Should I Do a Prior Art Search Prior to Filing a Patent?
One of the most common questions inventors have prior to filing a patent is whether they should do a prior art search prior to filing a patent. In my view, this is a business decision whose answer depends on a few factors. With that said, here are some pros and cons:
Reasons you should do a prior art search
- Doing a prior art search may result in better claims because you can write them with the prior art in mind
- Doing a prior art search may result in deciding that your invention has already been discovered (maybe even patented) by someone else. This will save you time and money.
- You can do an informal prior art search yourself for free by looking up key terms on (e.g., on Google Patents).
Those are the main reasons. But they are important considerations. On the other hand, here are a few other things you should keep in mind:
Reasons not to do a prior art search
- You are not required to do it. The patent office will do their own search when you submit a patent, and they usually don’t rely too much on prior art that you submit.
- It can cost money (say, from around $500 to $2,000) for a decent patentability search.
- It takes time. Expect to add a week or two to the time period for preparing the patent. In some cases, this is a big deal because you want to get your patent as soon as possible.
- If you find prior art, you are required to submit it to the USPTO in an Information Disclosure Statement. If you don’t disclose everything it can invalidate your patent, so be careful.
- You may already be very familiar with the field and a prior art search may be redundant.
So, there are good reasons to do a search and good reasons not to. Make sure you consider all of the reasons and decide what is most important for you.