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Stephanie Curcio

IP Lawyer, Co-founder & CEO

NLPatent

Stephanie Curcio is a recognized leader at the intersection of artificial intelligence and patent law, with a focus on modernizing patent practice through workflow-aligned AI. She is the CEO and Co-Founder of NLPatent, where her work centers on applying proprietary AI models to support established patent research and intelligence workflows by automating high-friction tasks, surfacing conceptually relevant context, and reducing manual review – while preserving practitioner judgment, legal rigor, and explainability.

A former Big Law IP attorney, Ms. Curcio brings deep practitioner experience to the development of technology to support real patent workflows. She is widely regarded as a practical authority on the application of AI in patent prosecution, litigation, and portfolio strategy, and is frequently invited to speak on these topics at major IP conferences and national patent offices, including the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Ms. Curcio is deeply engaged in the global IP community. She represents Canada at the Global IP Alliance, serves in leadership and advisory roles across several IP organizations, and participates in cross-organizational efforts focused on AI policy, governance, and responsible deployment in patent systems. She is also an active mentor and regularly guest lectures at law schools.

Her contributions have been recognized internationally. Ms. Curcio has been ranked in the IAM Strategy 300 as a world-leading IP strategist for four consecutive years and was recently ranked among the top global leaders for innovation in patent law and prosecution in a 2026 international ranking of influential women in IP.

Recent Articles by Stephanie Curcio

Your AI Is Saving You Time: So What?

I have spent most of my professional career talking to patent practitioners about AI. For years, the conversation was about whether AI could be trusted, whether it was ready, and whether it would actually change how patent work gets done. I have watched the profession move from skepticism to curiosity to cautious adoption to – in 2026, for the first time – something that feels like acceptance. Questions that once provoked heated debate at conferences now feel almost trite. Nobody is really questioning whether AI has a place in patent practice anymore. The question that has replaced it is harder and more consequential:

The AI Ethics Waterfall: Disclosure, Governance, and Who’s Really Responsible

From a trickle just a few years ago, AI use in the patent profession has become a rushing torrent. AI tools, features, and applications are now an integral and sometimes invisible part of patent practice. From invention harvesting and prior art searching to drafting, filing, opinion work, litigation, and licensing, the savvy patent practitioner almost certainly has AI embedded somewhere in their workflow.

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