Difference between a Patent Search and a Prior Art Search

The term “patent search” can be both misleading and very limiting when it comes to researching if idea or invention may be patentable.

When determining whether or not an invention may be patentable, one needs to search for disclosure - any type of evidence publicly available - that portrays an identical or similar idea.

Patents are just one form of evidence to prove existence, or not, of an idea already having been shared with the public.

Thus, the term “prior art” is more applicable.

When the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) undertakes a search of an invention that is described in an application for a patent, they must investigate all “prior art” that may exist.

As an example, prior art may include any of the following:

patents (both U.S. and foreign)
published patent applications
journal publications
newspaper articles
technical whitepapers
videos
lectures
product advertisements

If proof has been available to the public that a product or idea exists before one files for application of a patent, then a patent will not be granted.

Thus, it is important that when undertaking a search for your idea, you go beyond the idea of a “patent search” and instead expand with a “prior art search”.

Some examples to better understand how the US Patent and Trademark Office approaches the concept of “prior art” are available here: https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Basics-of-Prior-Art-Searching.pdf