Nashville, TN Patent Attorney

Patent protection and patent law in Nashville, TN help you maintain a competitive edge by protecting your rights to make and sell what you created. The right intellectual property & trademark attorney can help you secure your intellectual property in Nashville in the right way to protect your immediate and long-term goals.

At Bold Patents, our Nashville patent attorneys understand the landscape of Nashville and its unique industries. We can help you whether you are an independent inventor, a new startup, or a Nashville business.

Nashville’s Current Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Some of the primary industries helping progress the innovative spirit in Nashville include healthcare, music technology, advanced manufacturing, and software. Tennessee’s total employment in January 2025 was 3,375,800. There are 364,900 manufacturing jobs in Tennessee as of February 2025 and 488,100 in healthcare and education services. Each of these sectors provides numerous opportunities for innovation and patented inventions.

The Nashville area also continues to thrive and grow. Employment in the Nashville-Davidson, Murfreesboro, and Franklin metropolitan areas increased by 6,400 jobs between January 2024 and January 2025. Progressing innovation is driven by many factors, including:

• Vanderbilt University provides research into many innovative fields and funding for that research, and can help innovators secure Vanderbilt University patents.

• Major healthcare corporations like Vanderbilt University Medical Center, HCA Healthcare, and Ascension Saint Thomas fund research and innovation.

• Tech startups continue to grow and thrive all throughout the city.

• Entrepreneurial initiatives in the city provide tools, resources, and networking opportunities for innovators.

• The Tech Council for the Greater Nashville Area supports the continued growth of the tech sector by providing opportunities for connection and promoting progress and technology.

• Local accelerators and incubators help startups and small businesses get the resources, funding, and connections they need to grow effectively and become profitable businesses, including through securing Nashville startup patents and other IP protection.

Nashville is most well-known for its music industry, and with that comes music technology. While patents do not apply to most music creations, the technology that music is made with or listened to with may be patentable.

Patent Law Services You Can Get in Nashville

Nashville patent attorneys can help with pretty much everything you need for protecting your inventions. Here’s what they typically offer:

• Patent filing assistance for provisional and non-provisional applications
• Detailed patent application drafting with technical specifications
• Comprehensive patent search services to evaluate prior art
• Response preparation for USPTO office actions
• Patent portfolio development and management
• Freedom-to-operate analyses
• Patent validity assessments
• International patent protection strategies

A USPTO registered patent attorney gives you way more than just filing help. They know how to take your complex technical ideas and turn them into claims that actually hold up legally. Plus, they understand how to navigate all the USPTO requirements and procedures.

The best patent attorneys have both legal training and technical backgrounds. A lot of them have engineering degrees, which means they can really understand your invention and figure out the best way to protect it for your business goals.

How the Patent Application Process Works

Getting a patent isn’t exactly straightforward, but here’s basically what happens:

• Initial invention assessment and patentability search
• Patent application drafting (claims, specifications, drawings)
• Filing with USPTO (provisional or non-provisional)
• USPTO examination (12-36 months typically)
• Responding to patent office actions
• Patent issuance or appeal

The tricky part is dealing with the USPTO examiners. Every time they send you feedback, your response can really affect how broad your patent protection ends up being. Your attorney basically becomes your translator and advocate here, defending what makes your invention unique while dealing with all the procedural stuff.

Here’s something a lot of people don’t think about: you need to document your invention properly before you even file. If inventors mess this up they can lose their rights because they didn’t do this step right.

What to Look For in a Nashville Patent Attorney

You want to make sure you’re working with someone who actually knows what they’re doing. Here are the main things to check:

USPTO Registration – This is non-negotiable. All legitimate patent attorneys have to be registered with the USPTO. This means they passed the Patent Bar Examination and have the right technical background.

Technical Expertise – Try to find someone who has experience in your specific field. If they understand your industry and technology, they’ll do a much better job protecting your invention.

Patent Agent vs. Patent Attorney – There’s a difference here. A patent attorney has USPTO registration AND a law degree. A patent agent only has the USPTO registration. For full protection, you probably want the attorney since they can handle more legal issues.

A lot of startups do well working with patent attorneys who specialize in startups because they get both the IP protection side and the business growth side.

Pro tip: You can check if an attorney is actually registered by using the USPTO’s patent practitioner search tool.

What Patent Attorney Fees Look Like in Nashville

Here’s roughly what you can expect to pay:

What you actually pay depends on a few things:

• How complex your invention is
• What type of application you need
• How experienced your attorney is
• Where they’re located

A lot of Nashville attorneys will do a free consultation first to look at your invention and give you an idea of whether it’s patentable and what it might cost. This is usually a no-obligation meeting that helps you figure out if it’s worth moving forward.

Just be careful about attorneys who seem way cheaper than everyone else. Good patent work takes real expertise, and if you cut corners, you might end up with weak protection that doesn’t actually help your business.

What Are the Main Resources for Nashville Innovators?

Inventors and visionaries in Nashville have many resources through initiatives, companies, and organizations in the city. There are numerous local incubators and accelerators for small businesses and startups, including the Nashville Entrepreneur Center and Launch Tennessee.

Resources like the Nashville Software School help promote innovation in software and provide more opportunities for individuals in the tech field. As the number of innovators in the field grows, there are increased opportunities for visionaries to work together.

Vanderbilt University provides resources through many affiliate programs that support startups and entrepreneurs. In addition to these accelerator and incubator programs, the university has its Center for Technology Transfer & Commercialization. This office helps inventors get their products to market so that they support the wider community.

All of these resources are incredibly useful for inventors and entrepreneurs in Nashville, but it can be hard to determine what is most helpful for you. When you work with a patent attorney in Nashville, they can help you review the local options for support and help you with each part of the patent application process.

Find Your Industry’s Patent Requirements

Get targeted patent guidance for your specific industry. Click on your industry below to discover specialized patent requirements, strategic approaches, and how our attorneys can transform your ideas into protected assets.

FAQs

How Long Does It Take to Get a Patent in Nashville, TN?

It takes a while to get a patent in Nashville, TN and depends on the type of patent you are requesting and the current workload of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In 2024, the USPTO had 600,540 incoming patent application filings for utility, plant, and reissue patents, and 62,985 design patent application filings. 76% of patents were issued within three years of the application being filed.

Do I Need a Local Nashville Patent Attorney, or Can I Work With Someone Remotely?

It is very beneficial to work with a local attorney rather than someone remote. A local patent attorney is connected to resources and the community and can better help you access those resources and navigate the unique industries of Nashville.

What Types of Inventions Are Commonly Patented in Nashville’s Growing Healthcare and Music Technology Sectors?

There are many utility and design patents filed for innovations in healthcare and music technology in Nashville.

How Do Local Resources Like the Nashville Entrepreneur Center Support Patent Filing?

These local resources support patent filing by providing funding, research communities and resources, and networking opportunities.

Why Choose Bold Patents to Help File Your Nashville Patents?

Bold Patents understands the industries that support Nashville’s economy and push forward innovation in business. Our attorneys have years of experience in securing patent protection and other types of intellectual property protection for visionaries. We can help you safeguard your rights in drafting a patent application and navigate each step of the patent application process like art searches, patent searches, and responding to USPTO office actions.

Our team tailors our representation to your unique needs. You may be an independent inventor, beginning your journey as a startup, or an established business owner. Our firm can help you. We have experience in numerous industries including music technology patents in Nashville and healthcare patents in Nashville.

Bold Patents has secured patents for a customizable and wearable jewelry headset system. We have also secured protections for healthcare and medical patents like apparatuses and systems that prevent the use of contaminated medical supplies, a device for powerline preservation, and communication systems for medical coordination.

Bold Patents has experience with the USPTO resources located near Nashville. The nearest USPTO locations include the Southwest Regional Office, located in Dallas, Texas, and the Northwest Regional Office, located in Alexandria, Virginia. There is a Patent and Trademark Resource Center in Knoxville, Tennessee, located in the John C. Hodges Library at the University of Tennessee Knoxville.

Work With Bold Patents to Protect Your Innovation in Nashville

Applying for a patent needs to be done right in order to properly protect your creation, and to give you the greatest chance at a successfully issued patent. Contact our firm today to see how we can help you protect your creation and navigate this process.

Bold Patents J.D. Houvener, Esq., MBA, P.E.

Principal Patent Attorney, Bold Patents