Invent together. File together. Become co-inventors.
Patent Pods are small-group invention studios of 2 to 6 students, guided live by our faculty and built on curriculum from a former US Patent Examiner. Every pod ends the same way: the group files a real US provisional patent application with the USPTO, every member is listed as an inventor on the filing, and the invention earns patent-pending status for 12 months.
Most group courses end with a slideshow. Pods end with a filing receipt.
Group programs elsewhere finish with a "final deliverable": a presentation, a poster, a paper. Patent Pods finish with something real: a US provisional patent application filed with the USPTO, a filing receipt carrying every pod member's name, and 12 months of patent-pending status on the group's invention.
Real patents are rarely filed alone. Students learn what actual inventors do: ideate together, divide the work, argue over claims, and put their names on one application side by side.
Pods run on the same curriculum as our flagship programs, built by a former United States Patent Examiner. The bar does not drop because the room is fuller.
One application, every contributor listed as an inventor. Each student walks away with a USPTO filing receipt bearing their name, earned before college.
Join a cohort, or bring your crew.
Pick a subject. Pick a date. We build the team.
Choose from our scheduled pod offerings and join at least 5 peers who committed to the same start date. Your pod instructor runs the group through design thinking and structured ideation until an invention emerges, then the pod drafts and files a US provisional patent application on it together, from concept to filing receipt.
- Group size
- Minimum 5 students per cohort, matched by Patent Prep
- Format
- 4 weekly live sessions, 60 minutes each
- You bring
- Curiosity and commitment
- Capstone
- One filed US provisional patent application, all contributing members listed as inventors
- Tuition
- $595 per student
- Aerospace
- Artificial Intelligence
- Automotive
- Biotech
- Blockchain
- Business Services
- Computer Science & Software
- Construction
- Consumer Goods
- Cosmetic
- Education
- Energy and Environment
- Food
- Garments
- Jewelry
- Maritime and Yachting
- Medical
- Music
- Oil and Gas
- Pets
- Pharmaceutical
- Sporting Goods
- Telecommunications
- Transportation
- Veterinary
Come with 2 to 6 friends. Leave as co-inventors.
Already building something with your friends, your robotics team, or your startup co-founders? Or want to start from a blank page together? Private Pods give your group its own dedicated instructor, its own schedule, and its own application. Bring an existing invention or business, or ideate from scratch. Either way, the pod ends with your group's US provisional patent application filed with the USPTO and 12 months of patent-pending status.
- Group size
- 2 to 6 students, you choose who
- Format
- 4 weekly live sessions, scheduled around your group
- You bring
- Your people, and optionally your idea
- Capstone
- One filed US provisional patent application, all contributing members listed as inventors
- Tuition
- $2,950 per pod, one price for the whole group
Split among 6 friends, that's under $500 each. Split among 4, it's still less than most single-student summer programs.
Four sessions. One invention. One filing.
- Session 1 — Prior art research
The pod searches existing patents and publications the way an examiner would. Identify where the group's invention fits and what makes it novel.
- Session 2 — Draft your provisional patent application (part 1)
Guided by the pod instructor, students begin writing the invention description together. Capture what it does, how it works, and why it matters.
- Session 3 — Draft your provisional patent application (part 2)
Specification and the inventor list come together into a complete provisional patent application, revised as needed with 1:1 mentor support inside the pod.
- Session 4 — File your provisional patent application
The pod submits its US provisional patent application to the USPTO. Every contributing member is listed as an inventor and receives the official filing receipt. Patent-pending status begins and runs for 12 months.
Built for students who would rather build than browse.
- Friends who keep saying "we should make that" and never file the paperwork
- Robotics, science olympiad, and DECA teams that want a shared credential, not a shared trophy
- Siblings and cousins who want one project across one family
- Students who want the Patent Prep credential with teammates beside them, not a webcam grid of strangers
Pod graduates are eligible to continue into Program II (Inventor) or Program III (Fellowship), and pod applications qualify graduates for invitation to the annual Patent Defense.
Questions we get from students.
Every pod member who contributes to the conception of the invention is listed as an inventor on the provisional patent application, which is how inventorship works on real filings. Our curriculum is designed so every member contributes to the invention itself, not just the paperwork.
A provisional patent application is a real USPTO filing that establishes an official filing date and grants patent-pending status for 12 months. It is not examined or published, and it does not become a patent on its own. To pursue a granted patent, a non-provisional application must be filed within those 12 months. There is no such thing as a "provisional patent," only a provisional patent application, and we teach students the difference.
The pod's filing date is preserved if a non-provisional application is filed within 12 months. Pod graduates who want to take their invention further are eligible to continue into our Inventor program or Fellowship program, which guides students through the full non-provisional process.
Perfect. Private Pods are built for exactly this. Your instructor will help you evaluate what you have, strengthen it against prior art, and turn it into a filed US provisional patent application.
Also perfect. Both pod types include design thinking and ideation. Open Pods generate the invention as a group during the first sessions. Private Pods can start from a completely blank page.
You (and/or your group). Patent Prep does not take any ownership interest in student inventions or applications.
No, and we say so plainly. Students file a provisional patent application, the first official step in the patent process. It grants 12 months of patent-pending status. A granted patent requires a non-provisional application and USPTO examination, which is what our Inventor program and Fellowship program are for.
Group courses end with a final project or presentation. Patent Pods end with a US provisional patent application filed with the USPTO, a filing receipt with every member's name on it, and an invention that is officially patent-pending.
Yes. Private Pods are your group, your rules, within our high school age range.
Yes. Each pod files one provisional patent application on one invention, so students with multiple inventions are welcome to apply to multiple pods — one per invention.
Your group's invention, officially patent-pending.
Pods are capped at 8 students and scheduled cohorts fill in order of application. Pick a start date, or bring your crew.