Patent lawyers pay an AI to draw the black-and-white figures in patents.
The idea: AI patent illustration service
PatentFig turns patent drafts into publication-ready technical drawings. It was founded in 2026 and has $17K in verified revenue, $6K of it in the last 30 days. It's a boring-sounding but well-paid niche with strict formatting rules.
Startup cost (est.)$100–$500
DifficultyHard
Time to first dollar (est.)1–3 months
No-code friendlyNo
The receipts
Payment-verified figures come from TrustMRR, which reads revenue from the business's payment provider. Founder and press figures are claims we found on the linked page and haven't audited. How we check.
Who pays
Patent attorneys, agents and inventors.
How it makes money
Per-figure or subscription.
How to start your own
- Interview patent attorneys about current drafting costs.
- Combine AI drafts with human cleanup at first.
- Sell through IP law networks.
The catch
Figures must meet patent-office rules exactly.