Patent drawings aren’t just like other kinds of drawings. Patent illustrations aren’t intended to just show what an invention looks like. For utility patents, they need to be specific and detailed enough that someone “skilled in the art” can actually build the item described or use the method disclosed by...
Under US patent law, if an invention can be showing with a patent drawing or illustration, then at least one is required. According to the Manual of Patent Examining Procedures, drawings shall be required when they are necessary for the understanding of the invention. (2) Where, without being necessary for the understanding...
A recent case from the Federal Circuit illustrates the importance of comprehensive patent drawings when seeking the reissue of a patent. Under 35 U.S.C. 251, a patent can be reissued if the original patent is defective: Whenever any patent is, through error, deemed wholly or partly inoperative or invalid, by reason...
Inventors sometimes wonder, “How detailed and professional do the drawings in my patent application need to be?” The answer is, “VERY detailed and VERY professional – if you want to maximize the likelihood that your patent application will be granted.”