priorscout

How it works

How to do a patent search without the jargon

You type what your invention does in plain language. PriorScout weighs that meaning against existing patents and returns a novelty reading with the filings behind it. Here is a search someone actually ran.

Typed in

Capturing carbon dioxide from flue gas using a rotating honeycomb adsorber.

Came back

Strong prior art found

Existing filings cover most of what was described, so as written the idea is unlikely to be novel.

US-11071938-B2
US-11545684-B2

What it covers

One tool for the searches you keep paying for

Prior art search

Find earlier patents that describe the same idea before you file, so a rejection does not cost you the application fee.

Patentability and novelty search

A quick patentability search to gauge whether your invention is new enough to be worth a filing.

Freedom to operate search

See which live patents your product might run into before you take it to market.

Patent monitoring

Watch a technology area or a competitor and get an email when a new filing matches it.

The options today

Why people end up searching twice

USPTO Patent Public Search and Google Patents are free and hold the whole record. They were built for examiners, so you guess keywords and read class codes, and the moment the original inventor used different words than you, their patent never surfaces.

A patent search firm charges $300 to $2,000 a report and takes a few days. The platforms the pros trust, Clarivate and PatSnap, open near $5,000 a seat per year, which is a heavy bill for one idea. PriorScout sits at $39 a month and answers in about a minute.

Pricing

Start free, move up when you search often

Free

$0

Three searches a day. Top three results. A verdict on every search.

Start free

Pro

picked

$39 /mo

Unlimited searches, the full ranked list, PDF reports and saved searches.

Get Pro

Firm

$99 /mo

Everything in Pro, alerts on new filings, API access and five seats.

Choose Firm

Only need one? A single full report is $29, no subscription

FAQ

Questions

What is prior art?

Any public proof that an invention already existed before your filing date. Earlier patents, published applications, papers, products on a shelf. If a patent office finds it, your claims get rejected, which is why a prior art search early is worth the minute.

How is this different from Google Patents or USPTO search?

Those match the words you type. PriorScout is an AI patent search that matches what your invention does, so it pulls filings that describe the same idea in language you would never have guessed, and it hands you a verdict and a report the public sites do not.

How do I check if something is already patented?

Describe it in a sentence or two and run the search. You get the closest existing patents and a read on whether close prior art exists. Before you file something you mean to defend, have a registered patent attorney confirm it.

Does it cover more than clean energy patents?

The public demo runs on a sample of clean energy patents so the page loads fast. The full version searches the whole USPTO record and the major offices abroad.