Answers to common questions about invention disclosure stages, prior art search accuracy, patent committee workflows, and timing expectations.

📷 The Disclosures list view showing disclosures in various stages — Draft, Submitted, Under Review, Committee Review, and Approved — with columns for Title, Inventors, Stage, and Date

A disclosure moves through a defined set of stages: Draft, Submitted, Under Review, Committee Review, Approved, and Filed. Each stage reflects where the disclosure sits in your organization's evaluation process. ArcPrime tracks stage transitions automatically based on actions taken within the platform.

Yes. ArcPrime can customize disclosure stages to match your organization's workflow. Contact [email protected] to rename stages, add new ones, or remove stages that do not apply to your process.

ArcPrime's prior art search identifies relevant references across patent and non-patent literature. Results include cited references with relevance scores and element-level mapping so you can evaluate each result directly. Prior art search is designed to be thorough, but you should always review and validate the results before making filing or strategy decisions.

A full prior art search can take several hours depending on the breadth of the technology area and the size of the claim set. A progress indicator keeps you informed while the search runs. You do not need to keep the page open — ArcPrime will complete the search in the background and the results will be ready when you return.

ArcPrime supports configurable patent committee reviews. When a disclosure reaches the Committee Review stage, designated committee members receive a notification and can review the disclosure, prior art results, and AI-generated quality assessments. Committee members vote on whether to proceed, and the decision is recorded directly on the disclosure record.

Yes. Prior art search results, quality scores, and detectability predictions are all available to committee members during their review. This gives the committee the data they need to make an informed filing decision without leaving ArcPrime.

Run a prior art search as early as possible — ideally before the disclosure reaches committee review. Early prior art results help you and the committee evaluate novelty and make better investment decisions. You can also re-run a prior art search at any point if new information becomes available or claims change.

Yes. Inventors can log in to the Inventor Self-Service Portal to check the current stage of their disclosure, see whether signatures have been collected, and view awards status — without needing to contact in-house counsel.

Contact our support team at [email protected] or use the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of any ArcPrime page.