Patent drawing rules are complex and this is why it’s important to know these rules before you submit a drawing to the respective patent office. The important point that we need to consider while creating illustrations for patents is that, here, we have a set of rules which needs to be followed religiously. Simply, by not following these rules we may risk the rejection.
Creating drawing for patents is completely different from creating normal drawing because here a single line drawn in the drawing has some specific meaning and you can’t just any line without the purpose.
With this article, we have tried to underline some of the important patent drawing rules which a draft person should follow while creating patent drawings.
Important Patent Drawing Rules:
No feature should be left out: One of the most important patent drawing rules is that no feature mentioned in the claim should be left out. Failing to add all the features in a patent drawing could jeopardize your overall objective. For example, if you have a mobile handset and has many features it is important to mention each and every feature in the drawing clearly so that examiners can understand your concept. Every feature of the illustration should be properly documented with both text and drawing to assure that the patent examiner fully understands the feature of the item.
The size of the sheet should be as defined: Important patent offices like the U.S. PTO is very much concerned about the size of the sheet used in a patent drawing and thus it’s important for a draft person to exactly use the sheet size that is defined the respective PTO. Patent office like the U.S. PTO allows only two kinds of sheet size a) 21 cm x 29.7 cm which is also called as A4 size and b) 21.6 cm x 27.9 cm which is used throughout the United States.
Metric System should be used: Though patent offices like the U.S. PTO don’t prohibit draft persons from using English Measurement System, still, they encourage people to use Metric System which is the Universal accepted measurement system. Any dimension and sizing information presented in a patent disclosure must be given in metric inches preferably centimeters in case of small devices millimeters can be used.
Maintaining the basic level of neatness is important: Another important patent drawing rule that should be adhered to is maintaining the basic level of neatness. Even if you have mentioned every feature of the invention but is lacking the basic level of neatness you may risk the rejection. A patent drawing should be free from folds, crakes, holes and creases. Apart from these, it should also be free from strike through, over writings and alterations.
Maintain the basic level of readability: When it comes to patent drawing rules maintaining the basic level of readability is another important aspect that should be looked upon. It’s important for a draft person to take care of the spacing within words, between words and between lines which should be such that the resulting text is visually readable.
Simply by following these patent drawing rules we can ensure that our patent drawing doesn’t get rejected. However, it must be emphasized that these are some of the few rules there are many more rules those needs to be addressed while creating illustrations for patents.
Also Read: General Rules for Patent Drawing
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