How to conduct a patent search using AI

Before using AI to draft your patent, it is best to conduct a prior art patent search. This is how you can easily do it in 3 easy steps using AI:

1. Go to ChatGPT
2. Type “please help me conduct a patent prior art search“
3. Copy the following with details of your invention (in place of the example text):

1. What type of invention is this? (software, hardware, AI, mechanical, etc.) EXAMPLE: Mechanical

2. What problem does it solve? EXAMPLE: Providing light while cooking food on a barbecue

3. What makes it different from existing solutions? EXAMPLE: Existing barbecue tongs may include a torch, but the position of the torch on the tongs is not adjustable. The torch according to the invention is slidably connected to the tongs and may be moves along the tongs to vary the distance of the torch from the heat and to vary the width of the beam of light at the end of the tongs.

This is the search report that ChatGPT returns:

🚍 Bus/Transit Real-Time Arrival Systems

These don’t adjust an alarm, but they predict/announce real-time bus arrival times:

1. WO-2002/023507A2 – Bus arrival notification system
   A system that notifies passengers of approaching buses and estimates arrival times based on vehicle location data.
2. US6700506B1 – Bus arrival notification system and methods
   Similar technology that predicts bus arrival and alerts users when arrival is within an adjustable threshold.
3. US20070210936A1 – System and method for arrival alerts
   A system that predicts when a bus will arrive at a stop and alerts users accordingly, integrating vehicle position data with user interfaces.

What this shows: Real-time bus arrival prediction and alerting via devices/software has been explored in patents — although not specifically tied to alarm clocks yet.

⏰ Smart Alarm / Triggered Wake-Up Adjustments

These are technologies where alarm behavior is adapted based on external information:

4. US20130252591A1 – Smart alarm with dynamic adjustment
   Alarm time can be advanced/delayed based on external conditions like traffic delays on a user’s route.
   • The core idea: a smart alarm that adjusts wake time based on predicted delay information.
   • Not your bus case exactly — but very close in the concept of dynamic modification of alarm time based on real-world conditions.
5. US11594111B2 – Intelligent wake-up system
   A dynamic alarm that activates based on multi-criteria conditions (sensors, sleep state, etc.) and not just fixed time.
   • Again, not specific to transit, but shows the concept of alarms triggered by variable data.

📌 Interpretation for Your Invention

Your invention is a software application or system that:

• Monitors real-time bus arrival data for a selected route/stop; and
• Dynamically adjusts the wake-up time of an alarm accordingly.

What we see in prior art so far:

✔ There are bus arrival prediction/notification systems that compute real-time estimated arrival times (e.g., WO2002023507A2, US6700506B1, US20070210936A1).
✔ There are smart alarm systems that adjust wake time based on real-world data (e.g., traffic conditions).

🔎 But nothing yet exactly combines:

• Real-time transit arrival prediction with
• Automatic adjustment of a personal alarm clock’s wake time.

That combination may be novel — but you’ll need to refine the claims carefully to emphasize what is new over existing systems that already:

• Predict bus arrival (independent of alarms), and
• Adjust alarms based on dynamic (non-bus) conditions.

That was quick and easy and the results are useful!

What next?

After considering the prior art found by ChatGPT, you can use the same query to draft your provisional patent using AI.

AI makes conducting patent searches and drafting provisional patents extremely quick and easy.

Tip: Easily file your provisional patent online using GlobalIPCo ($49) or Iptica ($99).