Chapter 3: Is Your Invention Really New?

When you’re considering filing a patent application, the first step is to figure out where you stand with regard to other inventions. To do this, you need to find the closest prior art to your invention.

Examples of prior art can be found as actual products in the marketplace, and it can be written descriptions that have been published in various forms.

It can also be in the form of patents—patents that exist going back to the very beginning of our patent system and those of other countries.

Even patent application publications, which aren’t patents but are patent applications that have been published by the USPTO or foreign patent offices, can be considered prior art.

The point is, there’s a variety of places where prior art may be lurking. And it pays to do your best to find out about the prior art before you invest in filing a patent application…

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