How to Search Patents Before You File
· 7 min read
To search patents, describe your invention's technical features, search several keyword combinations and inspect related classifications and citations. Include nonpatent publications because relevant prior art is not limited to patent documents.
Where should you start searching?
Use tools such as USPTO Patent Public Search, Google Patents and Espacenet. Begin with component names, synonyms, technical functions and alternative ways of solving the same problem.
How do you move beyond keywords?
Read promising documents to identify classification codes and terminology you missed. Follow cited references and later citing documents, then compare disclosure details rather than titles alone.
What should your search record contain?
Save publication identifiers, relevant dates, search queries and passages that match your features. Distinguish a document's publication date from its filing and priority dates.
A patentability search asks whether claims may qualify for protection. Freedom to operate asks whether commercialization could infringe others' rights; a simple search does not answer both.
GetQuickPatent helps organize your invention for a provisional draft. Use search findings to improve technical explanations, not as a guarantee of patentability or freedom to operate.
Start your provisional patent
Start your provisional patent