Should I get a patent?

Should you patent it? Get an honest answer for $200.

We score your idea on the 72 signals that decide whether a patent holds up, then give you a straight verdict. Worth filing? We help you file the provisional too.

Built by top patent attorneys & IP analysts — Kirkland & Ellis + RPX Not legal advice
https://shouldigetapatent.net/results  ·  ● secure
Idea assessmentNo. 4471-A
WORTH FILING TRARIAN · IP
Score 0/100
Prior artClear
Legal footingSolid
Market valueHigh
Claim scopeTighten
Next step: file a provisional to lock your priority date.
72Signals we grade your idea on
$200For a real answer, vs. a five-figure retainer
MinutesNot the weeks a law firm takes
!

Patent advice is rigged toward "yes."

A lawyer only gets paid once you file — so that's what you'll hear, even when your idea won't hold up or a trade secret would protect you better. You can drop $10–15k just to learn it wasn't worth it. We do it the other way around: find out first, file second.

Our orderRead → then file
How it works5 steps
The process

From rough idea to provisional filing.

1

Upload your idea

A description, a doc, a sketch — whatever you've got. More detail, sharper read.

2

We search for prior art

We find what already exists, so you know what you're up against before an examiner does.

3

We grade it

72 signals across prior art, legal doctrine, and market value — scored and explained.

The market read tells you what your IP is worth, not whether the business will fly.
4

You get the verdict

A score, a clear call, and exactly what to fix before you spend a dollar on filing.

5

We help you file your provisional

If it's a go, we help you prep and file it — the cheap, fast way to lock your priority date.

Priority date = when your protection starts counting. You then have 12 months to file the full thing.
What you get
Included

A straight answer, and a way to act on it.

A verdict, not a maybe

Patent, trade secret, or skip it — with the reasoning. So you stop paying to file things that won't hold up.

Graded on 72 signals

The factors that actually decide outcomes — prior art, legal doctrine, market value. Data, not a hunch.

Help filing your provisional

We help you prep and file it, so your priority date's locked without the paperwork maze.

🔒

Your invention stays confidential

We never train our models on what you upload — and we keep your invention confidential, because disclosing it publicly before you file can cost you the right to patent it.

Sample report — what you getillustrative
See it before you buy it

Here's exactly what you get back.

Every report is built and reviewed by top patent attorneys and IP analysts — not just a model. Click through a real sample.

Sample idea No. 4471-A  ·  "Self-calibrating soil-moisture irrigation valve" ✓ Attorney & analyst reviewed
WORTH FILING TRARIAN · IP
The call

Worth filing — provisional recommended.

Score83/100
✓ Patent Trade secret Skip it

Your invention sits in a relatively clear lane, with strong commercial value and a real novelty hook in the weather-data calibration. The main risk is breadth — described as broadly as it is now, it could run into §103 obviousness§103 is the "non-obviousness" bar. Even if no single document shows your invention, a patent can be refused if the difference would be obvious to combine from existing art. once you pursue full claims. Tighten the description (see the Tips tab) and lock your date with a provisionalA provisional application is a low-cost filing that secures your priority date for 12 months. It isn't examined and doesn't include claims — it just has to fully describe the invention..

Confidence High Closest prior art 71% overlap Recommended Provisional filing
Searched US + EP · CPCCooperative Patent Classification — the codes examiners use to group inventions. Searching the right CPC classes is how the closest prior art gets found. A01G 25/16, G05D 7/06 · 12 references screened · 4 close · 0 blocking
We tell you what's out there and how close it is — but we don't name specific patents. Being aware of a particular patent can raise willful-infringementIf you know about a specific patent and proceed anyway, a court can treat infringement as "willful" and award treble (triple) damages. We keep the report at the landscape level so you're not put on notice. exposure, so we keep the report at the landscape level.
Sensor-driven irrigation valves
Existing art covers moisture-triggered valves, but not your weather-data calibration step.
§103 risk
71% overlap
Networked sprinkler scheduling
Scheduling overlaps; your closed-loop calibration reads as distinct.
§103 risk
58% overlap
Adaptive soil-sensor thresholds
Close enough to watch for an obviousness combination under §103.
§103 risk
49% overlap
Smart flow regulators (hardware)
Hardware overlap only; your method reads clear of this area.
looks clear
37% overlap
No single reference anticipates"Anticipation" means one prior document already discloses every element of your invention — an automatic novelty bar under §102. the invention, so there's no §102§102 is the "novelty" requirement: your invention can't already exist in a single piece of prior art before your priority date. problem. Your main exposure is an obviousness combination under §103 — addressed in Tips.
Overall scoreout of 10083
Prior art & novelty76 / 100
Novelty vs. closest artHow different your invention is from the nearest single prior-art reference the search found.80
Crowdedness of the fieldHow dense the surrounding patent landscape is. A crowded field means more room for obviousness rejections.64
Freedom-to-operate signalAn early read on whether making or selling the product might touch someone else's live patent. Not a legal clearance — just a flag.72
Legal doctrine76 / 100
§101 eligibility§101 asks whether your invention is even the kind of thing that can be patented — not an abstract idea or law of nature.88
§102 novelty / anticipation§102 is the novelty bar: your invention can't already be fully disclosed in a single piece of prior art before your priority date.82
§103 non-obviousness§103 refuses patents where the difference from existing art would have been obvious to combine — even if no single reference shows it.66
§112 written description§112 requires the filing to describe the invention fully enough that a skilled person could build it. This is the key thing a provisional must nail.70
Market value88 / 100
Market size90
Enforceability / detectabilityHow easy it would be to tell a competitor is infringing. A patent you can't detect being used is hard to enforce.84
Licensing & exit relevance86
1

Describe the weather-data calibration in depth. It's your strongest novelty, and a provisional only protects what it describes — detail now means stronger claims later.

2

Document the closed-loop feedback method step by step. It reads as distinct from the closest prior art and could support its own claim in the full application.

3

Spell out the calibration algorithm in the spec. A thin written description§112 written description: the filing has to teach the invention fully. A thin one is the top reason a provisional fails to support the full filing 12 months later. is the #1 reason a provisional can't support the full filing later.

4

Consider a trade secretA trade secret protects valuable, non-public know-how with no filing or expiry — but only as long as it stays secret. Good for things competitors can't reverse-engineer. for the sensor-fusion weighting. It's hard to detect in a shipped product, so a patent on it may be tough to enforce.

Every report is reviewed by our patent attorneys and IP analysts before it reaches you.
Pricinglaunch offer
One flat fee — no retainer

The verdict, the feedback, and help filing your provisional.

SAVE
$300
Grade my idea — launch price
$200$500+ USPTO filing fee

Everything above, plus help filing your provisional. The USPTO fee is separate — it goes to the government, not us.

Grade my idea
A service, not legal advice.
USPTO provisional fee — paid to the government
Large entity$325
Small entity$130
Micro entity (most solo founders)$65
Fees current as of 2026 and set by the USPTO. Confirm your entity status before filing — it changes what you owe.
For teams & invention programs

Patenting a pipeline, not one idea?

Run every disclosure through the grader and get a ranked shortlist of what's actually worth patenting — so your budget goes to the strongest inventions, not just the loudest ones. We offer pricing for multiple inventions; tell us about your pipeline and we'll scope it.

Contact us for pricing
Got a portfolio, not just one idea?

Trarian — the IP strategy firm behind this — does patent valuation and IP strategy for companies, with guidance from top IP executives.

Talk to Trarian →
Frequently asked questions
Straight answers

Before you start.

Is this legal advice?+

No. We give you a data-driven read and help you file a provisional — but we're not your lawyers, and this isn't legal advice. When you need an attorney, we'll point you to one.

What if you tell me not to patent it?+

Then you just saved real money and time. We'll explain why, and whether a trade secret protects you better. A clear "no" early beats an expensive "maybe" later.

What's a provisional, and why start there?+

It's a fast, low-cost filing that locks in your priority date — your place in line. You then get 12 months to decide on the full (non-provisional) application. It's the cheapest way to stake your claim.

Do you train your AI on my idea?+

No. Your submissions never go into our models. Beyond being the right thing to do, keeping your idea private helps protect your ability to file it.

Could using this hurt my ability to patent?+

No — we keep your invention confidential, and nothing you share with us counts as a public disclosure. That matters: disclosing an invention publicly before you file can start a clock (you generally get 12 months in the US) or bar a patent outright in many other countries. Keeping it under wraps protects your filing options.

Can you do the full patent too?+

We help you prepare and file the provisional. For the full non-provisional, we refer you to an IP attorney.

One idea. One answer.

Should you patent it? Find out for $200.

A real verdict in minutes — and help filing your provisional if it's worth it.

Grade my idea

Not legal advice · No attorney–client relationship · USPTO fees paid separately