Manually Adding Prior Art (Including Non-Patent Literature)

To further enhance search accuracy and provide users with more control, NLPatent enables the manual addition of prior art and non-patent literature to your saved results. This feature can is helpful when you're aware of several similar patents or if you'd like to gut-checking the results of an outsourced search, or if you’re aware of several similar patents. 

In essence, it allows for users to have all relevant art in one convenient location, which can also be used to refine your results. This article guides users on how to add different types of prior art manually. 

Adding Known Patents

Prior art can be added by clicking the + Button in the top right corner. Users can then type in the relevant patent number manually. Please note that the jurisdiction code must be added to ensure the right patent is selected. The added patent can be then found in the Saved tab. 

This feature is especially useful when you already know some patents of interest. Beyond that, specific sections can be highlighted, and used for refinement.

Incorporating Non-Patent Literature

NLPatent goes beyond patents and offers the flexibility to incorporate non-patent literature into the search process. Users can manually add text-based sources such as scientific articles, research papers, or any other relevant documents that support their prior art search. 

To add non-patent literature, similarly click the + Button, followed by the Add non-patent literature button in the bottom left corner. Then, copy and paste the text you'd like to include. Please note that we do not support PDF upload at this time.

In essence, adding prior art manually enables users to have all data within the Saved tab- which can then be used with Refinement to ensure that no prior art is left behind.