templateWorldwidefree
Sample prior-art report (structure)
- Purpose
- What a cited prior-art report contains, so your educational exercise mirrors professional practice.
- Coverage
- Scope · search strategy · databases and dates · classifications · closest documents with citations · feature comparison · gaps and limitations · conclusion (educational, not a legal opinion).
- Access conditions
- Free
- Region
- Worldwide
- Review date
- 28 Oct 2026
- Link check
- Reachable when checked on 28 Oct 2026
- Tags
- template, report
Prior-art report — structure
- Scope — the idea in one paragraph; the features searched
- Search strategy — keywords, synonyms, classifications, databases, date range, languages
- Search log — attach
- Closest documents — for each: number, title, applicant, publication date, link, the passage that matters, why it is close
- Feature comparison table — attach
- Gaps, contradictory evidence and limitations — what could not be searched (paid databases, languages, non-patent literature), where documents disagree
- Conclusion — what appears new, what does not; next steps
An educational report prepared in a community workspace is a learning exercise. A professional patentability or freedom-to-operate assessment is a separate, commissioned service.