Introduction

“I want to search on my own first, but facing hundreds of millions of patents worldwide, I have no idea where to start.”

This is the sentiment shared by many inventors and startup teams. DIY patentability search can help inventors and startup teams make an early go/no-go judgment. Professional patentability searches require experience and skill, but a DIY preliminary search — using one hour to gauge the general novelty of an idea — is something anyone can master. This article provides a fully actionable one-hour DIY Patentability Search workflow, using completely free tools, to help you determine from scratch whether an invention is “likely promising” or “basically hopeless.”

DIY Patentability Search Positioning and Limitations

Plain and simple: DIY Patentability Search = a rapid preliminary screening. Its goal is not to replace a professional patentability search, but rather to:

• Let you form an initial judgment before spending money on a professional search
• Filter out ideas that clearly lack novelty
• Help you better understand the patent landscape in this technical field

Situations where a DIY Patentability Search cannot replace a professional search:

• Your invention is a core technology / platform technology
• You plan to file patent applications in other jurisdictions such as the US, Europe, or Japan
• You find multiple patents that are close to your invention in the one-hour search, but are unsure whether they “cover your solution”
• Your invention involves complex chemical structures, biological sequences, or software algorithms

Preparation (Before Starting the Clock)

Before the timer starts, have the following materials ready:

1. A concise description of the invention (recommended within one page)

• Describe in plain language: what is your product / method?
• List 3–5 core technical features
• Summarize your most essential innovation in a single sentence

1. Reference product / competitor information (if you know of any)

• Are there similar products on the market? What do they look like?
• Their patent publication numbers (if available)

1. A timer — set to 60 minutes

One-Hour DIY Patentability Search Workflow

First 5 Minutes: Extract “Three Sets of Keywords”

Take out your invention description and extract three sets of search keywords:

Set 1: Core Chinese keywords for your product / method (3–5)
E.g.: 手机支架、折叠支架、桌面支架、便携支架

Set 2: Core English keywords for your product / method (3–5)
E.g.: phone stand, phone holder, foldable stand, desk mount

Set 3: Keywords for the “unique features” of your invention (2–3)
E.g.: magnetic, rotatable, height-adjustable

Write them down in a text file — this is your “keyword bank.”

Minutes 5–30: Core Search on Google Patents

Open patents.google.com

Round 1 (Minutes 5–15): Chinese-language search

Enter your Set 1 keywords (Chinese core keywords) into the search box, separated by spaces. For example:

手机 支架 折叠 桌面 便携

Do not use advanced syntax like AND/OR — simply separate terms with spaces; Google Patents will automatically use semantic matching.

Browse the returned patent list and identify those that appear most relevant to your invention. Use the following criteria to quickly judge “relevant or not relevant”:

• Relevant: the title or abstract describes a product function similar to yours → click to open
• Not relevant: entirely different domain → skip

Open 3–5 of the most relevant patents and quickly scan:

• Title
• Abstract
• Drawings (looking at images is the fastest way to understand)
• The first claim

Round 2 (Minutes 15–25): English-language search

Now switch to English. Enter your Set 2 keywords (English core keywords):

phone stand foldable portable desk mount

Similarly browse the returned list and open 3–5 of the most relevant English patents. For English patents, Google Patents provides a machine-translated version in your language (select language at the top of the page) — for quickly assessing relevance, machine translation is usually adequate.

Round 3 (Minutes 25–30): Precision search for unique features

Enter your Set 3 keywords (unique feature keywords):

手机支架 磁吸 可旋转

This time you are zeroing in on the most specific direction — the one most likely to surface “killer prior art.” If any directly matching close patents appear — take note; these may need serious attention.

Minutes 30–40: Rapid Citation Tracking

For the most relevant patents you identified in the previous three rounds, now use Google Patents’ citation features for rapid expansion:

1. Open the 2–3 patents you consider most relevant
2. Scroll down and check the “Similar” and “Cited By” sections
3. Quickly scan through to see whether any relevant patents have been missed

The value of this step: AI-based similarity recommendations plus human citation networks fill in the gaps left by your keyword searches.

Minutes 40–55: Organize and Compare

Pause the search now. You have likely browsed roughly 15–25 patents. Time to make a judgment:

Organize your findings:

On a sheet of paper (or in a document), write down:

Top 3 closest prior art records:

• Patent number: __
• What key features do they disclose?
• What features of your invention do they NOT disclose?
• Publication date: __ (is it earlier than your planned filing date?)

rapid novelty check:

• Is there a single patent that discloses all of the key features of your invention?
• Yes → [High Risk] Continuing the DIY search is pointless; you need to re-evaluate the innovative aspects of your invention
• No → Proceed to the next step
• Are there features that, while not disclosed in a single patent, can be assembled from a combination to achieve the same function?
• Yes → There may be a lack-of-inventive-step risk; professional review workflow is needed for assessment
• No → Preliminary positive signal

Minutes 55–60: Document and Assess

One last thing — document your entire search process:

• What keywords did you use? → Write them down
• What databases did you search? → Google Patents
• What are the 3 most relevant patents you found? → Record patent numbers + key claim content
• Your preliminary assessment? → Patentability prospects: High / Medium / Low
• Do you need professional review workflow? → Yes / No

These records are not only for your own reference — if you later engage a patent agent or a search firm, this information will be immensely helpful to them.

Self-Check for the One-Hour DIY Patentability Search

Before wrapping up, ask yourself:

• [ ] Did your preliminary search uncover any close prior art that made your “heart sink”?
• [ ] If the answer is “Yes” → You may need to re-evaluate or adjust your inventive focus before filing a patent application
• [ ] If the answer is “No” → The preliminary signal is positive; a professional patentability search is recommended as a next step
• [ ] How confident are you in the “comprehensiveness” of your search? (Rate yourself out of 10; if below 6 → you need a professional search)

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What if I can’t find 20 patents in one hour?
A: Your keywords are likely too technical or too narrow. Try a different angle — use more colloquial terms, or describe “what it does” in functional language rather than technical language.

Q: I found 50 patents that all look similar and I can’t review them all — what do I do?
A: Prioritize — look first at patents held by your direct competitors, then at similar patents from large corporations, then at papers from universities / research institutions. Filtering by “assignee” is faster than filtering by content.

Q: What if my English is poor?
A: Google Patents has built-in machine translation; you can view the version in your language. However, it is still advisable to search English-language patents as well — in many cases competitors have filed patents overseas before their Chinese family members are published. If you only search Chinese patents, you will miss these “hidden landmines.”

Key Takeaway: DIY patentability search is useful for quick screening, not final filing decisions. The one-hour DIY Patentability Search has six phases — first 5 minutes to extract three sets of keywords, minutes 5–30 for core Chinese and English searches on Google Patents, minutes 30–40 for rapid Citation Tracking, minutes 40–55 to organize and compare, and minutes 55–60 to document and assess. The goal of a DIY Patentability Search is to quickly determine whether an idea is “likely promising” or “basically hopeless” — it does not replace a professional patentability search. Escalate to a professional search if: you find a single prior art document that covers all of your features, you find multiple similar patents from different assignees, or you lack confidence in the thoroughness of your search.

When a DIY patentability search uncovers close records or unclear claim coverage, PatSnap Analytics can help move from free screening to a structured prior art review.