Aether has partnered with Keltie, one of Europe's leading patent firms, giving every Aether founder a direct route to a patent attorney.

UK legaltech Aether today announced a partnership with Keltie, the European patent firm behind Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Mastercard and NBCUniversal. Under the arrangement, Aether will work alongside Keltie to help startups identify patentable work and develop suitable IP strategies. Keltie's startup clients get support with fundraising and commercial contracts through Aether's platform.

The problem

Europe has no grace period. Demo the thing on stage, post the architecture in a launch thread or walk an investor through it without an NDA and the novelty of a potential patent application is gone. Permanently. There is no twelve-month window to file a patent application afterwards, as there is in the United States. There is no appeal to how good the invention was.

Most founders find this out at Series A, during diligence, at the worst possible moment.

Aether works with founders at the moments where novelty is most often destroyed - building pitch decks, drafting NDAs, preparing launches, structuring collaborations and grant applications. Where the platform surfaces something potentially patentable, that founder is put in front of a Keltie attorney directly.

Keltie's early-stage clients can leverage Aether's platform for broader startup work: fundraising, share schemes, founder agreements and commercial contracts, delivered at software speed.

That last point matters more than it sounds. A patent is only worth what the applicant owns, and a surprising number of early-stage startups discover during diligence that the inventive work was done by a contractor whose agreement never assigned anything.

Matt Lamb, Founder of Aether, said:

"We keep meeting founders who did everything right and still can't patent their own invention, because they described it on stage eighteen months earlier. We're not pretending software can prosecute a patent, it can't. What it can do is notice, early and cheaply, that this is a conversation you need to have. And with Keltie on board, we can bring founders to the people you want on the other end of it."

Colin Paterson, Partner and Head of AI and Emerging Technologies at Keltie, said:

"We see the consequences of late advice constantly. Working with Aether means we meet those startups while the answer is still yes. I've spent the last few years working not just on protecting clients’ innovative AI technology, but on how AI is changing patent practice itself. It is exciting to collaborate with people who are approaching their own field the same way."

The Keltie partnership follows Aether's partnership with UK law firm Howard Kennedy LLP, and extends Aether's coverage for founders from pre-seed through Series A.

About Aether Legals

Aether is an AI-native legal platform for startup founders, pairing AI generation for when speed and cost come first with lawyers for when it matters most. Aether supports companies from pre-seed through Series A across incorporation, equity and share schemes, founder and contractor agreements, commercial contracts and funding rounds. Aether's investors include UK law firm Howard Kennedy LLP, alongside leading lawyers, barristers and accountants from across Europe. Aether is a trading name of Aether Legals Ltd, registered in England and Wales (No. 16547735). aetherlegals.com

About Keltie

Keltie is one of Europe's leading patent firms, working with founders from first filing through to managing a global portfolio. Its attorneys act for entrepreneurs, startups, spin outs and large corporations across every sector from quantum and climate tech to software and materials. The firm was one of only eight firms in Europe to achieve Gold across the board in the recent Financial Times’ ranking of Europe’s leading patent law firms.

Media contact

Press@aetherlegals.com