To get a patent, technical information about the invention must be disclosed to the public in a patent application. The historical purpose of the patent system was to encourage the development of new inventions, and in particular to encourage the disclosure of those new inventions.

Inventors are often hesitant to reveal the details of their invention, for fear that someone else might copy it.

A patent search is a search of issued patents and published patent applications for inventions that might be considered important "prior art" references when applying for a patent. The prior art is anything in the public domain, patented or not patented, that may determine whether an invention is novel or not. A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for detailed public disclosure of an invention. An invention is a solution to a specific technological problem and is a product or a process.