Most inventions die in a drawer. Not because the idea was bad. Because the path from idea to protection does not exist for most people.
Patent attorneys charge $10,000 or more per filing. Prototype development requires equipment most people will never own. Market research requires skills most people were never taught. The patent system was designed for corporations with legal departments, not for a person with a notebook and an insight.
SmithWorks is the infrastructure that was missing. A pipeline that takes a concept from first evaluation through development to a complete, filing-ready patent package — staffed by credentialed professionals, protected by named NDAs, and funded by the community. The inventor walks in with an idea. The inventor walks out with a documented package and full ownership of everything inside it.
The Pipeline
SmithWorks has four stages. Each one builds on the last. Each one is operated by a credentialed SmithFellow team working under individual NDA.
SmithScore — Free
A ten-category proprietary evaluation methodology. Submit your concept and receive a structured assessment of market viability, technical feasibility, prior art landscape, and strategic fit. The evaluation is AI-assisted, confidential, and costs nothing. Concepts that score well are invited to enter SmithForge. Concepts that don’t receive honest feedback about why — and that feedback alone is worth more than most inventors get from a first consultation.
SmithForge — $99
The development stage. A SmithFellow team is assigned to your concept under a named, individual NDA. The team conducts deep research, competitive analysis, technical feasibility review, and preliminary prototype planning. The $99 is a commitment gate, not a profit center — it separates serious inventors from casual inquiries. The SmithFellow team earns supervised credential hours on a real project. Your concept gets a research team you could not otherwise afford.
Patent Ledger — $500
The documentation stage. Seven components produced by the SmithFellow team: technical description, drawings and specifications, prior art analysis, market assessment, business case summary, assembly documentation, and a complete contributor log satisfying USPTO duty-of-candor requirements. The output is a filing-ready package — everything a patent attorney needs to file a provisional or full application. Everything an inventor needs to self-file using the NOLO process.
Donor-Funded Filing
The filing itself — typically $5,000 to $15,000 depending on complexity — is funded through restricted donations to CrowdSmith Foundation. A donor does not give to “the mission.” A donor funds a specific patent for a specific inventor whose concept has survived the full pipeline. The donation is tax-deductible. The inventor’s name is on the patent. CrowdSmith takes no equity, no royalties, and no ownership stake.
You Keep Everything.
This is the line that makes SmithWorks different from every accelerator, incubator, and invention service in the country.
CrowdSmith Foundation takes no equity. No royalties. No licensing rights. No ownership stake of any kind. The inventor owns 100% of the intellectual property from the moment the concept enters the pipeline to the moment the patent is filed. The foundation’s mission is to fund the filing, not to profit from the result.
The NDA architecture protects the inventor at every stage. A master NDA covers every SmithFellow at onboarding. A one-page concept assignment addendum is generated for each concept, naming the SmithFellow, the concept number, and the date. The inventor receives a downloadable copy of every signed document. The contributor log — required by the USPTO for patent filing — is built automatically through the NDA system.
Submit From Anywhere.
SmithWorks is not limited to Tacoma. An inventor in Phoenix, Atlanta, or rural Kentucky can submit a concept through SmithScore on this website, pay the $99 SmithForge commitment, and have a credentialed team in Tacoma develop their concept remotely. The inventor reviews milestones, approves direction, and receives the completed Patent Ledger package without ever setting foot in the building.
The pipeline works wherever an internet connection and a SmithFellow exist. The building serves the community. SmithWorks serves the country.
The Loop
SmithWorks is not a standalone program. It is the connective tissue between the credential and the mission.
The SmithFellow credential produces the workforce. The workforce operates SmithWorks. SmithWorks produces real-world projects that make the credential meaningful. The donor funds the filing. The inventor owns the result. The credential candidate earns supervised hours on a real concept with a real inventor under a real NDA.
Five SmithFellow tracks feed the pipeline. The Research graduate validates the market. The Fabrication graduate builds the prototype. The Systems graduate produces the CAD files. The Entrepreneurship graduate writes the business case. The Facilitation graduate coordinates the project and assembles the final package.
The credential produces the workforce that serves the pipeline that feeds the credential. The original mission — a nonprofit that funds patents for inventors who cannot afford them — is alive inside infrastructure that took years to build.
Forty-Four Concepts.
Counting.
The SmithWorks pipeline already holds forty-four evaluated invention concepts across multiple sectors. Thirteen score above 90. Every one is protected. None are publicly disclosed.
The portfolio is the proof that the pipeline is real. These concepts were evaluated through SmithScore before the building opened, before the first cohort enrolled, before the first donor wrote a check. The infrastructure was tested on the founder’s own ideas — because the man who built the system needed the system himself.
Have a Concept?
SmithScore is free and open. Submit your concept, receive a structured evaluation, and find out whether your idea has legs — before you spend a dollar on it.
If it scores well, SmithForge is the next step. If it doesn’t, the evaluation itself is worth more than most inventors get from a first consultation with a patent attorney.
“The man who started with a drawer full of unfunded ideas built the system that funds them. SmithWorks exists because the room he needed didn’t exist — so he built it for everyone.”
Built for what’s coming.