§Guard what you know. Find what you don’t.
Patent research that tells you what the record actually says
Meta Dragons is a non-legal firm for patent research services and commercialization, based in Albuquerque. Inventors, startups, universities, investors, and corporate IP teams use us for verified searches, landscapes, drawings, valuations, and introductions.
§ 01The ground is moving
More prior art, higher fees, and an examiner with an AI assistant
Four public facts explain why patent research has changed, and why a search you can’t reproduce is no longer good enough.
patent applications filed worldwide in 2024, a record and a 4.9% rise on 2023. Most will become prior art for the next filer.
the usual wait before a US application is published, counted from its earliest filing date. The newest filings are invisible to every searcher, us included.
Source: 35 U.S.C. § 122(b)
in USPTO maintenance fees to keep one large-entity patent in force to full term: $2,150, $4,040, and $8,280 at 3.5, 7.5, and 11.5 years.
AI-ranked prior-art documents the USPTO sent applicants before examination in its automated search pilot, which took petitions from October 2025 until June 1, 2026.
Source: USPTO, Artificial Intelligence Search Automated Pilot Program
§ 02What we do
Seven families of work, one record underneath
We offer 18 services in seven families, plus Hoard, the workspace our analysts run for you. Each one starts with a free scoping call and a fixed-fee written quote.
Patent Search & Research
Analyst-verified prior-art searches with a full audit trail.
Patent Analytics & Intelligence
Landscapes, competitor intelligence and standards mapping.
Patent Illustration & Visuals
USPTO-format drawings and 3D visuals that explain inventions.
Valuation & Commercial Assessment
Commercial value ranges and due-diligence data you can act on.
Patent Brokerage
Sell-side and buy-side patent transactions, run transparently.
Licensing & Commercialization
Find licensees, partners and the technologies you are missing.
Portfolio Administration
Status tracking, fee windows, inventories and coordination.
Hoard platform
The analyst-operated workspace where your watches, landscapes and portfolio records live.
§ 03Method
The model widens the net. A person reads the catch.
Every search behind our patent research services starts with AI-assisted recall. Semantic search finds documents that describe your idea in words you would never think to type, and classification and citation expansion follow the best hits into their neighbors. That gives us breadth. It does not give us judgment.
So every reference is read by a person: an analyst trained in the technology, who maps it element by element against what you asked. Then a second analyst reviews the report before it leaves. No reference reaches you unread.
The part most firms keep to themselves is the part we hand over: the audit trail. It lists the databases searched, CPC classes, query strings, date cut-offs, the AI tools used, and the analyst’s notes on what was kept and why. Your patent attorney or agent can rerun it, extend it, or challenge it. A search you cannot reproduce is only a story about a search.
This matters more now that patent offices use AI too. USPTO design examiners have an AI image search tool, and the agency has piloted automated searches that run before examination begins. If a model at the office will surface the obvious references, the value of your search lies in what a model misses: non-patent literature, a foreign-language family member, a 20-year-old paper that names the same mechanism differently. Read the full method, or browse the search services it powers.
No reference reaches you unread. A second analyst reviews every report.
§ 04Who we work with
Six kinds of clients, one standard of evidence
Every hoard begins as one idea someone decided to guard. These are the people who usually bring that idea to us, and where each of them tends to start.
Independent inventors
A fast, honest first look at what already exists, written disclosures before any engagement, and a plain answer if the evidence is weak.
12Startups and grant applicants
Landscapes, competitor context, and 3D visuals for SBIR/STTR proposals and investor decks, built backward from your deadline.
14Universities and labs
Landscapes, licensee lists, marketing packets, and pruning analytics for tech-transfer offices with more inventions than hours.
16Investors and lenders
Standardized due-diligence data packs and commercial valuation ranges for venture investors, IP-backed lenders, and litigation funders.
18Corporate IP and R&D teams
Competitor watch, landscapes, portfolio pruning, technology scouting, and standards mapping, delivered through Hoard.
20Patent practitioners
Outsourced searches, drawings, and administrative coordination for law firms and agents. Your client stays your client.
Sometimes the most valuable report we write says no.
If the references are close or the commercial evidence is thin, we tell you plainly and in writing, before you spend more. We promise no profits, publish no testimonials, and show exactly where our work ends on our scope and disclosures page.
§ 05Research, introduction, close
One data trail from the first search to the final signature
Most firms hand over a report and stop. Here, search, valuation, brokerage, and licensing share one record, so the references found in week one become the evidence a buyer reads months later. Nothing is redone, and nothing is lost in a handoff.
- 01
Search what exists
Prior-art searches and patent landscapes establish what the record holds, who owns the neighboring ground, and where the unmapped valleys are.
- 02
Weigh what it is worth
Commercial valuation turns the same record into cost, market, and income-based ranges, with every assumption written down.
- 03
Find who needs it
Product-to-patent research and evidence-of-use research, limited to technical facts, identify the companies most likely to value a license or a purchase.
- 04
Make the introduction
Confidential marketing and documented introductions put the evidence in front of the right person at the right company, with your approval at each step. See Sell Your Patent.
- 05
Coordinate the close
We coordinate the transaction with your counsel, who drafts and negotiates every agreement. Success-fee terms are written down before any marketing begins.
Hoard: the workspace our analysts work in, opened to you
Hoard is our analyst-operated patent intelligence workspace. Watch delivers monitoring digests an analyst has written, Atlas maps landscapes and assignee skylines, and Ledger keeps portfolio records and fee windows in view. Access is by invitation, included with relevant engagements or quoted as a standalone subscription. Explore the platform.
§ 06Insights
Field notes from the analysts
Plain-English guides to searches, fees, valuations, and the schemes that target inventors, each with its sources linked.
Patent Monitoring Without Alert Fatigue: How to Design a Watch People Actually Read
Most patent watches fail from noise, not from missed documents. Here is how to choose signals, tier alerts, measure usefulness and pick the right tools.
Standard Essential Patents Explained: Declarations, FRAND, Pools and What Changed in 2026
A declared SEP is the owner's claim, not a verdict. Here is how declarations, FRAND and patent pools work, what changed in Wi-Fi and video codecs in 2026, and what SEP data can tell you.
Generative AI Patent Trends 2026: What the Filing Data Shows, and What It Doesn't
Published GenAI patent families doubled in a year. Here is what WIPO and IFI Claims data show, what they can't show, and five checks to run on any AI patent chart.
§ 07Questions
Questions people ask first
Something else on your mind? Call (505) 357-5188 or write to info@metadragons.com.
Are you a law firm?
No. Metadragons LLC is not a law firm and is not registered to practice before the USPTO. We do technical, analytical, commercial, and administrative work: we find and map references, value patents commercially, and set up introductions. We give no legal advice or legal opinions, prepare no applications, and draft no agreements. Our reports go to you or to your patent attorney or agent. If you don’t have one, we can share a list of independent practitioners to contact, and we receive no referral fees. The full boundary is on our scope and disclosures page.
What does a search cost?
It depends on scope: the number of features, the countries, the depth of non-patent literature, and the deadline. That is why we publish no prices. Every engagement starts with a free 20–30-minute scoping call, and you receive a fixed-fee written quote within one business day. Nothing is billed beyond the quote without your written approval. Here is how that works.
How fast can you deliver?
A Prior-Art Snapshot typically takes 3 business days and a Patentability Search 5–7 business days. Patent landscapes take 3–6 weeks, and first proofs of utility patent drawings arrive in 3–5 business days. Rush timing is available on searches and drawings when scope allows, and it is quoted separately.
Do you use AI, and will it learn from my invention?
We use AI tools to widen recall, and a person reads every reference they return. Your materials are never used to train AI models. We sign an NDA before any technical disclosure, keep client files in US-based systems encrypted in transit and at rest, and delete them on request within 30 days of project close.
Can you promise my patent will sell or be licensed?
No, and be wary of anyone who does. We prepare the evidence, find the likely buyers or licensees, and make documented introductions. Sale-readiness takes 3–4 weeks, and marketing campaigns typically run 3–9 months with no assurance of a sale. If the commercial evidence is weak, we tell you before you pay for marketing. See Sell Your Patent.
§Next step
Bring the question. We’ll bring the method.
A free 20–30-minute scoping call, then a fixed-fee written quote within one business day. We answer Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Mountain Time.