A State of the Art search is a special collection limited to recent inventions. It is often the case that an inventor or company is interested in recent developments in the patent art relating to a specific area of interest. For instance, there is currently much interest in electric cars due to increasing costs of foreign oil and rising gas prices. Electric cars were invented over one hundred years ago and have failed to meet drivers expectations. The limiting fact in acceptance of the electric car is driving range, recharging infra-structure and cost.
An inventor wanting to make a real contribution to society might be interested in developing a low cost, high energy density battery for use in powering electric cars. A state of the art search would uncover recent developments in this area of interest. Recent developments might be defined by the inventor as being limited to the last five years.
