Patent Sin #2. Redundancy: The Dead-on-Arrival Patent Application

Inventors often submit patent applications assuming their idea is entirely new. However, the number one reason patents get rejected is prior art conflicts. Prior art is any information related to your invention before your filing date made public anywhere in the world.

• Novelty (Newness): Your invention must be substantially different from anything else known to the public, anywhere.
• Scope: Prior art includes anything previously patented, written about in a publication, or sold in the open market, even in a foreign country.
• The Cost: Skipping a professional prior art search (also called a novelty search or patentability search) can lead to costly rejections, wasted R&D, and lost filing fees.

Lack of novelty doesn’t necessarily mean your invention itself is dead on arrival, but it does mean any patent application for it is. Whether you can still make and sell your invention is what a freedom-to-operate patent search looks at, to see if your invention may be infringing on any patent rights in effect in the countries where you want to make and/or sell it.