Our investment in Garden
Imagine you’re an IP attorney, eight hours deep into a patent search. You comb through hundreds of documents, scrutinizing every detail, knowing that a single missed reference could invalidate your client’s patent. As you scroll through yet another set of technical drawings, you can’t shake the nagging feeling that you might be overlooking a crucial detail. You think about how your client has been waiting two days for your results and a hint of frustration creeps in. This is the daily reality for IP professionals: a high-stakes battle between thoroughness and efficiency.
With over a million patent applications filed annually at the USPTO alone, manual searches have become nearly impossible. The sheer volume of data is overwhelming and the consequences of oversight are severe: invalid patents, costly litigation, and stifled innovation. In an era where intellectual property is often a company’s most valuable asset, traditional search methods are a critical bottleneck. However, recent advances in AI offer hope, enabling deeper semantic understanding and contextual analysis of patents.
Enter Garden. I’m thrilled to announce our Seed investment in Garden, an AI-powered platform for patent intelligence. At the heart of Garden’s platform is an AI-powered search engine that embeds patent claims, disclosures, and relational information, like assignees, inventors, and patent lineage, allowing for contextual understanding far beyond traditional keyword-based methods. This search engine supercharges 102/103 prior art searches, allowing Garden to uncover relevant prior art with unprecedented speed and accuracy.
Garden’s ambitions extend beyond searches to a comprehensive suite of patent intelligence tools, like portfolio management and competitive analysis. Imagine being able to predict a competitor’s R&D direction based on their patent activity, or optimizing your own patent portfolio to align perfectly with your business goals. Garden can reshape how companies approach their entire IP strategy, turning patents from a legal necessity into a powerful strategic asset.
When we first met Garden founders, Adi and Justin, we were struck by their passion for the patent industry and AI expertise. Over dinner, Adi and Justin told stories of their countless trips to the USPTO and conversations with IP practitioners throughout the industry. Adi, with his background in NLP working in cutting-edge computational genomics labs at Harvard, Mayo Clinic, and Stony Brook, and Justin, with his strong CS foundations from Harvard, form a complementary team uniquely positioned to tackle this challenge.
As the patent landscape continues to grow in complexity and importance, Garden is poised to become an indispensable tool for innovative companies and law firms alike, especially those in highly competitive and litigious fields like life sciences and software.
We couldn’t be more excited to partner with Adi, Justin, and the entire Garden team (they’re hiring!), and an awesome group of co-investors, like Craft Ventures, Mischief, Uncommon Capital, and angels, like former Director of the USPTO Jon Dudas, former FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, Sonos Chief Legal Officer Eddie Lazarus, Wayfair General Counsel Enrique Colbert, and more.
Welcome, Garden!