Defensive publishing is the intentional and purposeful publication of innovation into the public domain. It is a cost-effective IP strategy that discloses aspects of your invention so it becomes prior art. Defensive publication of technical disclosures gives you an advantage—one, protecting your right to use your innovations, and two, strengthening your IP strategy. Our comprehensive, cost-effective defensive publishing solutions can be used individually or collectively to minimize risks and maximize your competitive position. Dramatically increase the odds that patent examiners will find and cite your prior art.
Publishing Benefits

Early publication in a patent office can take 14 weeks to process, which can impact when it applies as prior art with respect to foreign countries putting your global freedom to operate at risk. Publishing to our Prior Art Database takes minutes.
Freedom to Operate
Safeguard your Freedom to Operate by publishing technical disclosures to the Prior Art Database, making them available instantly.
SEARCH Prior Art WITH INNOVATIONQ
Search the world’s leading publicly accessible source of Prior Art to find published technical disclosures, validate your ideas and reduce unnecessary innovation expenditures.
Editing Services
Save time and effort by having our team generate the strongest, most defensible disclosures possible. Our technical editors are among the best in the industry, with niche expertise that helps them craft clear, accurate, novel disclosures.
Incentivizes Innovation
Defensively publishing incentivizes engineers and R&D team resources to increase innovation rates.
Secure Freedom to Operate
Defending mission-critical innovations starts with publishing, transforming technical disclosures into time-stamped Prior Art. Publishing to the Prior Art Database with InnovationQ makes it easy for anyone to understand their Freedom to Operate, enabling entities to allocate time, money, and resources more efficiently.
Defend your innovations quickly and cost-effectively
Publishing to our Prior Art Database with InnovationQ can be done instantly for a nominal fee, minimizing infringement risk and providing strategic cover during the patent filing process. Published Prior Art also reduces unnecessary prosecution and filing expenses.
Block the competition from getting patents
As soon as a technical disclosure is published to our Prior Art Database with InnovationQ, it is considered Prior Art, immediately creating a protective moat around your innovation. This buys critical time to further develop and commercialize your ideas—and stay ahead of competitors.
Prepare Your Best Defense
Start Your Prior Art Journey
It’s advantageous to patent your core differentiating technologies. However, you can save time and money by defensively publishing your non-core, non-commercial operational innovations as prior art to prevent competitors from obtaining patents on your inventions. By defensively publishing the idea in our Prior Art Database with InnovationQ, you place it in the public domain and make it prior art. Start your Prior Art journey with a search of the industries most comprehensive database.
Publish your best document with our Editing Services
IP.com’s copy editing services provide structural, mechanical, and defensive publication-focused reviews of your disclosures. Lifting the burden off your inventors, our team produces clear, concise, and discoverable descriptions of their innovations.
Start Defensively Publishing
The voucher fee includes:
- Online publishing of your document in the IP.com Journal
- Paper printing of bibliographic information and abstract in the IP.com Journal
- Electronic reproduction of your disclosure in the optical disc included with the IP.com Journal*
You’ll need a publishing voucher for each disclosure you submit to our Prior Art Database with InnovationQ. Get started publishing quickly by buying a voucher below:
*If you want to print your disclosure in full in the IP.com Journal, you’ll also need to create an account, log in and purchase a one-page print voucher for each printable page of your primary disclosure file.
Defensive Publishing News & Resources
The Impact of a Monopolized Economy on Innovation—And Why It Matters Now More Than Ever
From the ongoing antitrust battle between the U.S. government and Google to the European Union’s crackdown on Big Tech, the conversation around monopolies is heating up. In today’s fast-paced global economy, where artificial intelligence, biotech, and green energy are at the forefront of technological advancement, the role of competition has never been more critical. Innovation drives progress, but when a handful of companies dominate entire industries, it doesn’t just slow things down—it can fundamentally reshape the future of technology, business, and consumer choice.
2025 Patent Trends: Challenges and Innovations Shaping the Future of Technology
As we head into 2025, several key topics and concerns related to patents and innovation are drawing attention due to their impact on industries, technology, and global policy. As industries and policymakers look toward the new year of innovation, several critical issues are shaping the global innovation landscape. These concerns not only highlight challenges but also underscore opportunities to accelerate innovation, improve accessibility, and foster collaboration.
DesignCon 2025: Don’t Miss IP.com’s Exclusive Drop Event
IP.com is excited to participate in DesignCon 2025, the leading conference for chip, board, and systems design engineers, happening January 28–30 in Santa Clara, CA. Known for its focus on high-speed design and signal integrity, DesignCon attracts the brightest minds in electronic design to explore the latest advancements in technology. This year, we’re bringing something special—a can’t-miss drop event that promises to take your DesignCon experience to the next level.