No matter, whether you are creating a utility patent drawing or a design patent drawing, adhering to the rules put forth by the respective patent office is important. With rules being not followed, you are risking rejection of your patent illustration as well as the invention. Hence, it is important to know about patent drawing rules provided by various patent offices across the globe before making drawing for patents.
This article is an attempt to underline some of the important rules put forth by important patent offices like the USPTO about utility drawing so that applicant can increase the chances of their application being granted.
Rules for Making Utility Patent Drawing More Relevant
- Ensure putting as much description as possible: According to USPTO’s “no new matter rule,” applicants are not allowed to add new technical matters to the disclosure once the application is filed, thus it becomes very important for applicants to provide as much information as possible right at the beginning to enable a person skilled in the pertinent field to make and use the invention without effort or the need to invent.
- Include all the parts or elements mentioned in the specification: Another important rule for utility patent illustrations is to include all the parts or elements mentioned in the specification in the respective drawing. Putting it conversely we can say that every significant element/part of a drawing should be provided with a reference number and that should be discussed sufficiently in the description.
- Putting Dimensions is usually unnecessary: Including dimensions or angles of various parts in a utility patent drawing is not mandatory in case of utility patent drawing, thus applicants should refrain from using these dimensions in a drawing.
- Use metric systems for dimensioning: Though adding dimensions in a patent drawing is not needed in the first place, even then, if you feel adding angles can add some understanding to the invention you can add them. Unlike EPO which prefers English units like inches or feet, USPTO prefers metric systems like millimeters, centimeters, and meters.
- You can submit a prototype: If you don’t have an exact representation of your invention in place at the time of submitting your invention, you can submit a patent drawing which is a prototype of your actual invention. In other words, we can say that applicants have the liberty to provide an unfinished or rough model. For example, if your actual model has a part that was fabricated by attaching two or more elements it can be shown as a single integral part.
- Numbering Elements: All parts or elements in a utility patent drawing mentioned in the description and claims must be designated with reference numerals or characters. It must be clear to the patent examiner about what a specific reference number is all about
- Include as many views as possible: One of the most important ways to make your utility patent drawing more relevant is by including as many views as possible. There are many views that a draftsperson can include in their drawing for patents like orthogonal view, perspective view, exploded view, partial view, or sectional view. The reason for including as many views as possible is that using various views can add to the understanding of your invention.
Overview
A utility patent is granted to inventions that are machines, processes, or features. Explaining the functioning, attributes, and complicated process would be very difficult without drawings. Patent drawings play a major role in making the patent examiner understand what exactly the invention looks like and what are the special features of the invention that make it unique. Only the inventions and patent applications that can meet all the required pointers of a utility patent will get all the rights of an active patent.
It is therefore very important to add relevant drawings to the patent application that add much more meaning to it. They not only help in the profitability of the inventor by reducing the chances of the office action but also help in the growth by constant investment in R&D. Adding the right patent drawings that sufficiently adhere to the guidelines is very important to make the right patent application and get a patent.
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