The Limited Monopoly: Patent Drawings - Knowing …

1 The Limited Monopoly . Patent Drawings - Knowing the Standards by Robert Gunderman, PE and John hammond , PE. The Requirements Drawings in hard copy. Black and white line Drawings , when done United States Patent law1 states that the applicant shall furnish a properly, are always accepted. drawing where necessary for the understanding of the subject matter Photographs are not ordinarily permitted in utility and design Patent to be patented. This does not say that a drawing is required, but applications, but if photographs are the only practicable medium usually (not always) a good set of Drawings is essential for a complete for illustrating the invention, they may be accepted.

2 However, if disclosure and hopefully a strong Patent . Conversely, a Patent the subject matter could also be application without Drawings may described by way of a black and su er rejections during prosecution white line drawing, the Examiner that are insurmountable. There are will require that the photograph be exceptions of course; for example, replaced with a line drawing. It is some chemical cases do not need more rare that color photographs Drawings to be fully understood. are permitted. The requirements An Examiner in the USPTO. for both color Drawings and can even require Drawings upon photographs must be met in review of a drawingless application.

3 Order for color photographs to be However, if the Drawings that are permissible. then submitted after the ling date contain new matter not disclosed Drawings may be submitted on in the speci cation, the Drawings 8 x 11 inch or size A4 paper, will be objected to, and may or in the equivalent pdf format ultimately be denied entry into the in electronic form. There must application. Knowing a few details also be margins of 1 inch top, 1. about Patent drawing standards will inch left side, 5/8 inch right side, help in preparing a good disclosure and 3/8 inch bottom. Views of and a resulting complete Patent the invention must be clearly application.

4 Depicted and grouped in a logical way. Exploded and partial views This article presents some of the can be provided with very speci c basics of Patent Drawings , but is formatting. For example, a cross intended to be a brief overview only. sectional view must be depicted The standards for Patent Drawings with a broken cut line and are stringent, and can be found in designated with Arabic or Roman the Manual of Patent Examining numerals corresponding to the Procedure, section view. Cross hatching must also be used to depict the cut areas. United States Shading can be used if it aids in Utility Standards understanding the invention and There are two acceptable categories does not reduce legibility.

5 For presenting Drawings in both utility and design Patent applications Text in a Patent drawing should in the : black and white line be avoided, with the exception Drawings and color Drawings . Color of owcharts and diagrams that Drawings are not de facto accepted as necessitate text. The various parts a matter of right. A petition (with of the invention depicted in the a related fee) must be submitted by Drawings should not be labeled the Applicant explaining why the with text, but rather, reference color Drawings are necessary for characters (preferably numbers).

6 Understanding of the invention. that use lead lines between the The petition may be approved or denied after review. In addition, reference character and the details referred to. Lead lines can be there are very speci c ways in which color Drawings must be led straight or curved, and should be as short as possible and not cross including, for example, the submission of three sets of the color other lead lines or be confusing with drawing lines. All numbers, 10 | The ROCHESTER ENGINEER | JANUARY 2011 The Limited Monopoly letters, and reference characters must measure at least 1/8 inch and must be observed.

7 Rule of the Patent Cooperation in height. The weight of all lines and characters must be heavy Treaty speci es requirements for Drawings in an international enough to allow for adequate reproduction. Oftentimes the default application. Drawings in a PCT application must be black and line weight in many drawing software packages is too light to be white line Drawings , similar to those in the However, color acceptable. Drawings are not to be done with a speci c scale, and Drawings are not permitted. Letter and number height shall not notations such as actual size or scale are not permitted.

8 Be less than cm. The Drawings must be on A4 size paper, and each sheet must be numbered in addition to gure numbers; for There are many rules to be followed when drafting utility application example, 1/9, 2/9, and the like. Drawings , only a few of which are mentioned here. Frequently, a Patent application will require speci c items to be considered in Tools the Drawings , and compliance with the standards published in the While we have advocated the use of 3D modeling tools to render MPEP is important. If the Drawings are not acceptable upon ling, an invention and then create 2D Patent Drawings from the model3, the USPTO may issue a notice requiring that corrected drawing two dimensional CAD software, or even pen and ink may be used sheets be submitted within two months to avoid abandonment so long as the standards are met.

9 Once a set of Patent Drawings of the application. Sometimes, however, the Drawings are not is properly prepared, there are various procedures for ling the objected to until the Patent application is examined. In this case, Drawings , revising them, and dealing with prosecution matters the Examiner requires drawing corrections be made as part of related to the Drawings . The information presented in this article an O ce Action. If corrected Drawings are not received in the will not make you a good Patent illustrator, but may highlight speci ed time period, the application becomes abandoned for some of the more important things to be aware of.

10 Failure to reply. Poor quality Drawings therefore create additional costs and may compromise your Patent position. 1. 35 113. Provisional Patent Application Drawings 2. The Limited Monopoly, November 2007. Filing Provisional Patent applications can be led with informal International Patent Applications: Tuning In to the Drawings . While the USPTO no longer considers Drawings Patent Cooperation Treaty. Reprints may be obtained at formal and informal ( Drawings are now either acceptable or not under acceptable), a provisional Patent application is not examined, and the topic International Patent Applications.