Special Edition
Finding resources for information regarding patent drawing rules can be frustrating. Much of the information refers to out-of-date methods, like hand drawings using ink pens on board. It is hard to imaging creating any type of mechanical/technical drawings today without the use of CADD (software application for computer aided design and drafting). Most skilled patent draftspersons today are practicing in CADD.
The USPTO (US Patent and Trademark Office) is now setup to accept on line filing and, most applications are filed digitally. However, a single, comprehensive source for rules for digital art is almost nonexistent. Filing applications with drawings on-line is the best way to file because there is no degradation in their quality. Even with high resolution printing, degradation occurs when drawings are scanned and copied.
The rules for patent drawings can be found in many places, but much of the information is vague and contradictory. The Guide for filing a design patent application on the USPTO website has samples of drawings to indicate how shading should be applied. We find these shading samples to be very poor. There are drawings with no shading at all while others are simply wrong. Some show, a cross sectional view with shading, contradicting their own rule that cross sectional views should not have shading.
Even with these issues, we feel the best sources for patent drawing information, published by the USPTO are:
- “Consolidated Patent Rules, Title 37 – Code of Federal Regulations Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights” (Extracts regarding drawings is in a PDF for your convenience)
- “Manual of Patent Examining Procedure” (MPEP) (Extracts from chapter 1500 regarding drawings is in a PDF for your convenience)
- “Manual of Patent Examining Procedure” (MPEP) (Extracts from chapter 600 regarding drawings is in a PDF for your convenience)
- “A Guide to filing a Design Patent Application”
Most information about patent drawing rules is derived from these two documents.
For PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) drawing rules, there is a limited amount of information at www.wipo.int.
Foreign filing drawing rules can sometimes be found by searching on-line by the country and entering patent office. This is also often vague so we sometimes try contacting individuals at the patent office’s themselves or patent lawyers in those countries.
Of course you can always contact us. We are a professional drafting firm and stay current with regulations & rules for USPTO, foreign filings, and PTO drawing updates.
We’ve done over 5,000 patent drawings. We know the rules and are happy to help you get your drawings prepared correctly. If you have any questions please contact us.
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