Latest / The Career Change Podcast with Fexingo: Switching Fields, Bootcamps, and Reskilling / How Bootcamp Grads Can Patent Their Side Projects
Transcript
- Lucas: So you finish your bootcamp project — a dashboard that tracks water usage for small farms. It works. You put it on GitHub. Maybe you even showed it in a couple interviews. But here's a question I bet almost no one asked you: is that thing patentable? Luna: And I bet most bootcamp grads hear 'patent' and think — that's for big companies with lawyers. Not for me. Lucas: Right. But the US Patent and Trademark Office actually has a filing category called the provisional patent application. It's designed for exactly this scenario. Costs sixty-five dollars if you qualify as a micro entity — which most bootcamp grads do. Luna: Sixty-five dollars? That's less than a textbook. Lucas: Exactly. And it gives you twelve months of 'patent pending' status. During that year, you can test the market, pitch to investors, or build a prototype — without losing your filing date. The US is first-to-file, so that date matters. Luna: Let's pause on that — before we dive deeper, if episodes like this help you think about your career moves in a way you hadn't considered, listener support is what keeps this show ad-free and independent. People who find value here can throw a few bucks our way at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, just a heads-up that it's appreciated. Lucas: Yeah, and that support lets us keep digging into angles like this one. So — back to that dashboard. What makes something patentable? It has to be useful, novel, and non-obvious. Your bootcamp project probably checks the first box. The second and third? That's where it gets interesting. Luna: I remember we talked about a bootcamp grad on this show — actually, it was in our climate tech episode — who built a tool for farmers. Did he end up patenting it? Lucas: That's the exact example I was going to use. His name is Marcus. He did a data science bootcamp in 2024. His capstone project was a machine learning model that predicts optimal irrigation schedules using soil sensor data and weather forecasts. Not revolutionary on its own — but he added a novel twist: he integrated satellite imagery to correct for sensor drift. That was his non-obvious step. Luna: And he filed a provisional patent for that? Lucas: He did. He told me he spent about three weeks preparing the application himself. He used the USPTO's free resources — the Micro Entity Certification form, the provisional application guidelines. He described his invention in plain language, included a flowchart, and paid the sixty-five dollars. That was it. Luna: So he didn't need a patent attorney? I know that can run thousands. Lucas: For a provisional, you don't need one. The USPTO doesn't even examine provisionals for patentability. It's basically a placeholder. You just need a clear written description — enough that someone skilled in the field could reproduce the invention. Marcus had that from his project documentation. Luna: What happened during his twelve-month window? Lucas: He used it to apply for a small ag-tech accelerator. They took him. He also started talking to angel investors. Having 'patent pending' on his pitch deck made a difference — it signaled he was serious about IP, not just tinkering. He eventually got a seed investment of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Luna: And now? Is he still the founder? Lucas: He is. He converted the provisional into a non-provisional patent application at the end of the year. That cost more — about fifteen hundred dollars in filing fees and maybe three thousand in legal help. But by then he had funding. And he now has a granted patent for his core algorithm. Luna: So the bootcamp project literally became his company's IP. Lucas: Exactly. And that's the angle I want to focus on today. Not every bootcamp project is patentable. But many are — especially projects that solve a specific, technical problem in an unconventional way. And the provisional route makes it accessible. Luna: What are the common pitfalls? Someone listening might be thinking, 'I built a React app that helps people track their reading habits.' Is that patentable? Lucas: Probably not. Software patents have gotten harder to get since the Alice decision in 2014. The Supreme Court said abstract ideas implemented on a computer aren't patentable. So a generic reading tracker — just storing books and dates — is likely abstract. But if you built something that uses natural language processing to generate personalized reading summaries based on cognitive load patterns, that might cross into non-obvious territory. Luna: So the bar is higher for pure software. Lucas: Right. The most patentable bootcamp projects tend to involve a tangible element — hardware integration, sensor data, a novel mathematical model. Marcus's project worked because it tied ML to physical soil conditions. Another bootcamp grad I know built a wearable device for posture correction using accelerometer data and filed a provisional. That's hardware-software combo. Luna: What about someone who built a health tech app that uses a novel algorithm to detect early signs of diabetic retinopathy from smartphone photos? That's pure software, but it's also medical. Lucas: That could absolutely be patentable. Medical diagnostics are a strong area. But you'd need to show the algorithm is genuinely novel — not just applying a known technique to a new dataset. If you're using a standard convolutional neural network off the shelf, the patent office might say it's obvious. But if you developed a new preprocessing step that improves accuracy by, say, fifteen percent over existing methods, that's a strong case. Luna: So the key is documenting your unique contribution. Lucas: Exactly. And that documentation is what goes into the provisional. You don't need formal claims. You just need a description so clear that someone else could build it. Include diagrams, flowcharts, pseudocode if you have it. The more detail, the better your eventual non-provisional will be. Luna: Is there a risk that someone else could file a similar patent during your twelve-month window? Lucas: Yes, but the provisional gives you priority — as long as you file the non-provisional within twelve months. If someone else files after your provisional date but before your non-provisional, your date wins. That's why filing early matters, even if your idea isn't fully polished. Luna: Let's talk about the career angle. How does this help a bootcamp grad who isn't planning to start a company? Luna: I've heard some companies actually have patent bonus programs. Is that true? Lucas: Absolutely. Many large tech companies — and some startups — offer cash bonuses for employees who file patents. I've seen amounts from one thousand to ten thousand dollars per granted patent. If you join a company with a patent already filed, you might even negotiate that into your offer — 'I have a pending patent, I'd like to continue developing it here.' Some companies will buy the IP or license it. Luna: That's a negotiation lever I hadn't thought about. Lucas: And it's not just for engineers. UX designers who invent new interaction methods can file design patents. Product managers who develop novel business methods — those are patentable too, though harder since Alice. The principle applies across roles. Luna: So what's the first step for someone listening right now? Lucas: Before you even think about filing, do a quick prior art search. Google Patents is free. Search for similar ideas. If you find something identical, you might need to pivot. If you find nothing — or only distant relatives — you have a green light. Then write a one-page description of your invention. Be specific. Include what problem it solves, how it's different, and the technical details. Luna: And then go to the USPTO website? Lucas: Yes. Create an account. Fill out the provisional application form. Upload your description and any drawings. Pay the fee. That's it. You'll get a confirmation with your filing number. From that day, you have 'patent pending' status for twelve months. Luna: What about the non-provisional? Do you have to file that yourself too? Lucas: You can, but it's harder. The non-provisional requires formal claims, an abstract, and often an oath or declaration. Many people hire a patent agent or attorney at that stage. Cost can range from two thousand to ten thousand dollars. But by then, if you've validated your idea — through accelerator interest, customer feedback, or investor meetings — that cost is easier to justify. Luna: So the provisional is the low-risk first step. Lucas: Exactly. And if you decide not to pursue the non-provisional, the provisional simply expires. No harm done. You spent sixty-five dollars and gained a year of learning about the patent system. Luna: I like that framing — it's as much an educational tool as a legal one. Lucas: Definitely. And honestly, even if you never convert it, having gone through the process teaches you how to think about IP. That's a skill that pays off in any tech career. Luna: Alright, I'm convinced. I'm going to look at my own side project this weekend. Lucas: Good. And if you do file, let us know how it goes. We might have you on as a guest for a future episode. Luna: That would be a full-circle moment.