An Inside Look on Drafting Patent Applications for Your Invention
Take some of the mystery out of drafting patent applications for your invention by checking out this complete guide. Discover everything you need to know to create a patent application that goes the distance.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a record 320,003 utility grant patents in 2017. This figure represents a 5.2% growth over the record numbers witnessed in 2016.
All indications point to an increase in the number of invention patents and successful applications over time. While many inventors would like to be part of these numbers, they know little or nothing about how to draft patent applications.
Knowing how to draft a patent is critical to your application’s success.
Here’s everything you need to know about drafting patent applications.
What Is Patent Drafting
Patent drafting refers to the process of writing up a description of a patent and its claims. While the process does involve the writing of a description, do not mistake it for a business plan.
Neither is it an essay that outlines what the invention is about in detail. Not only is an essay or a business plan not a patent draft, it also isn’t consequential to the application process.
An Attorney Is Necessary
An attorney is an invaluable addition to the application process. He/she needs to know all aspects of your invention up to the present moment. The information he/she receives should include;
- A thorough description of what the invention is
- A breakdown of the claims that make it beneficial and valuable
- An explanation of what makes it stand out from similar processes or products
Choosing to pursue the process without an attorney only increases the chances of rejection.
The web of USPTO regulations, laws and policies call for an expert hand through the process.
One should, however, practice some discrimination in their choice of attorney. Always hire an experienced attorney who specializes in patent law to represent you. Juhasz Law is a prime example of a law firm that can grant you such services.
Familiarize Yourself with the Parts of a Patent Draft
Learning how to patent an invention may involve you taking some initiative to learn the guidelines given by ISPTO. You can get an intricate explanation on drafting a patent in Title 37 .
Title 37 (The code of federal regulations, patents, trademarks, and copyrights).
A non-provisional draft, as stipulated by the ISPTO contains 13 sections while a provisional one contains 6 sections. An understanding of all the procedures involved will supplement the legal advice you get from your attorney.
The Process in Drafting Patent Applications
The early stages will require you to liaise with your attorney and the draftsman as follows;
The Invention Disclosure Contract
You as the inventor will complete an invention disclosure contact provided by your attorney. The completion of this document will allow you to explain to your attorney what your invention is about.
Have a detailed and exhaustive explanation to ensure your attorney understands all there is to know. Your attorney will now start drafting the patent application beginning with the draft claims.
The Making of Drawings
Once you capture the invention’s scope in the draft claims, drawings come into play. Bringing a draftsman on board to make several drawings to further explain what the invention is about is critical.
The second purpose of the drawings is to distinguish your invention from any other existing ones. You need several extra drawings to display the distinctions that exist between the inventions.
Necessary Changes
Deliberations with your attorney and draftsman could lead to making some changes to the scope of the claims. The changes are more often than not necessitated by two reasons.
One could be a need to create more distinctions between your inventions and other existing ones. The change could also be the result of an expanded understanding of the invention’s utilities.
Writing the Patent Description and Abstract
The patent description comes immediately after the draftsman makes the drawings and all other necessary changes dealt with. The description outlines every element of patent claims in detail.
An abstract contains a listing of all the key elements of your invention. All elements need a concise description and together serve as a summary.
Writing the abstract requires that you use language that is as simple as possible. What follows next is the review process.
The Importance of Clear Writing
You should strive to use language tersely and economically while writing the application. The goal here is to get the message across in the clearest way possible.
The fact that the summary paragraph needs to capture everything about the invention means the challenge for you is brevity. Don’t use sentences that are verbose and elaborate as they go against what you are trying to achieve here.
Long sentences and passive voice will not serve your cause either. What you should do instead is use choice phrases that articulate your ideas clearly.
How Will an Application That Is Hard to Read Affect You?
An application that is difficult to read might lead to a denial or your application failing to receive a thorough allowance. An examiner/ patent clerk would ideally understand your claim but the difficulty of understanding the language in your claim impedes their work. The time that should be spent patent searching will be spent trying to understand what you are saying.
Poor writing can also harm you during litigation. Unclear writing is open to multiple interpretations and will conveniently serve the interests of the other party to the case. Clear writing ensures there’s no confusion.
Do a Thorough Review
You and your lawyer should set a final meeting to go over the application one final time. A thorough review will iron out all language issues and fix other small errors.
Bring up any concerns you might have for clarification by your attorney. The process of drafting patent applications is far from easy and it’s essential that you start on the right foot.
Get All the Help You Need
The process of drafting patent applications usually has a startup or a business in mind. It could be that you have a business already. Should that be the case, we’re certain you’d appreciate resources that make every aspect of doing business easier.
Moreover, you’ll get an opportunity to be a part of an that promises more benefits. We offer all these services and much more. .
