Instant IP

What Instant IP does

Instant IP is a private blockchain-based intellectual property protection platform headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, founded in 2021 by Kary Oberbrunner. The core product creates cryptographic, blockchain-anchored timestamps of ideas in approximately one minute at a cost of $97 per idea, marketed as a faster and more affordable first layer of protection versus traditional patents, which the company cites as costing $30,000 and taking one to three years with an 88% rejection rate. The technology relies on smart contracts and public distributed ledgers (Polygon) to produce immutable, court-admissible proof of ownership that the company claims is recognized in 88 countries and 171 jurisdictions under UNCITRAL-compatible rules.

The product surface has expanded from a single self-serve consumer app (instantip.app) into a broader ecosystem. Instant IP Teams, launched in April 2026, adds IP Portfolios, four-tier role-based permissions, activity logs, and secure sharing for law firms, enterprises, and institutions. Adjacent offerings include the IP Toolbox (a 12-module suite covering discovery, naming, mapping, pricing, and enforcement), the IP Lab with advisor matching, and Instant IP Certification. The Court-Ready Idea Protection framework, introduced in 2025, frames the timestamp output as verifiable evidence for legal proceedings.

The revenue model combines a freemium self-serve flow (free first idea) with $97 unit-priced individual protection and emerging enterprise subscription revenue through Teams. Go-to-market blends product-led growth, founder-driven thought leadership (a TEDx talk with over one million views, podcast, webinars, and blog content), endorsements from figures such as Dan Sullivan and Keegan Caldwell, and channel partnerships with law firms and digital-collectibles organizations such as Good Vibes Club. Customer segments span solo creators and inventors as the primary base, with startups, law firms, and larger enterprises as secondary segments. Founder regulatory engagement with the USPTO (2024) and Congress has positioned the company in ongoing policy discussions around blockchain as legal evidence.

Name

Instant IP

Website

https://instantip.today

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Instant IP provides blockchain-based intellectual property protection, enabling creators and businesses to establish court-admissible proof of ownership in approximately one minute for $97 per idea as a faster, affordable alternative to traditional patents.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Blockchain Intellectual Property Protection Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132)

SIC

Patent Owners & Lessors (6794)

akta.pro primary industry

IP Compliance, Anti-Counterfeiting & Enforcement (BPAHAMAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

IP Search, Watch & Competitive Intelligence (BPAHAMAI)

Keywords

• Blockchain IP protection
• Intellectual property certification
• Patent alternative service
• Idea timestamping platform
• Smart contract IP

Headquarters

HQ city

Columbus

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. Individual IP Protection: One-time protection fee of $97 per idea submission, providing instant blockchain-verified proof of ownership. Process takes 1 minute compared to traditional patent costs of $30,000 and 1-3 year timelines.
2. Instant IP Teams Subscription: Enterprise platform upgrade enabling collaborative IP management for law firms, enterprises, and institutions with team collaboration features and role-based permissions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Instant IP provides a blockchain-based intellectual property protection service that creates immutable, court-admissible proof of ownership for ideas in 1 minute for $97, compared to traditional patents that cost $30,000 and take 1-3 years. The platform uses cryptographic timestamping and smart contracts on public distributed ledgers (Polygon blockchain) to instantly verify when a specific digital file existed in a specific form at a specific point in time, with an enterprise Teams offering for collaborative IP management.

Product overview

Instant IP is a single, unified blockchain-based IP protection platform centered on the Instant IP Core Platform, which provides immediate blockchain-verified proof of ownership through timestamped records and smart contracts. The ecosystem includes the Instant IP App for consumer access, Instant IP Teams for enterprise collaboration, and Instant IP Enterprise for larger organizations. Supporting offerings include the IP Toolbox (a suite of specialized tools for finding, naming, mapping, pricing, speaking, writing, singing, art, creating, teaching, gifting, and takedown of IP), IP Lab with certification programs, and Court-Ready Idea Protection for generating court-admissible evidence. The platform positions itself as a faster ($97 vs. $30,000) and quicker (1 minute vs. 1-3 years) alternative to traditional patent protection, designed specifically for the AI era.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Instant IP Teams: A major platform upgrade enabling law firms, enterprises, and institutions to collaboratively protect and manage intellectual property in real time, featuring IP Portfolios and IP Team Collaboration with role-based permissions.
• Court-Ready Idea Protection

Products and services

• Instant IP App Consumer-facing web and mobile application enabling individual creators, inventors, authors, and artists to protect their ideas instantly using blockchain-verified proof of ownership at a cost of $97 per protection, with a free first idea tier.
• Instant IP Teams Enterprise-grade collaborative platform for law firms, enterprises, and institutions to manage IP in real time, featuring IP Portfolios for organizing assets into custom collections and four levels of role-based permissions with built-in activity logs and secure sharing.
• Instant IP Enterprise Enterprise-level solution for larger organizations requiring advanced IP protection capabilities and team collaboration features beyond the consumer Instant IP App.
• IP Lab Advanced IP research and development environment offering certification programs, advisor matching, and specialized IP tools for creators seeking deeper IP strategy support.
• Instant IP Certification Professional certification program for IP protection methodologies and best practices, hosted at instantipcertification.com with a companion advisor directory.

Quantifiable outcome

• $97 vs $30,000 traditional patent cost - 99.7% cost reduction
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Good Vibes Club (GVC)keyStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 February 2026Strategic partnership to enhance the intellectual property protection of Good Vibes Club's digital collectibles. The collaboration aims to secure and expand GVC's IP assets amid rising valuation and cultural relevance in the digital economy. This partnership demonstrates Instant IP's capability to serve the NFT and digital collectibles market segment.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Clarivate: Major IP services and analytics company (includes former CPA Global); competes with Instant IP in serving law firms and corporate IP departments with end-to-end patent, trademark, and portfolio workflows.
• Wolters Kluwer: Global provider of legal and IP software (including TYPOGRAPHER and IP-related workflow tools); competes broadly in the enterprise IP and legal-tech category Instant IP is moving into.
• Anaqua: Provider of IP management and analytics software for corporations and law firms; competes for the enterprise IP portfolio management workloads Instant IP Teams is targeting with its collaborative features.
• LegalZoom: Mass-market online legal services platform offering trademark and copyright filings; a broad incumbent competing for the same SMB creator customer base that Instant IP targets with its $97 protection offering.
• PatSnap: AI-powered IP and R&D intelligence platform used by enterprises and law firms for patent search, analytics, and management; a broad incumbent targeting the same law-firm and enterprise IP teams that Instant IP Teams is pursuing.

Direct peers

• IPwe: Blockchain-based patent marketplace and IP management platform; competes with Instant IP in using distributed-ledger technology to modernize IP registration, monetization, and licensing.
• Custos Media Technologies: Uses blockchain to detect and deter unauthorized redistribution of digital media, providing timestamped proof-of-ownership comparable to Instant IP's core evidence-as-protection thesis.
• Codex Protocol: Blockchain-based registry and provenance platform for digital collectibles and creative IP; directly comparable to Instant IP's use of distributed ledgers to establish ownership and provenance for digital assets.

Emerging players

• Story Protocol: Programmable IP layer on blockchain enabling creators to register, license, and monetize IP on-chain; overlaps with Instant IP's blockchain-based IP protection but with stronger tokenization and licensing primitives.
• Kleros: Decentralized blockchain-based arbitration protocol for dispute resolution; relevant adjacent peer because Instant IP's blockchain timestamps are designed to feed into on-chain enforcement and evidence workflows.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/watch?v=pA19Tf5wFEA
• Xx.com/realinstantip
• Facebookfacebook.com/EasyIPToday
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/instantip

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Instant IP