Timeline

  • In 2009, with support from the NSF to reduce barriers to registering innovation (grants 0638334, 0750550, 0946113, 1057933), we released TeamPatent, allowing inventors and patent professionals to prepare applications using natural language processing (NLP). It automatically identifies parts to ensure consistent terminology (maintains ontology); checks claim dependency and antecedent basis, provides a drawing editor to place callouts, and supports real-time collaboration while dynamically updating the NLP markup.
  • In 2010, again with support from the NSF, we demonstrated "Patent End-to-End", a digital patent examination system at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
  • From 2011 to present, as Edyt, we licensed Patent End-to-End to the European Patent Office (EPO) for $10m and deployed a digital examination system to replace their paper examination system; the EPO anticipates a full rollout in next several months.
  • In parallel with the above, we developed next-generation Tactility, which dramatically enhances complex, document-centric processes. It's configured for a patent grant process and can be reconfigured for other subject areas. Tactility allows organizations to progress towards a fully-structured process (à la TeamPatent) while accommodating legacy data, formats, and working styles (à la Edyt)…all within a single information architecture.

Founders

Tactility is founded by Rocky Kahn (LinkedIn) and Heng Liu (LinkedIn).

At Stanford, Rocky completed a graduate degree in mechatronics. At Hewlett-Packard Labs, Rocky was a principal inventor of technologies which became the modern optical mouse. Upon leaving HP Labs, after a few startups and dozens of patent applications, Rocky was drawn to innovate the patent grant process as a way to improve documentating, collaborating, and reviewing complex information.

Heng has a PhD in electrical engineering (with research in FPGAs) and is a full-stack developer with a love for frontend programming. He's principal inventor on some of our patent applications.

For questions, suggestions, and partnership inquires, contact us via email (info@tactility.com) or phone (+1-510-601.7625 Alameda, California)