To obtain patent protection, a potential invention must be new (novel), useful, and nonobvious. Other national patent offices have similar requirements. A Patentability Search, sometimes called a Patent Novelty Search or simply a Novelty Search, is a search of prior art (the body of pre-existing knowledge) conducted on behalf of a potential patent applicant. Because a determination of nonobviousness requires a set of drafted claims, which are typically not yet available, a Patentability Search is directed primarily at the novelty requirement. Thus, an inventor can commission a Patentability Search to ascertain whether a potential invention is novel, or not, by determining whether anyone else publicly disclosed the identical inventive concept prior to its critical date. Typically, a Patentability Search is conducted before a patent application is prepared. In addition to determining patentability, this search will also (1) help the patent drafter to write a patent application that better defines the inventive contribution of the new product over the prior art, (2) speed up prosecution by preempting examiner rejections, and (3) improve the defensibility of the future patent by ensuring that the Examiner considers the most relevant prior art during prosecution. These multiple objectives of a Patentability Search will be discussed below. Source:priorartsearch.com