You can get a reasonable patent search for a few hundred dollars. An in-depth comprehensive search will cost more (around a $1,000).

But before you spend any money at all applying for a patent, reducing your invention to practice, or building an expensive prototype, you can start searching around all on your own.

Thanks to the internet, it is fairly simple to get started on your own patent search. The USPTO has a very detailed website with patent searching capabilities. Best of all, it is free. That is the number one place to begin your quest in determining if your invention is novel. The USPTO