Can ChatGPT tell me if my idea is patentable?
You can ask any AI, and for understanding the law it's genuinely useful. But novelty (§102) and obviousness (§103) are decided by prior art — and a general chatbot can't search it. Ask "has this been done before?" and it will guess, or invent patent numbers that don't exist. Here's the honest difference:
| General AI chatbots ChatGPT · Claude · Perplexity · Gemini |
Patent PreCheck | |
|---|---|---|
| Explains patent law (§101 / §102 / §103 / §112) | Yes | Yes — runs on the same frontier models |
| Searches real prior art (granted patents, applications, worldwide) | No — can't retrieve it | Yes — 1,500,000+ real records |
| Surfaces specific references you can open | No — often invents patent numbers | Yes — links to the closest real prior art |
| Novelty & obviousness checked against actual documents | No — guesses | Yes — semantic match to real filings |
| Separate score per statute | No — one vague verdict | Yes — §101/§102/§103/§112 broken out |
| Calibrated to real USPTO grant/rejection outcomes | No — confidence is vibes | Yes |
| Examiner-style (looks for reasons you'd be rejected) | Tends to agree with you | Yes — adversarial by design |
| Consistent, repeatable result | Changes with how you phrase it | Same rubric every time; calibration layer is deterministic |
| Up to date with recent case law & USPTO guidance | Limited by training cutoff | Yes — daily legal-intel feed |
| Reviews your actual code / disclosure interactively | Partial | Yes — Interactive Code Review |
| Structured report you can act on & track | No | Yes |
| Cost & speed | ~$20/mo, general-purpose | Free score in < 60 sec · $69.95 review (no subscription) |
| Replaces a patent attorney | No | No — it's pre-filing triage, not legal advice |
| Bottom line | A confident guess | An evidence-backed score |
Prior-art corpus: 1,500,000+ indexed documents (USPTO, EPO, PTAB, scholarly & code sources). Score calibration and data sources: methodology · legal intelligence · sample report.
Same AI underneath. The difference is the evidence.
Sample report · Free vs paid · Methodology
Common questions
Can ChatGPT tell me if my idea is patentable?
ChatGPT can explain patent law, but it cannot search prior art — so it cannot reliably check novelty (35 U.S.C. §102) or non-obviousness (§103), and it may cite patent numbers that do not exist. Patent PreCheck runs on the same frontier models but grounds them in a corpus of real granted patents, examiner rejections, PTAB decisions, and worldwide filings, then scores your idea statute-by-statute and calibrates the result to real USPTO outcomes.
Are Claude or Perplexity good for checking if code is patentable?
They are useful for understanding the law and brainstorming, but like any general AI they have no retrieval over the patent corpus. They guess at novelty and obviousness instead of comparing your work against actual filings. Patent PreCheck surfaces the specific prior-art references closest to your invention and links to them.
What does Patent PreCheck do that a general AI chatbot cannot?
It searches a 1,500,000+ record index — including the applications that were rejected or abandoned and the examiner office actions behind them — surfaces the closest references and rejection patterns you can open, scores §101 eligibility, §102 novelty, §103 non-obviousness, and §112 enablement separately, takes an examiner-style adversarial view, and calibrates its scores to real USPTO grant and rejection outcomes.
Is Patent PreCheck a replacement for a patent attorney?
No. Patent PreCheck is a pre-filing assessment and triage tool, not legal advice. It helps you decide whether your idea is worth an attorney’s time and strengthens your disclosure before you pay one. A formal patentability or freedom-to-operate opinion still requires a licensed patent attorney.
How much does Patent PreCheck cost compared to ChatGPT?
The patentability score is free and takes about 60 seconds, with no account or card. The Interactive Code Review is $69.95 per invention, with no subscription required — versus a general AI subscription that still cannot search prior art.
Other paths: DIY search, drafting tools & attorneys
Beyond chatbots, developers usually weigh three more options: search databases yourself, use AI drafting tools, or go straight to a patent attorney. Patent PreCheck sits between DIY search and counsel — optimized for human conception documentation when you build with AI IDEs.
At a glance
| Capability | Patent PreCheck | DIY search (Google Patents, etc.) | AI drafting tools | Attorney consult |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input: raw source code | Core | No | Rare | If you bring it |
| §101–§103 pillar coaching | Interactive edits + live score preview | No | Claims/spec focus | Yes (billable hours) |
| Human inventorship documentation | Rubric + evidence uploads | No | Limited | Yes |
| Prior-art context in scoring | Yes (ingested corpus) | Manual keyword search | Varies | Professional search ($$) |
| Typical inventor cost | Free score; $69.95 review | Free–low | ~$50/mo+ | $8k–$17k+ to file |
| Legal advice | No — prep only | No | No | Yes |
When Patent PreCheck is the right first step
- You have working code (app, API, ML pipeline, infra) and want to know if it is worth attorney time.
- You used Cursor, Copilot, or Claude and need to document what you conceived vs. what the model generated.
- You want pillar-by-pillar fixes (Alice eligibility, novelty, enablement) before paying for formal drafting.
- You need a filing packet export to hand counsel — not a substitute for counsel.
When to skip us and go straight to counsel
- You already have a mature disclosure and need claims strategy, FTO, or litigation-grade opinions.
- Your invention is outside software (mechanical, biotech, chemical) — our coach is optimized for code.
- You need legal advice on assignorship, international filing, or enforcement.
Compare by tool
- vs AI patent drafting tools — screen-first vs Idea2PatentAI & PowerPatent
- Patent PreCheck vs PowerPatent — score-and-coach vs drafting wizard
- Patent PreCheck vs PQAI — USPTO pillar coaching vs open prior-art search
- Patent PreCheck vs Evalify — code coaching vs investor FTO reports
- Patent PreCheck vs Patentable.app — interactive review vs provisional drafting
- Patent PreCheck vs Google Patents — scored prep vs DIY keyword search
Related guides
- How to patent software before spending $5K on an attorney
- Provisional patents for software developers
- Patent vs trade secret for code
- Can my code be patented? — full builder guide
- AI-code patentability hub
- Case study — we scored our own codebase
- Sample report
Ready to score your code?