Conducting a prior art search is one of the first steps in preparing a patent application. In this patent search guide, you will learn how to identify your invention’s key technical features, search patents and other public disclosures for similar technology, and compare those references to your invention. Completing a prior art search before filing helps you understand what inventions the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will compare to yours to determine whether it qualifies for a patent.
Many inventors work with a patent attorney throughout the patent process. Jones IP Law can help. Founder Michael Jones combines a background in mechanical engineering with more than a decade of intellectual property experience representing technologies ranging from mechanical devices and manufacturing systems to artificial intelligence, computer software, cloud platforms, and digital asset technologies. Our prior art search services help you evaluate patentability and prepare patent applications that accurately convey your technical innovation.
What Is Prior Art?
To do a prior art search, you need to know what prior art is. Prior art is information about similar inventions that individuals have already publicly disclosed. It can include:
- Issued patents,
- Published patent applications,
- Scientific articles,
- Technical manuals,
- Product documentation,
- Conference papers,
- Websites,
- Public demonstrations, and
- Products.
The connection between a patent and a prior art search originates in patent examination. When you apply for a patent, a USPTO examiner compares your invention to prior art to determine whether the invention is new and non-obvious, which are requirements for an invention to be patentable. If prior art already discloses your invention, you generally cannot patent it.
Conducting a prior art search before filing allows you to understand what the USPTO examiner is likely to compare your invention to during examination. Many inventors begin by researching their own inventions, then work with a patent attorney to conduct a more comprehensive search and evaluate how the results may affect their patent strategy.
How Do You Do a Patent Search for Prior Art?
A patent search for prior art helps you understand how your invention compares to existing technology before you file a patent application. The search begins with defining your invention, continues with identifying and evaluating prior art, and ends by deciding what the search results mean for your patent application. Your attorney supports you throughout the process, ensuring you conduct a thorough search before submitting an application.
Step 1: Define Your Invention
Begin your prior art search by defining your invention in writing. Describe:
- What your invention does,
- How it works, and
- What problem it solves.
The more clearly you define your invention before searching, the easier it becomes to identify relevant prior art.
Step 2: Break Your Invention into Individual Technical Features
Next, divide your invention into individual technical features that you can compare to prior art. For example, identify:
- Components,
- Structural elements,
- Functions,
- Operations,
- Manufacturing methods, and
- Materials.
Separating each feature often uncovers prior art that you might overlook if you search only for the invention as a whole.
Step 3: Describe Those Features in Varying Ways
Different inventors may describe similar technology using different terminology. To find the most relevant prior art, describe each technical feature in several different ways before you begin searching. Look for synonyms, industry terminology, abbreviations, and broader and narrower technical descriptions.
Step 4: Conduct a USPTO Patent Search
You often begin searching with the USPTO’s patent search database. A USPTO patent search helps you locate earlier patents and published patent applications.
Begin by searching combinations of your search terms. As you find patents, note technical language that appears repeatedly and use those terms to refine later searches. Review each patent’s drawings, written description, and claims. Those sections provide the information you will compare to your invention.
The USPTO organizes patents into categories called patent classifications, which group inventions in the same technical field together. Determining what classification your invention would fall into and searching those classifications often uncovers relevant prior art that keyword searches alone miss.
Step 5: Search Other Sources of Prior Art
After searching the USPTO database, expand your search to other sources of prior art. Depending on your invention, you may review:
- Foreign patents and published patent applications,
- Scientific journals,
- Industry publications,
- Product manuals and technical documentation,
- Conference papers, and
- Company websites.
Your attorney typically helps you identify potential prior art sources that are particularly relevant to your technology.
Step 6: Compare the Prior Art to Your Invention
Next, compare each piece of prior art to your invention. During patent examination, the USPTO compares your invention’s technical features to the technical features in prior art to determine whether your invention is patentable. Performing the same comparison before filing helps you better understand what may distinguish your invention from others.
Compare each piece of prior art, one feature at a time, to the technical features of your invention. Ask, for example:
- Does this invention include the same feature?
- If so, does it perform the same function?
- Does it achieve the same technical result?
- Does my invention solve the problem differently?
- Does my invention include additional features that this invention does not?
Your attorney typically plays a key role in evaluating those similarities and differences and translating what they mean in practical terms about the potential patentability of your invention.
Step 7: Refine Your Search
Most prior art search projects require several rounds of searching. As you discover additional prior art, you update search terms, review newly identified patent classifications, follow cited patents, and investigate related technologies. Eventually, you should have a sense of what prior art the USPTO examiner might compare to your invention.
Step 8: Decide What the Search Means for Your Patent Application
After completing your search, evaluate what the results mean about how likely it is that you will be able to patent your invention. Your attorney often helps connect the results to the law. Jones IP Law can review the search results with you, explain how they may affect patentability, and recommend next steps.
Talk to Jones IP Law About Your Prior Art Search
After a prior art search, you should have a much clearer understanding of the existing technology surrounding your invention. Jones IP Law can conduct a patent search for your invention and advise you about how the search might influence a patent strategy. We help inventors, entrepreneurs, startups, and established businesses identify patentable innovations and protect them through thoughtful intellectual property strategies.
Contact Jones IP Law to discuss your invention.
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