Patent Drawing Services - First Light Law

Introduction

Patent Drawing Services (PDS) are an important link in the patenting process that provide services of making patent drawings, an important element of the patent description and the patent application. Their role is to support the inventors by providing professionally prepared patent drawings that describe the essential details of the invention in an appropriate and correct manner as required by the Patent offices like United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) or European patent office (EPO) or Patent Cooperation Treaty application (PCT).

Patent and patent application

Patent, a legal document that protects the interests of the inventors by stopping others from making, using or selling the invention. Patent can be obtained by the inventor through strenuous mental and physical efforts, devoting valuable time and sleepless night spent in bringing out the invention (sometimes months and years), scarce financial resources and any other resource input needed to develop the invention. You can obtain patent by either doing it yourself or approaching patent attorney or patent agent. Patent application, among other elements like claims, detailed description (or specifications), background, abstract and summary, has an important element of drawings, which are to be attached at the time of filing the patent. By this way you can save money but needs to invest time also as patent is specialized legal document and experts can get better protection which can stand in court of law. Or approach patent attorney specialized in the domain of invention that you have.

Patent Drawings

Patent drawing is systematic, scientific and detailed display of the essential details of the invention or the process developed by the inventor. It is an important part of the patent description. Patent specification is a written description of the invention stating the manner and the process of making and using it. Patent description may take few lines to few pages to explain the patent and its claims appropriately but still may lack to describe it fully. Drawings explains the patent, its internal components and shape, materials of construction and even bill of materials by providing part numbers that goes in the computer memory for quick retrieval. Drawing are concise and comprehensive creation that makes things to its readers simple bringing clarity to the invention and the meaning expected to be conveyed.

What is special about patent drawings?

Patent drawings are not just any drawings. They are carefully planned, drawn and presented in a systematic manner to provide clear description of the invention. According to the World Intellectual Patent Organization (WIPO) Patent Drafting Manual, patent drawings are the most important after the patent claims (WIPO). Some of the patent laws require that that every claimed element should be shown in the drawing that should explain the invention in sufficient details. Patent drawings should narrate the story of the description of the invention in a visual, simple to understand sufficient details, parts, process for understanding the invention. Drawings should provide appropriate level of disclosure about the invention to enable grant of patent and at the same time should not provide information that can endanger the invention itself.

The size and quality of paper, the ink to be used in drawing the figures, the size of the letters, the size and place of the arrows in the drawing should meet the standards laid down by the patenting authorities. The contents written on the drawings should be at proper place and should be short yet conveying the message properly. Right symbols, right numbering of the parts and the right types of drawings with plan, elevation and side views as may be required should be use in the patent drawing. Good drawings describe the patent properly detailing the components, their size and shape, functional and operational aspects in such a manner that an average skill person is able to understand the invention. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) specifies all such requirements for making the patent drawings such as the size of the sheet on which the drawing is made, the type of paper, the margins, and the other details. The patent drawings are most appropriately made by specially trained draftsman using right tools and soft wares. You can refer to full list of rules at https://invention-patent-drawings.com/patent-drawings-rules/

The Patent Illustration Service Providers

The Patent Drawing Service Providers (PDSPs) are the specialized agencies who are experts in making patent drawings using modern, very costly and difficult to afford tools and soft wares. They use paid tools for making the patent drawings, whenever needed. They are experts about the patenting process and rules of different patenting authorities. They have the experience in dealing with the patent examiner’s requirements. They exactly know what should be put in the patent drawing about the invention and also what is to be avoided. They produce, simple, comprehensive, complete, effective and compliant drawings. They are experts in effectively responding to the objections from the patent office and can correct the rejected drawings.

When to hire Patent Drawing Service Provider?

It is always better to assign the preparation of patent drawings to PDSPs, who will assist the inventor to plan the type of drawings needed, the number of drawing sheets to be used in preparing the drawings correctly and accurately describing the patent. The involvement of PDSP is needed right from the time of writing the description of the patent. PDSP should understand the invention in detail and present the ideas into the patent drawing clearly highlighting the patent claims.

Is hiring a Patent Drawings Service Provider cost effective?

Although many inventors may be hesitant initially to hire the PDSP for the purpose purely on cost considerations, but hiring a right PDSP can save lots of time. The time saving comes from faster and correct preparation of drawings that meets the requirements of the concerned patenting authority. Even if one query is raised by the patent examiner or the patent application is rejected due to inadequacies of the drawings, the additional cost to the inventor will be many times higher than the fees to be paid to the PDSP for providing the service. The total cost of preparation of patent drawings by the PDSP is very low and cost effective.