Legal Definitions - search report

A search report is a document that lists all the prior-art documents that were cited by the patent examiner during the preliminary examination of a patent application. Prior-art documents refer to any existing publications or patents that are similar to the invention being claimed in the patent application.

For example, if someone applies for a patent on a new type of smartphone, the patent examiner will conduct a search to see if there are any existing patents or publications that describe similar smartphones. The search report will list all the relevant prior-art documents that the examiner found during the search.

The purpose of the search report is to inform the patent applicant of any prior art that may affect the patentability of their invention. The applicant can then use this information to make any necessary changes to their patent application or to argue why their invention is still novel and non-obvious in light of the prior art.