You have an idea. Now what?
Don't spend $10K on a patent attorney before you know if your idea is worth patenting. A 10-minute submission and $149 gets you a plain-English report on whether your invention has a shot.
Start With a Search →You have an idea you're excited about. You Google "how to patent an invention" and immediately get overwhelmed. Hire an attorney? File a provisional? Get an NDA? Build a prototype first? Talk to investors?
Everyone has a different opinion. Patent attorneys say "talk to us first." Reddit says "do your own research." Your friend who "knows a guy" says file a provisional for $65.
Here's the thing nobody tells you: none of that matters if your idea already has 47 existing patents.
Step 1 — before the attorney, before the provisional, before everything — is finding out if your invention is actually new. That's what a prior art search does. And you don't need a lawyer to do one.
"NO idea where to start. Any help appreciated!"
— r/Patents
"I am not even sure my idea would be patentable as the basic concept is most likely in the public domain already."
— r/inventors
"The biggest thing is there are so many mistakes you can make at the start that are unfixable."
— r/Patents
"If you are a solo inventor, the filing fee is $60 — but get it done right the first time."
— r/patentlaw
Ignore everything else. These are the first three steps.
This is where we come in. Describe your invention in plain English, and our AI searches millions of patents to find anything similar. You get a plain-English report within 1 business day telling you what's out there and whether your idea has a shot.
Cost: $149 · Time: 10 minutes to submit
If the landscape is clear, you know your idea is worth investing in. If there's blocking prior art, you just saved thousands — and the report shows potential ways to differentiate. Either way, you have information instead of anxiety.
Cost: Free (you already have it) · Time: 30 minutes
Walk into your first attorney meeting with your report in hand. They'll appreciate it — it saves billable hours, focuses the conversation on strategy instead of basic research, and shows you're serious. Your report includes attorney-ready technical details.
Cost: Varies · But your first meeting is more productive
You've probably seen people recommend filing a provisional patent application for $65 as your first step. Here's what they don't mention:
Filing a provisional without checking prior art is like buying a house without an inspection. Check first.
All plans: encrypted & confidential · 1 business day delivery · 30-day money-back guarantee
Is my idea worth pursuing?
Am I clear to build?
Ready to file
For context: Patent attorneys charge $600–$3,500 for a search alone and $5,000–$15,000 for a provisional filing.
That's exactly what the search answers. For $149, you'll know whether your idea is novel, what similar patents exist, and whether it's worth pursuing further. It's a lot cheaper than finding out after you've hired an attorney.
You can try, but keyword searches only find patents matching the exact words you type. Our AI uses semantic matching to find conceptually similar patents even when they use completely different terminology — which is how most prior art gets missed. Plus, we explain the results in plain English instead of leaving you to decipher raw patent listings.
Every submission is encrypted and covered by our Inventor Confidentiality Agreement. We never file patents on anything you submit.
Read the full agreement →10 minutes to submit. $149. Report within 1 business day. That's step 1 — everything else comes after.
Check My Invention Now →Questions? support@priorartcheck.com