A brief overview of design drawings
A drawing/ design is the most important component in the patent application and that too also helps to better understand the application drafted by a common man . Moreover, patent law also makes it mandatory to have a drawing in the patent application that also helps to convince the examiner and also expedites the whole process . It is also necessary to understand the importance of design drawings first of all it is a very complex process.
For instance ,there are two main objectives first of all we have to differentiate it from the already existing inventions which is therefore referred to as the prior art .That is it has to be taken into consideration that the invention needs to be non-obvious and, we should always make sure that it should comply with certain predefined standards that are set out by the patent offices.
The patent drawings are in correspondence with the patent claims as per the patent drawing rules .High quality drawings /diagrams and illustrations are one of the most important component of the detailed patent application because it helps in achieving the same core objectives and that too in one go.
What does patent application actually do?
A high quality invention helps to clearly Capture the differences and novelty of the invention more clearly. Moreover, it will also help you to support the requirements more simply and effectively. That’s why patent drawings are considered to be an inevitable part of the patent application because it helps in achieving the application in one go. A high quality invention helps in capturing the differences and novelty of the invention very clearly.
What are the requirements of the design drawings?
The drawings include both utility patent and design patent illustrations. For instance, the law also requires that the drawings should be in a particular form and the requirements do vary from location to location depending upon the jurisdiction. Design drawings act as a visual material that supports the invention. Depending upon the type of invention it can use tables, chemical or mathematical formulas, graphs, waves of electrical signals and symbols.
What are the types of patent drawings?
Patent drawings can be of the following types such as utility, electronic, mechanical, drawing exploded, drawing graph, flow chart schematics, sectional views and perspective views.
What are the requirements that need to be fulfilled while filing the patent application in India?
For filing the patent application in India ,the drawings need to be submitted in accordance with the provisions of rule 15, provided that in the case of the full specifications it is sufficed to refer to them in the full specification as those that have been mentioned in the provisional application.
What are the requirements that have to be met while you submit a design drawing?
- The drawings must be in compliance with the specifications to which they are being referred.
- You need to make atleast one copy of the drawing on neat ,tidy and durable paper.
- You need to draw the design drawing on A-4 sheets of paper with a free margin of at least 4 cm at the top and left and 3 cm at the bottom and right of each sheet.
- The numbering should be done consecutively or systematically and it must bear the name of the applicant ,the consecutive sheet number and the signature of the applicant.
- You should not include any of the descriptive matter in the sheet except the flow diagrams.
Can design drawings face rejections by USPTO or PCT?
For instance, there are few issues concerning drawings on the account of which patent applications might be objected or rejected.
- Sheet margin rejection :–Its one of the most common type of the rejection that is being applied when the drawings go out of the margin.
- Line quality:- This type of rejection is being observed when the lines are of poor quality.
- Text height :- ACC to the PTO guidelines ,the height of the letter should not be less than 0.32 cm.
- Grayscale drawings :- If a drawing is shown with the lines, than the PTO will object to the drawings .So,it is always better to create the line art form of the drawings.
Some of the common applications in which design drawings were being rejected:-
Inc v/s Avia group:-
In this case ,the drawing was being rejected because the disclosure was silent on few of the questions regarding the precise proportion of the creation.
What are some of the challenges that are involved in the patent applications?
Technicalities:- Since patent drawings are very technical if they are lacking behind the technical accuracy and tools that are needed for the quality illustrations as a whole .It should be taken into consideration that it is not only the quality of tools is important and also the quality of illustrations is important.
Data as drawings :- Acc to the rule 15 of the patent rules ,it has to be specified that the drawing should be on A-4 size paper and the black ink is preferable, because the data does require that graph should be black and white in colour on the failure or which application shall be rejected.
Inconsistencies:- In the most reported case titled as Times three clothier LLC Versus Spanx Inc .US court had rejected two out of three patented claims.
Cost :- Professionals need to have the knowledge of various jurisdiction and their specifications like that of the US,EPC,CNIPA .Also ,there is excess to tools like chem draw for chemical drawings ,visio for drawing flow charts and auto cad.
Conclusion:-
Design drawings are necessary for giving a reasonable ,simple and fast showing of the novelty . In 2014-15 a data was collected ,which showed that an aggregate of 42.7 thousand applications were collected which therefore expanded to 56.2 thousand every 2019-20.
