Please read this carefully. Publishing is permanent.
What this does
Publishing your invention here makes it public, with a date that can be proven. Once something is public, it generally can no longer be patented by anyone, because a patent is only granted for inventions that are new.
Who it's for
Patenting an invention typically costs thousands to tens of thousands of euros over its life, depending on where you protect it. If you can't or don't want to pay for a patent, but you don't want someone else to patent your idea and stop you from using it, publishing it is a low-cost way to try to prevent that.
What you give up
You will most likely lose the right to patent it yourself. In Europe, China and many other countries, publishing first makes your own patent impossible. A few countries, such as the US, allow a limited grace period, but it doesn't apply everywhere and you shouldn't rely on it.
It's public and permanent. A published entry can't be deleted.
Anyone may copy and reuse it. Entries are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence (CC BY 4.0), which lets anyone use your disclosure, including commercially, as long as they credit the source.
What we cannot promise
No guarantee that a patent examiner will find it. If an examiner doesn't, a patent for the same idea may still be granted. Your publication can then still be used to challenge that patent, but that's a separate procedure, with its own costs.
No guarantee it will count as prior art. That's decided by the patent office or court in each case, and depends on how clearly and completely you describe the invention.
No guarantee we will publish it. Every entry is reviewed, and we may refuse or ask for changes. Nothing is public until it is published.
This is not legal advice, and publishing here gives you no rights of any kind. Open Prior Art is not a patent office.
You need a verified account so we know a real person submitted each disclosure. Your details stay private: entries show "Anonymous" unless you choose otherwise.
No passwords: we email you a link that logs you in. Your draft stays in this browser while you check your email.
Check your email. We sent a link to . It works once, for 30 minutes. If you can't find it, look in your spam folder.
Opening the link brings you back here, to the writing step. You can start writing now: go to the form. You'll need to be logged in to submit.
Write your disclosure
Draft saved in this browser only. Nothing is sent until you submit.
Write it yourself, in enough detail that a skilled person could build or carry it out. Don't include names, emails or phone numbers in the text.
Language and title
The original is the reference text. You can add your own versions in other languages at the end. We don't translate anything.
Short and specific, like a patent title. Examiners mostly search in English.
Comma-separated, in English. Helps people find your entry.
Patent examiners search by class. Choose up to 3 CPC/IPC classes your invention belongs to. Describe it in a few English words and we look up which classes similar patents at the European Patent Office use.
30 to 250 words. This becomes the public summary, exactly as you write it.
How it works (in the original language)
2 to 4 sentences.
The parts or steps, how they connect, materials, dimensions or ranges, how it is made or used. At least 80 words.
One concrete version, with real values where you have them.
Other ways to build it. Each variant you describe is published too.
Drawings (optional, up to 5)
PNG or JPG, your own drawings or photos only. Images are re-saved in your browser before upload, which removes hidden data such as photo location.
For example: Figure 1 shows the hinge from the side; part 3 is the lever.
Known prior art (optional, up to 10)
Patents, articles or products you already know that are close to your invention, like the "references cited" on a patent. A patent number (e.g. EP4382934), a citation or a link. Listing them shows what is new in yours.
Other language versions (optional, up to 3)
Your own full version in another language, published with the same number and date. If versions differ, the original is the reference.
Check and submit
The check points out gaps that often make a disclosure too thin to count as prior art. It never writes or changes your text.
Completeness check
Run the check to see what might be missing.
Preview
How should the author be shown?
You can switch a published entry to Anonymous later from your account, but copies made before that may still show the name.
Submitted
Thank you. We received your disclosure and sent you a confirmation email.
During the beta, every disclosure is reviewed by a person before it is published. This usually takes a few working days. Nothing is public until then, and the publication date will be the day it goes online.
We'll email you when it is published, or if we need changes. Keep your draft in this browser (or download it) until then: if we ask for changes, you edit it here and submit again.