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REASON FOR CONDUCTING A SEARCH & ASSESSMENT
 
The patent office will conduct a due diligence review of a proposed invention (as described in a patent application).
The will test and determine whether or not your invention is unique (novel and not obvious) when they compare your proposed invention against technical publications.
To improve your probability of success for gaining approval, your invention should provide a solution to a particular problem that is not resolved by the existing publications.
Conducting and preparing a patentability opinion report (an invention analysis report) is important.
The patentability opinion report, with reasonable probability, identifies whether your concept is or is not a patentable invention (if your concept is patentable, the report provides a written description of the difference between your concept and the existing publications.
The patent office will approve your proposed invention if your propose invention is different (unique: novel and not obvious) in comparison to at least one existing publication (such as, technical articles, etc.), or to a combination of two or three existing publications.
Until you understand what is described in the existing publications, you have absolutely no way of knowing the difference between your proposed invention and the existing publications, and more importantly, you have no way of knowing (with reasonable confidence) whether the patent office will approve your application.
The patentability opinion report can help you identify the written description of your proposed invention (if any) that the patent office would approve.
Frequently, I hear from inventors that they have never seen anything like their invention on the market, so they know there is nothing that could stand in their way of obtaining a patent. While this may seem logical, this position may not be entirely true.
It is always wise to do the patentability opinion report, and then decide whether to prepare and file a patent application based (to improve your opportunity to gain allowance). 

For more information, please see this report: What is the Probability of Receiving a U.S. Patent?

Abstract - Many experts have suggested that the USPTO approves nearly all applications, blaming this apparent leniency for many problems with the U.S. patent system. This empirical study follows the prosecution histories of 2.15 million U.S. patent applications from 1996 to mid-2013 in order to find what proportion of patent applications are eventually granted, and then discusses implications of the findings for inventors, policymakers, and legal scholars.

Citation: Carley, Michael; Hegde, Deepak; and Marco, Alan (2015) "What is the Probability of Receiving a U.S. Patent?," Yale Journal of Law and Technology: Vol. 17 : Iss. 1 , Article 5. 

Available at: http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/yjolt/vol17/iss1/5

http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1113&context=yjolt