Prior art is anything made public before your filing date that shows your invention (or something obvious from it) was already known. Patent examiners use it to reject applications, and courts use it to invalidate patents.
What counts as prior art
- Patents and published patent applications from any country, in any language.
- Journal articles, theses, conference papers and technical standards.
- Products on sale, public demos, YouTube videos, Kickstarter pages and blog posts.
- Your own disclosures. In the US there is a 1-year grace period for your own disclosure; most other countries have none.
Novelty and obviousness
An invention isn't patentable if a single reference shows every element (novelty), or if a combination of references would make it obvious to a skilled person (obviousness). That's why a search finding 3 references that each cover part of your idea still matters.
Why it matters before you spend money
Drafting and filing a utility patent typically costs thousands of dollars. Knowing the closest prior art first lets you sharpen what's actually new, or decide not to file. See why to search before filing.
How to find it
Start with a DIY patent search on Google Patents, then search Google Scholar and the web for products. Browse our free patent landscapes to see what real prior art looks like for common products, e.g. fitness or baby & kids.
Our report
For $99 we search 9.7M patent families and chart the 10 closest references against your features. It covers patent literature only (not every article or product) and is a first look, not legal advice.
Check your invention
The 10 closest patents to your idea, charted feature by feature, in 24 hours for $99.
Not legal advice. Not exhaustive.