We build software that lets
innovators focus on innovating.
Patent paperwork is tedious but mission-critical. Our goal is to make it painless—automating the clerical grind so founders, engineers, and attorneys can spend time on innovation and strategy. More break-throughs get protected, more deals clear due-diligence, and more attorneys tackle high-value work.
Our Roots
Idea Clerk was built by a team that spans patent law, IP software, and startup engineering. Ian is a patent attorney and longtime patent-automation builder; Zak has spent more than a decade building and scaling IP software at leading legal-tech companies; and Orfeas is a product-minded engineer and tech founder who ships real systems under real startup constraints.
That blend of perspectives surfaced the same catch-22 again and again: you need patents to raise money, but you need money to get patents. Founders either wait until investors ask—or rush a thin filing just to say “patent pending.” Either way, they lose time, pay more later, and often miss the window to lock in a strong priority date early.
When the team built Paximal’s core patent automation engine for professional-grade drafting workflows, Orfeas brought a tech-founder question: what would this look like if it were designed for early-stage builders—not law firms?
That perspective shaped Idea Clerk: Paximal’s core technology, packaged into a guided, founder-first workflow that helps startups secure an early priority date quickly and affordably—with the option to bring in trusted patent counsel when it’s time to review, refine, and file.
Ian Schick, Ph.D., Esq.
Co-Founder | CEO
Ian is a patent attorney who practiced at Pillsbury Winthrop, where he represented leading technology companies and venture-backed startups on critical IP matters. With a technical Ph.D. and a J.D. in IP law, he co-founded Specifio, the first commercial AI patent-spec generator. As a Stanford Law Codex Fellow, he led the Machine-Generated Legal Documents project and founded the AI Subcommittee of the American IP Law Association (AIPLA).
Orfeas Magoulas
Co-Founder | Technical
Orfeas is a product-minded engineer and tech founder who builds scalable software at Paximal and co-founded TrendSweep. His experience shipping products under startup constraints helped shape Idea Clerk into what founders need: a guided workflow that turns an invention description into an investor-ready provisional—without requiring founders to become patent experts. Orfeas leads the engineering behind Idea Clerk’s speed and reliability.
Zakery Tutino
Co-Founder | COO
Zak has over a decade of experience building and scaling IP technology at Thomson Reuters, Clarivate, and MaxVal. As co-founder of Paximal, he helped create enterprise-grade patent automation tools now trusted by leading law firms. He also serves on the board of the U.S. Intellectual Property Alliance (USIPA). Zak focuses on making complex IP systems usable and valuable for startups, ensuring founders get tools that work from day one.
