Using regex to match any character except =

I am trying to write a String validation to match any character (regular, digit and special) except =.

Here is what I have written –

    String patternString = "[[^=][\\w\\s\\W]]*";
    Pattern p = Pattern.compile(patternString);
    Matcher m = p.matcher(str);

    if(m.matches())
        System.out.println("matches");
    else
        System.out.println("does not");

But, it matches the input string “2009-09/09 12:23:12.5=” with the pattern.

How can I exclude = (or any other character, for that matter) from the pattern string?

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