Patentability assessment is a vital step prior to filling to avoid any possible rejection by the PTO. The process evaluates the effectiveness of the patent to assess if it is novel, non-obvious and possesses utilitarian advantage. The novelty of the invention, in its claims of originality, must be unique and there must exist no prior art disclosures by the inventor either through sales of the invention or third-party demonstrations without protecting its confidentiality.

The inventive aspect of the proposed idea should not be apparent or easily deduced either by a collocation of facts in prior art documents or a sum of these prior art documents. The invention in question must also possess specific and substantial utility and be operable in its real-world applications. In case of issues with any of these aspects, an assessment can help identify the steps needed to address them in the application and make the claims eligible.

Failure to satisfy any of the above criteria would risk facing rejection and have serious implications due to lost time and expenses incurred while preparing and filing patent applications. Hence its best completed during the ideation phase.

The granting of a patent brings with it absolute monopoly to create and further develop products in its domain thereby exponentially increasing the chances of turning an idea into a multimillion-dollar business. Even in the absence of options to commercialise the idea, a good patent strategy can help procure a license creating an opportunity to collect licensing fees from companies who can develop the idea into a commercial commodity. However, the lack of such viable information about key competitors and weak patent strategies can trigger a cascade of losses hurting both current and future research and development potential.