Fred Cisin wrote: Items in fictional works can count as prior art even for a utility patent (which is presumably what you meant by "REAL"), provided that the fictional item encompasses the patent claim. In other words, if a cellular phone patent claim was worded "A handheld communication device having a hinged cover, where the device is activated when the cover is opened, and deactivated when the cover is closed", then the "communicator" from the original Star Trek television series would be relevant prior art to invalidate the patent claim, because even though the communicator didn't really exist, it demonstrates that someone had come up with the idea described in the patent claim. On the other hand, if there is a dependent claim such as "The handheld communication device of claim 1, in which the communication occurs via a time-division multiplexed UHF radio signal", the Star Trek communicator is not prior art for that claim, because we were never told how the Star Trek communicator actually works.