Robotics funding just went vertical. Most teams' patent strategy didn't.
Physical AI is having its moment. Funding into robotics and embodied AI has nearly quadrupled in the past six months alone, and every dollar funds another team racing toward the same hardware problems. The question isn't whether this category gets crowded. It already has. It's who ends up owning the inventions inside it.
Here's the part almost nobody's talking about. The founders winning that funding are, on average, badly under-patented, not because they don't care about IP, but because they think in the wrong unit. They track prototypes shipped. Investors and acquirers track inventions filed. Those are not the same list, and the gap between them is where competitors, and courts, start paying attention.
Dominic Davies, Lightbringer's CEO and a 20-year patent attorney who's filed 200+ patents across hardware, software, and industrial automation, is spending 45 minutes live on exactly this gap. He'll be joined by Jonas Åström, who's building physical security hardware right now as founder of Freya Industries, and sees the same under-patenting pattern from the inside as both an operator and a hardtech investor.
What you'll walk away with
- The three things patent-savvy robotics teams file that everyone else misses and why they're rarely the parts your engineers are proudest of.
- A straight answer to "haven't I already lost this patent by shipping first?" The timing rules are more forgiving than most founders assume, and less forgiving than others.
- A simple test for deciding what's actually patentable in a hardware/software hybrid product, where the sensor stack, the control software, and the mechanical design each need a different answer.
- What this actually looks like inside a hardware company that's shipping today. Jonas on the calls Freya Industries has had to make in real time, not in hindsight.
Why this, why now
Venture funding into physical AI hit $47.4 billion in the first half of 2026, nearly 4x the total from just six months earlier. That kind of money doesn't sit quietly. It funds more teams building similar hardware in parallel, more prior art landing every month, and a shrinking window to file before someone else claims the ground you're standing on.
If your company builds anything that senses, moves, or acts in the physical world (robotics, autonomous systems, sensor hardware, industrial automation), this is the session built for you.
About the Host
Dominic Davies is CEO and co-founder of Lightbringer, with 20 years as a patent attorney. He didn't start in law, though. He started as a software engineer, and that background meant he saw patent work differently: where others saw necessary complexity, he saw inefficiency.
In 2013, he started building tools to automate the repetitive parts of his own practice. When AI caught up to his vision, Lightbringer was born. Since then he's filed patents across biotech, software, hardware, and industrial automation, building Lightbringer around what he's learned actually works.
Read more →Who this is for
- Founders and CTOs at robotics, hardware, or embodied AI companies, roughly seed to Series B
- Teams that have shipped a working prototype but haven't yet built a filing strategy around it
- Anyone who's been told "you should probably patent that" more than once and hasn't acted on it yet
You don't need to know anything about patents going in. You do need to be building something real.
Sign up for free
When and where
Date: September 23, 2026
Time: 17:00 CEST / 16:00 BST / 11:00 AM ET / 08:00 AM PT
Format: Live webinar, 30 minutes + Q&A
Cost: Free
FAQ
Do I need to already have a patent, or even a prototype, to get value from this?
No. The session is built for teams at any stage, from early prototype to a company already shipping. If you're building something physical and haven't thought hard about IP yet, this is the right room to be in.
Will there be time for questions?
Yes. The session runs 45 minutes, with live Q&A built in. Bring your specific situation, not just general curiosity.
Is this legal advice for my specific patents?
No. This is educational, not a substitute for a formal assessment of your own IP. If you want that after the session, we offer free strategy sessions for exactly this.
Will I get a recording if I can't attend live?
Yes, register anyway. Everyone who signs up gets the recording afterward, whether or not you can join live.
Is this part of Patents for Entrepreneurs?
No. This is the opening session of Built to Scale, a new series for founders who are past the basics and actively scaling, fundraising, or expanding into new markets. If you're looking for foundational patent education instead, Patents for Entrepreneurs is the right series for that.
DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE. YOU SHOULD CONTACT A PATENT ATTORNEY IF YOU NEED A FORMAL ASSESSMENT OF PATENT INFRINGEMENT OR FREEDOM TO OPERATE.
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