Richard Clark wrote:
"---patents don`t have to make sense."

A search to show the patent application is for something not already
patented is, I think, a part of the process.

This patent search may favor the impractical to the extent that sane
knowing people choose not to pursue the impractical, so no prior patent
may be found.

The patent office may issue a patent for a Yagi / Uda antenna in which
the director is longer than the driven element and the reflector is
shorter than the driven element.

Many patents either don`t work as claimed or have such limited utility
that they aren`t imitated.

Best regards, Richard Harrison, KB5WZI