Google has created a new search tool that will help people to assess their chances of success with obtaining a patent. In order to obtain a patent, it must be novel (ie not already form part of the state of the art), contain an inventive step (ie not be obvious to a skilled person), be capable of industrial application and not fall within one of the exclusions (eg be a pure business method or mathematical method). One of the hardest things for a budding inventor to know is whether someone has already done something similar. Google’s new “Prior Art Finder” search engine will help people to see what else is already out there by searching various sources in one go, including by pooling information from various patent offices.