What is Prior Art? An Explanation of What it Means in Patent Law

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Mr. Mehra would like to know, what is prior art? Is public for use or on sale, or a website with the same idea of my invention can be counted as prior art?

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Yeah, great question. Prior art is a technical term used in patent law. And ignore the term art, because it doesn't, you know, it’s kind of misleading. It's not like there's these beautiful pictures or anything like that. Prior art is any printed document that shows that your idea is not unique. It could be counted as prior art. It can be a page out of an encyclopedia or a book. It doesn't have to be a patent. Prior art can be a website, it can be an advertisement from a catalog; it doesn't matter. Anything that shows that the idea is not new is prior art.