Prior Art Search Guidance

Prior Art Search Guidance

NOTE: An inventor who says “there is NOTHING at all like my invention” is NOT helping a Subject Matter Expert, Patent Counsel or potential funder get a sense of the landscape around your invention. There is always something out there, but it may have key differences from your invention. The point of a prior art search is to find whatever is closest and distinguish your invention from that closest ‘prior art.’ 
 
Answer the following questions: 
  1. What is the product/service you have seen on sale that is closest to your invention? (online, physical store, farmer’s market, trade show, etc).  
  2. What is the product/service you can find in a Google search (or its equivalent) that is closest to your invention? 
  3. What key hits do you find in a search of GooglePatents for your technology? (use a variety of keywords)? Don’t just read the titles (which are often not descriptive), look at the abstracts and flag those that are closest to your invention, even if there are points of differences. 
  4. What key hits do you find in a search of GoogleScholar for your technology (use a variety of keywords)? Do not just read the titles. Look at the abstracts and identify those that are closest to your invention, even if there are differences. 
Once you have answered questions 1-4, proceed to the following: 
Type up the list you compiled and under each key hit, identify all the important ways it is different from your own technology—there only needs to be one key difference!  
NOTE: “Cheaper” is not a patentable difference for a product, but a process that is simpler/fewer steps may be patentable. Doing something by computer that has been done using a pencil and paper may not be a patentable difference, but it may be a copyright/trademark/app opportunity. When in doubt, list the differences to the best of your knowledge and be prepared to talk through them with a trusted advisor.