General Factors

The commercial appraisal does not involve detailed patent searches, but a quick search can be done for possible conflicting prior art. The results of this search will not necessarily confirm whether or not your idea/invention is already known, but if the search does reveal something which is similar to your invention, it could certainly show that you do not have a patentable invention.

A more thorough search can be undertaken when working on an idea or invention as a project, and an estimate for the cost of any such searches can be provided for the inventor, beforehand.