Why are we doing this?

Patexia is trying to determine if a patent idea was known and publicly available before a certain date.

Think of yourself as a fact checker. We need your help understanding if this patent is the first time a combination of features has ever been published.

What’s the ideal submission?

An ideal submission will include:

a single argument about why the patent idea was known before the patent existed
a reference that was filed or published before a certain date
explained answers that cite published reference that prove how well the idea was known
proof that the reference generally describes the idea described in our questions

Specifically:

a single argument means that the entire submission is focused in proving the patent idea was known beforehand

an example is a submission with a single reference that is used to answer our questions
another example is a submission with three references that includes an explanation of how they were intended to be combined, and together are used to answer our questions

an example of what is not a single argument is a submission with multiple references, with no explanation as to how they should be combined

What’s the right date?

We’re looking for references that have been filed or published before a specific date. Anything too late, the reference is too recent to prove that an idea was known beforehand.

If you’re working with patents, here’s a great USPTO flowchart to help you figure out the effective filing date.

How do I get $?

For Prior Art Search contests, we will use a single contest prize pool distribution where:

we award winners/runners up and money based on the entirety of their submission
you can earn money if your submission is amongst the top ranked in the entire Contest

You are competing with your peers in submitting:

the best ranked argument and explanation for how well the idea or technology was known beforehand
the best ranked reference(s) in the entire Contest

Addition Reading

From the Blog: How to Submit Multiple References in a Contest