This document discusses patent prior art searches and trademark searches. It defines a patent as an intellectual property granted to an inventor for a new, useful, and non-obvious idea, and a trademark as an exclusive sign identifying a particular product or service. It describes prior art searches as searches of all publicly available information related to a patent claim's originality, conducted to ensure the invention is new and non-obvious. The document outlines different types of prior art searches and notes that trademark searches are carried out through government trademark databases and can be interpreted by attorneys.