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prior-art-search

Search patents and academic literature for prior art and generate structured markdown reports.

Updated May 20, 2026
Search Tags:#web research#prior art#legal analysis#patent search#scholarly literature#ipc/cpc#freedom to operate
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/lightrain-a/medtrace-aris --skill prior-art-search-lightrain-a
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent▼
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: prior-art-search
Source: https://github.com/lightrain-a/medtrace-aris/tree/main/.vendor/aris/skills/prior-art-search
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/lightrain-a/medtrace-aris --skill prior-art-search-lightrain-a

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

💡 This Skill includes references (resource) components.

What problem does it solve?

This Skill helps you quickly identify existing patent and academic prior art that may affect the novelty or patentability of an invention, reducing the risk of pursuing claims that have already been disclosed.

Core Features & Use Cases

  • Prior art discovery across patents and literature: Searches Google Patents, Espacenet, and academic sources to surface potentially relevant disclosures.
  • Claim-relevant summarization and risk framing: Extracts titles/abstracts/representative claim information and assigns relevance and overlap risk levels (HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW).
  • Actionable reporting: Produces a structured report (including a preliminary freedom-to-operate assessment) organized by technical concepts and predicted IPC/CPC classes.

Use case example: You have an invention brief for a new medical device workflow; you run prior art search to identify earlier patents and related papers, then adjust your claim scope based on what appears to anticipate key elements.

Quick Start

Use the prior-art-search Skill and provide the invention description (or the path to it) to generate a prior art report with searched patents, papers, and an overlap-risk overview.

Frequently Asked Questions about prior-art-search

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I do a prior art search for an invention description?▼

To conduct a prior art search, you provide an invention description to scan Google Patents, Espacenet, and scholarly sources. The process extracts bibliographic and claim details to generate a structured markdown report with relevance and overlap risk levels.

What is freedom to operate scoping and when do I need it?▼

Freedom to operate scoping assesses whether your invention risks infringing existing patents. You need it before commercializing a product to identify earlier disclosures and adjust your claim scope based on a preliminary overlap risk analysis.

Can I use Google Patents and Espacenet for patentability checks?▼

Yes, you can use Google Patents and Espacenet for patentability checks. The service searches these sources alongside academic literature to surface disclosures affecting novelty, assigning HIGH, MEDIUM, or LOW relevance risk to found documents.

What's the best way to map a technical landscape using IPC and CPC classes?▼

Mapping a technical landscape involves searching patents and academic papers, then organizing the results by predicted IPC and CPC concepts. This approach categorizes prior art by technical fields to visualize the innovation space and identify overlap.

Does prior art search work for preliminary novelty and inventive step preparation?▼

Yes, prior art search works for preliminary novelty and inventive step preparation. It finds relevant patents and academic literature for your invention brief, extracting representative claim information to frame potential overlap risks.

What are the limitations of automated scholarly literature and patent search?▼

Automated patent and scholarly literature search limitations include relying on web search and fetch steps for available documents. It produces a preliminary non-fabricated report, meaning deep legal validation or inaccessible paywalled content requires further manual review.

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