How to Make Your Own Patent Drawing and Save Thousands: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply

By Jack Koller

The full cost of filing and receiving a patent can be anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 depending on what you need to complete the process. For those who have spent their entire lives developing an idea and a patentable process, it can be incredibly frustrating to know you have to wait just that much longer to pay for the applications, legal forms, and most of all, the patent drawings necessary to move forward. This book has been designed to guide you in the process of developing and producing your own patent drawings in a manner that ensures you can skip over an entire overly expensive step in the process, designing your own drawings and moving that much closer to your patents. You will learn the basics of starting to draw and how to start using various perspectives to and drawing methods to capture real world objects. Learn perspective foreshortening and how to effectively use a pen, ruler, and other drawing instruments. Learn the basics of drawing with a computer and how to start using a camera to supplement your drawings. The best patent drawers in the industry have been interviewed and their advice is included in this guide to help you learn how they got started and what they recommend to effectively present your imagery to the Patent office.

Atlantic Publishing is a small, independent publishing company based in Ocala, Florida. Founded over twenty years ago in the company president’s garage, Atlantic Publishing has grown to become a renowned resource for non-fiction books. Today, over 450 titles are in print covering subjects such as small business, healthy living, management, finance, careers, and real estate. Atlantic Publishing prides itself on producing award winning, high-quality manuals that give readers up-to-date, pertinent information, real-world examples, and case studies with expert advice. Every book has resources, contact information, and web sites of the products or companies discussed.

This Atlantic Publishing eBook was professionally written, edited, fact checked, proofed and designed. You receive the same content as the print version of this book. Over the years our books have won dozens of book awards for content, cover design and interior design including the prestigious Benjamin Franklin award for excellence in publishing. We are proud of the high quality of our books and hope you will enjoy this eBook version.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Atlantic Publishing Group Inc.
• Release date: Jan 30, 2011
• ISBN: 9781601387417

Book preview

How to Make Your Own

Patent Drawings

and Save Thousands

Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply

By J.W. Jack Koller

How to Make Your Own Patent Drawings and Save Thousands: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply

Copyright © 2011 Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc.

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No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be sent to Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc., 1405 SW 6th Avenue, Ocala, Florida 34471.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Koller, J. W. Jack, 1947-

How to make your own patent drawings and save thousands : everything you need to know explained simply / J.W. Jack Koller.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60138-324-2 (alk. paper)

ISBN-10: 1-60138-324-X (alk. paper)

1. Patents--United States--Drawings. I. Title.

T223.U3K65 2010

608--dc22

2010012065

LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Web site is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Web site may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Web sites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.

Trademark disclaimer: All trademarks, trade names, or logos mentioned or used are the property of their respective owners and are used only to directly describe the products being provided. Every effort has been made to properly capitalize, punctuate, identify and attribute trademarks and trade names to their respective owners, including the use of ® and ™ wherever possible and practical. Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc. is not a partner, affiliate, or licensee with the holders of said trademarks.

A few years back we lost our beloved pet dog Bear, who was not only our best and dearest friend but also the Vice President of Sunshine here at Atlantic Publishing. He did not receive a salary but worked tirelessly 24 hours a day to please his parents.

Bear was a rescue dog who turned around and showered myself, my wife, Sherri, his grandparents Jean, Bob, and Nancy, and every person and animal he met (well, maybe not rabbits) with friendship and love. He made a lot of people smile every day.

We wanted you to know a portion of the profits of this book will be donated in Bear’s memory to local animal shelters, parks, conservation organizations, and other individuals and nonprofit organizations in need of assistance.

– Douglas and Sherri Brown

PS: We have since adopted two more rescue dogs: first Scout, and the following year, Ginger. They were both mixed golden retrievers who needed a home.

Want to help animals and the world? Here are a dozen easy suggestions you and your family can implement today:

Adopt and rescue a pet from a local shelter.

Support local and no-kill animal shelters.

Plant a tree to honor someone you love.

Be a developer — put up some birdhouses.

Buy live, potted Christmas trees and replant them.

Make sure you spend time with your animals each day.

Save natural resources by recycling and buying recycled products.

Drink tap water, or filter your own water at home.

Whenever possible, limit your use of or do not use pesticides.

If you eat seafood, make sustainable choices.

Support your local farmers market.

Get outside. Visit a park, volunteer, walk your dog, or ride your bike.

Five years ago, Atlantic Publishing signed the Green Press Initiative. These guidelines promote environmentally friendly practices, such as using recycled stock and vegetable-based inks, avoiding waste, choosing energy-efficient resources, and promoting a no-pulping policy. We now use 100-percent recycled stock on all our books. The results: in one year, switching to post-consumer recycled stock saved 24 mature trees, 5,000 gallons of water, the equivalent of the total energy used for one home in a year, and the equivalent of the greenhouse gases from one car driven for a year.

Dedication

Any dedication will leave out many people that helped form the thoughts that have been expressed in this book. To them, I do apologize. I must, however, thank those who have been most influential.

I thank my parents for the work ethic they imparted in me.

I thank Robert O’Dell of Central Piedmont Community College for guiding my early interest in this area and introducing me to George J. Soos.

I thank George J. Soos, also of Central Piedmont Community College, for being my teacher, my mentor, my colleague, and also my friend.

I thank Brian J. Hanaway for the phrase clear and unambiguous and showing me how that applied to industry.

And I thank Bill Caudle for consistent support.

To them, and the many others, I dedicate this book.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: What Is A Patent Drawing and When Is It Needed

Chapter 2: The Rules For Patent Drawings

Chapter 3: ANSI/ASME Y - 14 M 2009

Chapter 4: Two methods of Creating Drawings – Traditional and CAD

Chapter 5: Getting Started

Chapter 6: Time-Saving Techniques

Chapter 7: Orthographic Views

Chapter 8: Isometric Views

Chapter 9: Perspective Views

Chapter 10: Special Views – Sections, Partial and Detail

Chapter 11: Exploded Views

Chapter 12: Phantom Views

Chapter 13: Other Types of Illustrations

Chapter 14: Putting it All Together

Conclusion

Appendix A: A Comparison of CAD Systems

Appendix B: Drawing-at-a-glance Checklist

Glossary

Bibliography

Author Biography

Introduction

Many years ago, before I actually became involved with the patent drawing process, I worked with a gentleman who taught me the basis for any patent drawing in three simple words: Clear and unambiguous. Though his comments had nothing to do with the patent process, and especially not patent drawing, those three words are the best description of the proper way to create patent drawings in a manner that they will be accepted.

Purpose of the Book

The purpose of this book is to show people how to create their own patent drawings, therefore eliminating the cost of hiring a professional draftsperson. Although this may sound like an intimidating task, it is not as complex as it may appear. To create your own drawings, you simply need perseverance, a few tools, and knowledge of the rules and regulations for patent drawings. It is this book’s goal to provide you with a list of tools that you will need and the knowledge necessary to create the drawings. It will be up to you, the reader, to provide the perseverance.

How to Use This Book

To get the most out of this book, read it in its entirety before starting your first drawing. By doing so, you will save yourself time. Without understanding the total process of creating these drawings and the relationships between the various drawings and views, much of your work will need to be rethought and recreated. Therefore, I urge you to read the entire book first and refer to it again during your drawing process. This way, you will have a better feel for the entire process and save time in the long run.

This book has been designed for those who are unfamiliar with the formal drawing process. If you are familiar with creating the various types of drawings, it is still suggested that you read every chapter, because some of the processes for patent drawings vary slightly from the drawings used in industry. Every effort has been made to guide the reader through each phase of this process. Illustrations have been included to better explain each step of the process; you will have a much better chance of properly completing your patent drawings with these.

Utility and Design Patents

To understand what is needed in a patent drawing, we must first have an understanding of the different types of patents. For our purposes, there are two types of patents: utility patents and design patents. In each case the patent is submitted to protect the developer’s rights to the invention or design. A utility patent is generally used when describing a machine, mechanism, process, or new use of existing technology or compositions, such as biological materials, the manufacture of new medical drugs, and engineering materials. If the invention is a physical object, a process that is applied to a physical object, or a process that involves performing an action, such as a computer program, then it falls under the heading of a utility patent. A design patent protects the inventor on items where the design or graphics are a pertinent part of the actual device being patented.

Regardless of the type of patent, illustrations, also referred to as patent drawings, are considered essential to the patent documentation, formally known as disclosure. Virtually every patent submitted from the early 1800s has included one or more drawing or illustration. Since that time, it has become a standard with all patents. It is so common that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has its own drafting branch to check the quality of the drawings submitted. The few patents that have been issued without some type of drawing or illustration have all been process patents, or patents that use existing technology to produce a new result or provide a new method of obtaining the same result, though most of them have included at least a block diagram or two.

Though the idea of creating drawings may seem more than necessary for the description of your invention, remember the entire patent process has been developed to protect you, the inventor. The better you can describe your invention and its purpose, the more likely you are to be granted a patent. Drawings and illustrations can go a long way in providing this information.

Advantages of Creating Your Own Drawings

There are several major advantages to creating your own patent drawings. One of the most obvious is cost, but equally important are the time considerations and the security of your invention.

Much can be said about the cost of patent drawings. At one time, in the late 1960s, the cost of patent drawings could be as high as $350 per drawing. Due to changes in technology, and a larger skill base on which to rely, the cost has come down significantly. An average patent drawing should cost between $100 and $200.

In some instances, especially with complex exploded drawings, the cost can be higher. Because there are very few patents that could be successfully submitted with a single drawing, this cost often runs into the thousands of dollars.

Be cautious of online drawing offers. If you are seeking quality, beware of some Internet advertisers who claim to produce professional patent drawings. There are companies online that advertise patent drawings for less than $30 each. If you pay $30 for a drawing, do not expect a $200 drawing. The quality might be significantly less-than-acceptable to the United States Patent and Trademark Office. If the USPTO does not accept the drawings and requires a resubmission, you might have no recourse with these vendors. In addition, you will have to arrange for new drawings, on the USPTO’s schedule. This can get costly, as you will now be paying premium for a quick turn around. The premium paid to have the drawings created on your schedule can often double the price. In some instances, companies will allow customers to buy the shop, or use all their available resources until the drawings are complete. This is a very costly option, but might be the only available option to meet the USPTO’s schedule. For the quality that is required, you will rarely find bargains.

As you can gather from that caution, there is a right way and a wrong way to create patent drawings. This book aims to show you how to create drawings that will be acceptable to the USPTO. Remember, regardless of how great your invention is and how well it works, without a patent to protect it, you are giving the rights to produce the invention to anyone who wants to copy it. Filing a patent disclosure with the proper drawings and illustrations will protect your time and effort. Creating the drawings yourself will help in assuring the security of your invention.

The subject of time has already been mentioned repeatedly. When filing a patent, time is of the essence. The sooner the patent is filed, the sooner the inventor is protected. Patents are awarded for original ideas they have not seen before; therefore, the sooner the patent disclosure can be filed, the higher the likelihood of the patent being granted.

When you are using a third party to create the drawings, you are on their schedule. Your work is performed of the basis of their workload. You can pay premiums to help meet your goal, but these are often costly. That is an obvious time factor, but there is a time factor that is less obvious. Although you are very familiar with your invention, the people who will be creating the drawings are not. You will need to allow adequate time to explain the drawing to them. Often the time required to explain the invention far exceeds the time required to make the physical drawings. When you consider both the obvious and the less obvious time, you can see that it may be quicker to create your own drawings.

There is also the issue of security. Security is very important to your patent. There are companies that survive on stealing other people’s ideas. Many of these drafting or commercial drawing firms advertise regularly in magazines and on the Internet. They offer patent services and financial assistance to the inventor. In reality, they are seeking new products that can be profitable and they will assure that they manage to patent them first. This happens quite frequently, especially when dealing with offshore companies and agencies.

That is not to say that all companies offering assistance intend to steal your product. However, when it comes to a new invention, the best security is to discuss the invention with no one, at least until the patent application has been filed. This applies not only to those wishing to help you, but those to whom you turn for help. There are a number of contract manufacturers, most offshore, that can have your product on the market quickly. But only after they have produced and patented it in their own country. In working with a third party to create patent drawings, or for any other reason, you have lost much of your security and may reduce the success of gaining a patent.

Thus, there are three reasons why you should consider creating your own patent drawings:

1. There can be substantial cost savings.

2. Having the drawings done by a third party puts you on their time schedule, not the other way around.

3. Creating your own drawings maintains the security for your invention.

These should be reasons enough for the reader to tackle the task, however there is a fourth reason that is just as compelling — your personal satisfaction. This is the satisfaction you gain from completing the job without the assistance of others. By creating your own drawings they become another facet of your invention. With this in mind, take a better look at patent drawings and how to go about creating them, starting with what patent drawings are and when they are needed.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: What Is A Patent Drawing and When Is It Needed

One of the standard questions asked when preparing a patent application for the first time is Will I need drawings? I had an early mentor who had a better response to the question than I ever heard. No, you don’t need any drawings … unless you want the patent granted. For some reason, inventors are willing to spend weeks, even months, explaining their work in text, but have a reluctance to create simple drawings that can often provide a much better explanation.

What Are Patent Drawings?

The term patent drawings, for the purpose of this book, applies to any form of graphic included in your patent disclosure. This can include any number of items, ranging from a simple pie chart to very complex exploded mechanical drawings. The type and complexity of each drawing is dependent on what they illustrate. In short, patent drawings are illustrations that make the patent easier to understand.

A typical patent drawing, courtesy of a. b. Johnson, Inc.

There are many types of patent drawings. It is not unusual to see several different types within a single patent. To meet the standards for patent, each of these types has its own set of rules and regulations for use in presentation. As each type of drawing is discussed in detail, the rules and regulations that govern them will also be addressed.

Mechanical drawings

The most common type of drawing found in patent disclosures is a mechanical drawing. A mechanical drawing is a drawing made with tools, as opposed to one that is made by hand, which is called a sketch. Though there are many different tools that can be used, a straightedge, a compass, and a measuring device are always required. These tools, along with other tools used in mechanical drawing, will be discussed in Chapter 4. Due to the diversity of mechanical drawings, and because they are the most common form of patent drawings, a large portion of this book will be devoted to them.

Sketches

Sketches are freehand drawings that are often included with patent disclosures. These sketches can convey much of the same material as the mechanical drawings, but are done in a less formal style. Because of this, they are often considered informal drawings and usually require a more formalized version of the drawing for the patent disclosure to be accepted. Sketches are sometimes used as temporary illustrations, while formal drawings are being created.

Flowcharts

Any patent for a computer program will require a flowchart. A flowchart is a graphic that represents the various processes in the program. These flowcharts are created with a special set of symbols that will be discussed in Chapter 13. Flowcharts may also be used to show a process or procedure. For example, if a new process for making steel were being patented, a flowchart should be used to show the various steps in the process, in their proper order.

Diagrams

With the possible exception of mechanical drawings, diagrams make up the most common graphic included in the patent disclosure. Diagrams include many different types of graphics. Simple charts, such as a pie chart, are one type of diagram. Other types of diagrams could include schematics, organizational charts, and waveforms. These diagrams may also be used to show processes and procedures similar to the way flowcharts are used. In addition, by using chemical symbols, diagrams can be used to describe complex formulas and relationships among the elements.

Tables

Patent disclosures may also include tables. Tables are a graphical presentation of data. Often, a single table can provide more usable information on several items than multiple paragraphs of text. Tables are commonly used when comparing one item to another, or when comparing features on various models of the invention. In these roles, tables are very common in a patent disclosure.

Formal versus Informal Drawings

With the exception of the sketches, all of the above types of drawings are considered formal drawings. Sketches, and other drawings with minimal detail, are typically considered informal drawings — drawings that lack all the requirements for the patent disclosure. They are often used as placeholders while the formal drawings are being created. This, in general, is not a good idea. For minimal difficulty in receiving a patent, only formal drawings should be submitted with the disclosure.

For a drawing to be considered an informal drawing, it must meet the strict report requirements and rules set forth by the USPTO. The USPTO drafting branch determines if submitted drawings meet the standards and published reviews in all patent disclosures filed. Though some minor variances may be permitted, this department carefully studies each drawing to ensure it can be easily read and understood. For this reason, it is important that all drawings follow the rules set forth. These rules are discussed in Chapter 2.

When is a Patent Drawing Needed?

It is easy to say that every patent needs drawings and illustrations. These illustrations help provide support for the uniqueness of the patent and aid in the quick approval process. There are instances on record where the USPTO refused to grant a patent until sufficient drawings had been submitted. There are three basic rules for the determination of whether or not a drawing is necessary: clarity, complexity, and considerations.

Clarity

First is the rule of clarity, which states that any time a drawing or illustration will add clarity and understanding to the patent disclosure, the drawing should accompany it. Regardless of the complexity of the invention, illustrations and drawings will normally improve the clarity of the claim. Simply think of a common item, such as an inexpensive cell phone. How many words would it take to describe the face of this phone? Would it not be easier to understand if a drawing were included? This is an example of where an illustration will add clarity to the patent claim.

Complexity

Drawings can be used to clarify a complex mechanism or processes. The more complex an issue is, the more likely it will benefit from the use of graphic illustration. Once again, let us look at a simple example. The workings of the mechanical pocket watch are extremely complex. In this small object there are levers, gears, springs, and escapements. To describe how they interact with each other would take many paragraphs of discussion and still would leave the general public with minimal understanding of how these things work. However, the addition of a drawing that shows how the gears mate, where the levers and springs interact, and the placement of the escapement makes the arrangement of the these components much more understandable. It is true that the general public still may not understand how the watch functions, but they have a better idea of the complexity of the invention because of the drawing that was included with the explanation.

Design patent considerations

The final rule applies only to design patents. If a design or graphics are important parts of the patent claim, then the applicable design and/or graphics must be included in the patent disclosure. Because this type of patent is filed to protect the design or graphic, it would seem intuitive that the design must be included in the patent disclosure, but this has not always been the case. There are a number of design patents on file in which the applicant did not include an example of the design. Once again, consider the complexity of the simple design. In this instance, consider the trademark for the Hewlett-Packard Company. This trademark is a relatively simple rectangle, with a dark circular center and a stylized HP in the center of the circle. Although this describes the trademark, it would be impossible for anyone to duplicate that design from this description alone. Yet, once the actual trademark is shown, the design and image are easily understood and could be duplicated.

When considering these three rules, you can see that a patent drawing is needed in almost every instance. Whether you are submitting a utility patent or a designed patent, it is important to think in the terms of providing drawings to support the claim. Though you may understand the invention to the point where the drawings are not necessary, you must remember that the USPTO is seeing this invention for the first time. As such, you need to provide adequate information to ensure they understand the function and uniqueness of the invention. This is often best done with drawings.

Will more than one drawing be necessary?

The question then arises: Will the patent need more than one drawing? As the complexity of the invention increases, the need for drawings will increase. With simple inventions, a minimal number of drawings are required. The more complex an invention, the more drawings that are needed to better explain it. And remember, the term patent drawings also includes schematics, charts, diagrams, and tables. Very few modern patents are accepted with a single drawing. From the beginning, multiple drawings should be considered, and the number will be determined by the complexity of the invention or process being described.

What should be shown in a patent drawing?

Another way to approach the question of how many drawings are required is to