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Key Takeaways The U.S. runs on a first-to-file system, meaning the patent office doesn't care who invented something first, only who filed first, which makes early filing the single biggest factor in patent strategy for startups. An inventor has a one-year grace period from the date of public disclosure to file, but once you've disclosed an idea to investors, developers, or the public without protection in place, the clock starts, and you have no way of knowing whether someon

Key Takeaways A freedom to operate (FTO) search checks whether launching your product could infringe someone else's existing patents. It does not check whether your own idea is patentable; that's a separate patentability search. FTO searches are jurisdiction-specific. Clearing the U.S. says nothing about your risk in the EU or elsewhere. Timing is everything. The right window is once the product has real shape (you know what it does and how it's built) but before major R&D, m