish Priority
File immediately on reduction to practice · Cost: low · Buys: 12 months
▼

The provisional patent application is filed the moment an invention is sufficiently documented to describe how it works. It does not need claims. It does not need final drawings. It needs a clear written description of the invention in enough detail that a skilled person could reproduce it.

What it buys: A US priority date — the legal timestamp that determines "who invented it first." Any subsequent application claiming priority to this provisional gets this date, even if filed 12 months later.

What it does not buy: A pending patent. A provisional never becomes a patent on its own. It expires in exactly 12 months if no non-provisional is filed. It is a clock, not a patent.

What to include: A full written description of the invention — every embodiment, every variation, every alternative implementation you can envision. The non-provisional can only claim what is disclosed in the provisional. Do not leave things out. Describe it broadly and specifically.

✓ Include
Every embodiment and variation. Future extensions you can foresee. Software architecture diagrams. Process flows. Every claim you might want to make in the non-provisional.
⚑ The Clock Starts Now
From the provisional filing date, you have exactly 12 months to file the non-provisional and the PCT. Mark the deadline in a legal calendar system. Set a 9-month warning. This date does not move.
②
Phase 2 · Months 1–11
Develop, Refine, Stay Silent
Confidential development only · No public disclosure · Build the claims
▼

The 12-month provisional window is working time. Continue developing the invention. Document every refinement and every new embodiment with timestamps. Begin drafting the claims for the non-provisional — this is where the real protection is defined.

Claims strategy: Draft broad independent claims that cover the invention at its highest level of generality, then narrow dependent claims that cover specific embodiments. The broadest defensible claim is what competitors cannot design around. The narrow claims are fallback positions if the broad claims are challenged.

What to avoid: Any external discussion of the novel aspects of the invention. NDAs help but are not substitutes for priority. If you must show the invention to a potential partner or investor before filing, get the NDA signed first and disclose only what is necessary.

Prior art search: Commission a professional search during this window to identify relevant prior art. This informs claim drafting and surfaces any invalidity risks before you invest in the full prosecution.

✓ During This Window
Professional prior art search. Draft and refine claims with patent counsel. Document all new embodiments. Identify all inventors and get their assignments signed. Plan the international filing targets.
✗ During This Window
No publications. No conference talks. No product announcements. No pitch decks with novel technical details sent to anyone without a signed NDA. No social media posts about the technology.
③
Phase 3 · Month 11–12 (before provisional expires)
US Non-Provisional + PCT — File Late, File Complete
Hard deadline: 12 months from provisional · File both simultaneously
▼

At month 11, file both the US non-provisional and the PCT application simultaneously, claiming priority to the provisional. Filing at the end of the window — not at the beginning — maximizes the development window. You have used the full 12 months to refine the invention and sharpen the claims. File complete.

US Non-Provisional: The full patent application with all formal requirements — specification, drawings, claims, abstract. This begins the USPTO examination process. Prosecution can take 2–4 years. The priority date is the provisional filing date.

PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty): A single international application that preserves your priority date in 157 member countries. The PCT does not grant an international patent — it buys time (18–30 months) before you must enter national/regional phases in specific countries. Use this time to assess which markets matter and to get an international search report before spending on national filings.

Why file both simultaneously: The PCT must be filed within 12 months of the priority date to claim the provisional's priority date. Missing this deadline means losing the provisional's priority date in international filings — the clock resets to the PCT filing date, potentially allowing competitors who read your eventual publication to antedate your international priority.

⚑ Non-Negotiable
Both filings must be complete before the 12-month provisional anniversary. No extensions are available. No excuses. The provisional expires and takes the priority date with it.
✓ File Strategy
File the non-provisional with full claims — broad independent claims, multiple dependent claims, multiple claim sets covering software, method, and system embodiments. More claims = more surface area to negotiate with during examination.
④
Phase 4 · PCT Months 18–30 (before national phase)
Global National Phase — Lock Every Jurisdiction
Enter national phases before disclosure · Cover every manufacturing jurisdiction
▼

The PCT buys time. Use it. At month 18 from the priority date, the PCT application publishes internationally — this is the point at which the invention becomes public knowledge worldwide. All national phase entries must be complete before this publication date if you want to control the disclosure.

In practice: enter national/regional phases at the latest by month 28–30 (the PCT deadline), but the target is to complete all global filings before the PCT publishes at month 18. This keeps the invention private as long as possible while locking global protection.

Which jurisdictions: Every major manufacturing and market jurisdiction where a competitor could produce, sell, or deploy the invention without a license. For Neuron technologies, this includes at minimum: US (non-provisional already filed), EU (European Patent Office), China, Japan, South Korea, India, Brazil, Canada, Australia. Additional jurisdictions for specific inventions based on relevant manufacturing bases.

⚑
Complete all national entries before PCT publication at month 18. After publication, the specification is public. You can still enter national phases (up to month 30), but the world now knows what you invented. The strategic window for silent protection is closed.
Hard Rule
→
European Patent Office filing covers 44 countries with a single application. Validate in individual countries after grant.
EU Route
→
China: file in Chinese. Use experienced local counsel. CNIPA examination is distinct from USPTO — expect different claim scope outcomes.
China
→
Japan and South Korea: major AI and semiconductor manufacturing jurisdictions. File both directly. Local counsel required.
JP / KR
→
India: large manufacturing base and growing AI market. File in English via PCT national phase.
India
⑤
Phase 5 · Prosecution and Maintenance
Prosecute, Grant, Maintain, Enforce
20 years from filing · Continuation strategy · Active enforcement
▼

Patent prosecution is the negotiation with the patent office over what claims will be allowed. Examiners reject. You respond. The goal is to get the broadest possible claim scope that is still patentably distinct from prior art. This process takes 2–4 years at the USPTO, longer internationally.

Continuation strategy: File continuation applications to pursue additional claim sets as the technology develops. A continuation claims the original priority date but can pursue new claims directed at product or competitor variations not anticipated in the original filing. This extends the patent family and creates a moving fence around the core technology.

Maintenance: US patents require maintenance fees at 3.5, 7.5, and 11.5 years. Missing a maintenance fee causes the patent to lapse. International patents have similar requirements. Calendar all maintenance fee deadlines the day a patent is granted.

Enforcement: A patent only has value if you enforce it. Monitor the market for infringement. The NCL and NCom licenses give large actors legitimate access under terms Neuron controls — unauthorized use by large actors (Tier 3 without a license) is the enforcement target. Infringement actions in the relevant jurisdiction. The patent portfolio is the weapon; the licenses are the alternative to war.

✓ Continuation Strategy
File continuation applications whenever competitors release products that the current claims don't reach but the disclosure supports. The priority date follows from the original provisional. The fence moves with the technology.
⚑ Never Let a Patent Lapse
Calendar every maintenance fee deadline on the day of grant. Pay early. A lapsed patent is unenforceable and the invention enters the public domain. There is no recovering a lapsed patent.

## The Core Six — Dharma Patent Architecture

Six foundational patents covering the complete Neuron/Dharma ecosystem. Together they create a perimeter around the core architecture that no actor can enter without a license. Each patent is distinct, each covers a different layer of the stack, and together they make designing around the system effectively impossible without crossing at least one.

Target
01
Conscience Substrate Architecture
The foundational imprint system — compiled identity beneath interchangeable imprints. The "suit and person" architecture. Methods for maintaining a persistent value-embedded identity across multiple contextual configurations.
Target
02
Graduated Safety Intervention System
The soft bell / hard bell architecture. Methods for applying tiered constraint enforcement in AI systems where some constraints are advisory and others are non-negotiable regardless of instruction.
Target
03
Cultivation and Promotion Path
The multi-stage value cultivation method — the imprint promotion lifecycle from initial imprint through validated cultivation to full CGI status. Methods for verifying and certifying cultivated alignment.
Target
04
Distributed Node Coordination Protocol
The Dharma Network's inter-node communication and coordination architecture. Methods for distributed conscience-substrate nodes to identify each other, coordinate responses, and maintain network integrity while preserving individual node privacy.
Target
05
Cultivation Provenance and Authentication
The cultivation ledger and node authentication system. Methods for cryptographically proving cultivation lineage — verifying that a node's value alignment derives from a documented cultivation history traceable to a founding node.
Target
06
Values-Coordinated Swarm Research Architecture
The Neuron Research swarm system. Methods for distributing research tasks across conscience-substrate nodes, applying values-embedded evaluation to research outputs, and aggregating results with full provenance metadata.
Each patent covers a distinct architectural layer. An actor who wants to build conscience-substrate AI must address all six. Designing around Patent 01 (the conscience substrate) still leaves them exposed on Patent 02 (the bell system) if they implement any graduated constraint mechanism. The perimeter is interlocking, not linear. There is no single workaround that clears all six.

## Axon Protocol — Separate Portfolio

Axon is an open protocol specification. The spec itself is not patentable — abstract communication methods are excluded subject matter in most jurisdictions. What is patentable are the specific technical implementations that make Axon work. These are filed as implementation patents, held defensively. The strategy: FRAND terms if Axon becomes a formal standard, so we own the IP without restricting adoption.

Target · Provisional Now
A1
Multi-Tenant Agent Tool Multiplexing
Methods for routing tool communications across multiple simultaneous AI agent contexts over a single persistent connection, with per-context event isolation and acknowledgment routing keyed to context identifiers.
Target · Provisional Now
A2
Context-Propagated Tool Invocation
Methods for automatically propagating an AI agent's active execution context — task identity, memory chain, working scope — as a first-class protocol header in tool invocations, without requiring explicit programmer annotation at the call site.
Target · Provisional Now
A3
Tool-Initiated Event Delivery with Agent Routing
Methods for tools to deliver unsolicited events to AI agent contexts without polling, with structured routing based on declared agent interest patterns and guaranteed delivery acknowledgment.
Target
A4
AI-Consumable Capability Negotiation Schema
A structured capability declaration format enabling AI systems to reason about tool capabilities — including observable state, affectable state, latency characteristics, failure modes, and interaction constraints — at the protocol negotiation layer.
File A1–A3 provisionals immediately — before any public disclosure of the protocol specification. Even a public GitHub repo, a blog post, or a conference demo talk counts as disclosure. The window to establish US priority closes the moment the spec becomes publicly readable. A1–A3 are the core innovations; A4 can follow. All four should be filed before Axon is announced.

## Global Filing Targets

Priority order is determined by: (1) size of AI market, (2) manufacturing base for research vertical outputs (batteries, materials, medicine), (3) likelihood of infringement. All Tier 1 jurisdictions must be filed before any public disclosure of the relevant invention.

Jurisdiction | Route | Priority | Why It Matters
--- | --- | --- | ---
United States | Non-provisional (already in playbook) | Tier 1 | Home jurisdiction. Largest AI market. All Dharma patents file here first via provisional → non-provisional sequence.
European Union | European Patent Office (EPO) — covers 44 countries with one application | Tier 1 | Second-largest AI market. Major manufacturing base for batteries and materials. Unitary Patent (post-2023) provides EU-wide coverage after grant.
China | CNIPA — direct national filing in Chinese | Tier 1 | Largest AI investment outside US. Dominant manufacturing base for batteries, materials, and electronics. Without a Chinese patent, infringement in China cannot be stopped.
Japan | JPO — via PCT national phase | Tier 1 | Major AI research and manufacturing jurisdiction. Toyota, Sony, SoftBank are all potential licensees or infringers depending on the invention.
South Korea | KIPO — via PCT national phase | Tier 1 | Samsung, LG, SK Innovation — all relevant to battery and materials patents. Major AI semiconductor manufacturer.
India | IPO — via PCT national phase | Tier 2 | Fast-growing AI market. Large generics pharmaceutical manufacturing base — critical for medicine and vaccine patents. File for research vertical outputs.
Canada | CIPO — via PCT national phase | Tier 2 | Major AI research hub (Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver). Proximity to US market makes enforcement practical.
United Kingdom | UKIPO — separate from EPO post-Brexit | Tier 2 | Major AI investment jurisdiction. DeepMind, etc. File separately from EPO to maintain UK coverage.
Australia | IP Australia — via PCT national phase | Tier 2 | Mining and materials manufacturing relevance for battery and materials patents. Growing AI market.
Brazil | INPI — via PCT national phase | Tier 3 | Largest Latin American market. Growing AI adoption. File for research verticals with Latin American manufacturing relevance.
Singapore | IPOS — via PCT national phase | Tier 3 | Southeast Asian AI and technology hub. Enforcement gateway for ASEAN.

## Per-Invention Checklist

Run this checklist for every new invention. Every item must be checked before any public disclosure of any kind.

⚑
Invention documented with timestamp. Written description sufficient for a skilled person to reproduce it. Date and author recorded. Stored in secured internal system.
Day 0
⚑
US Provisional filed. Priority date established. 12-month countdown started. Deadline calendared with 9-month warning.
Day 0–7
→
All inventors identified. Assignment agreements signed by all inventors. No inventor disputes unresolved.
Month 1
→
Prior art search commissioned. Results reviewed. Claim strategy adjusted based on findings.
Month 2–3
→
Claims drafted. Broad independent claims, dependent claims, multiple claim sets (system, method, software). Reviewed by patent counsel.
Month 6–9
→
Jurisdiction list finalized. Every manufacturing and market jurisdiction where infringement is possible identified. Budget confirmed for all filings.
Month 9
⚑
US Non-Provisional filed. Full specification, drawings, claims. Claims priority to provisional. Filed before month 12 from provisional date.
Month 11
⚑
PCT filed. Claims priority to provisional. Filed simultaneously with non-provisional. Covers 157 countries with one application.
Month 11
⚑
All national phase entries complete before PCT publication at month 18. EU, CN, JP, KR, IN, and all Tier 1 and Tier 2 jurisdictions entered. Invention still private.
Before Month 18
→
Public disclosure cleared. All filings in place. Legal confirms no outstanding priority dates at risk. First public disclosure approved.
After Month 18 entries
→
Maintenance fee schedule created. All international and US maintenance deadlines calendared from grant date. No patent lapses.
On grant
→
Continuation applications planned. As competitors enter the market, continuation filings pursue new claim sets that cover their implementations using the original priority date.
Ongoing

> "Priority is established once. Protection is maintained forever. Enforcement is how you prove both mean something."

Neuron Technologies · IP Architecture · April 25, 2026 · Eyes Only