Tradespace has acquired Paragon, an artificial intelligence patent drafting startup founded by Princeton University computer science students. The acquisition positions Tradespace as the first AI-powered platform offering support across the full intellectual property lifecycle, including invention disclosure, patent drafting, prosecution, portfolio management, and commercialization.
The acquisition comes at a time when organizations are facing an increased need to accelerate their innovation pipelines while managing legal costs. Traditional patent drafting processes can require months of work and cost tens of thousands of dollars. By integrating Paragon, Tradespace aims to provide a more efficient, transparent, and auditable drafting workflow that aligns with professional IP standards.
Paragon’s platform produces validated patent drafts that include traceability to source materials, enabling research and legal teams to verify claims, citations, and technical details. Paragon’s AI is structured to collaborate with users instead of operating autonomously, utilizing built-in verification checkpoints that enable teams to maintain control over drafting decisions. This collaborative approach is designed to address a core concern among legal professionals regarding trust in AI for high-stakes work.
As part of the acquisition, Paragon Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder AbdurRahman (AR) Bhatti joins Tradespace as Head of Product, Patent Drafting, where he will lead continued development of Paragon’s technology within the broader Tradespace platform. Paragon Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Ethan Haque, along with Chief Engineer Claire Shin, also joined Tradespace in senior AI research roles.
Bhatti originally developed the concept for Paragon after pursuing patents for his own innovations at a young age. He and his co-founders later formalized the platform at Princeton, where the university’s Office of Innovation provided resources and access to past invention disclosures that supported the development and testing of their platform.
Tradespace and Paragon share a mission centered on using AI to expand access to high-quality IP protection. With Paragon integrated into the platform, Tradespace plans to draft 10,000 patents over the next eighteen months, aiming to reduce both the financial burden and time-to-protection for inventors, universities, and corporate R&D teams.
KEY QUOTES
“When I founded Tradespace, the vision was clear: empower organizations to develop, protect, and commercialize ideas at a much greater scale. In acquiring Paragon, we are investing not only in democratizing the patent drafting process, but in building an approach to legal AI that works alongside IP teams with the same levels of trust, transparency, and expertise they would get from an attorney. With the Paragon team, we also get a unique combination of IP expertise and deep AI research that enables us to continue pushing the boundaries of attorney-grade AI”
Alec Sorensen, CEO and Co-Founder, Tradespace
“Tradespace has changed how we capture and evaluate ideas across the company. We’re moving faster, from invention to patent, and using AI to do it smarter. That efficiency helps us focus our outside counsel on higher-value work and get innovation to market sooner. The Paragon acquisition reinforces why we partnered with Tradespace in the first place: they’re building an AI-native IP platform designed for speed, clarity, and impact.”
Ilan Hornstein, Global Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, 8×8, Inc.
“For me, it’s always just been about where this technology is going to serve the most people. We wanted to make patent drafting accessible to innovators who needed it. Joining Tradespace makes sense as a natural fit – we get to integrate as a link in the chain of what is already a really strong product. At Princeton, the Office of Innovation raves about them, and when Princeton is that excited about a bleeding-edge product, you know there’s something special there.”
AbdurRahman (AR) Bhatti, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Paragon; now Head of Product, Patent Drafting, Tradespace
“Princeton University’s Office of Innovation supported the independent, student-founded startup company Paragon as it developed an AI-based platform to draft patent applications. In line with our educational mission, our Technology Licensing team recognized the potential benefit of an AI patent-drafting platform and offered the student founders access to a curated number of past invention disclosures to train their algorithm. Using our portfolio, they could then test their ability to draft patents while comparing their output to the patents that were actually filed. We are pleased to see that they have become a part of the Tradespace family of products.”
Craig Arnold, Vice Dean of Innovation and University Innovation Officer, Princeton University
