What Is a Patentability Search?

A patentability search is a systematic review of prior art — existing patents, published applications, scientific papers, and public disclosures — to assess whether your invention is likely to receive patent protection.

The two key tests

For a patent to issue, your invention must pass two tests:

Novelty (35 U.S.C. § 102): Your invention must be new. If a single prior art reference discloses every element of your claimed invention, it fails the novelty test and cannot be patented.

Non-obviousness (35 U.S.C. § 103): Even if novel, your invention must not be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the relevant field. This is the harder test — the patent examiner can combine multiple references to argue your invention is obvious.

A good patentability search checks both.

What you're looking for

You're not just looking for exact copies of your invention. You're looking for: - Patents that disclose the same mechanism or approach - Patents that could be combined to make your invention obvious - Published research that predates your invention - Products or demonstrations that predate your invention

Any of these can be used as prior art to reject or invalidate your patent.

How PatentNexus helps

PatentNexus automates the patentability search process. Describe your invention and the AI classifies your technology into CPC codes, searches 166M+ patents across multiple databases, identifies the most relevant prior art, and assesses novelty. The result is a structured report that gives you the same intelligence a patent attorney would build over days — in minutes.