If you're a solo patent attorney or agent drowning in manual research tasks, there's a new resource worth checking out. Ken Deng published a practical quick guide on DEV.to (June 10, 2026) specifically designed for practitioners looking to automate two of the most time-intensive aspects of patent work: prior art searches and drafting application shells. The tutorial cuts through the noise and focuses on actionable steps rather than theoretical possibilities.

Start Small and Measure What Matters

The guide's central philosophy is refreshingly practical: don't try to overhaul your entire practice at once. Deng advises starting with free AI tools before investing in paid solutions, which lets you experiment without financial risk. The key is building workflows you can actually measureβ€”track your time before implementing automation, then track it again afterward so you have concrete data on whether the tool is delivering value.

Templates and Prompts Are Your Best Friend

One of the guide's strongest recommendations involves using prompts and templates to standardize outputs consistently. For prior art searches especially, having a reliable prompt framework means you're not crafting new instructions every single time while still getting results tailored to your specific needs. This approach also makes it easier to onboard support staff or switch between tools without losing your process entirely.

What Can You Actually Automate?

Deng identifies prior art search summarization and draft application shells as the prime automation targets for solo practitioners. These are tasks that traditionally require extensive manual effort but follow relatively predictable patternsβ€”making them ideal candidates for AI assistance. The guide walks through identifying other repetitive tasks in your workflow that could benefit from similar treatment.

Key Takeaways

  • Identify one repetitive task to automate this week and test a free AI tool on it
  • Build workflows with measurable outcomes so you can track actual time savings
  • Use standardized prompts and templates for consistent, repeatable results
  • Start with free tools before committing budget to paid solutions

Implementation Strategy

The guide recommends picking a single area to test, running the AI tool against your current workflow, and measuring the difference. If you save meaningful time, expand to other tasks. Deng even offers his complete guide on these workflows (promo code VALUE2026 gets you 20% off) for practitioners ready to go deeper than the quick-start overview.

The Bottom Line

For solo patent attorneys competing against larger firms with bigger teams, automation isn't optional anymoreβ€”it's survival. Deng's guide won't make you an AI expert overnight, but it gives you a realistic starting point without the hype.