[Patentpractice] Guidelines for draftsperson

[David Boundy]

I just got back a set of drawings from my draftsperson.  I always have to
explain the same stuff over and over again, so I am consolidating all my
views of the right way to do drawings in a memo that I can include with the
drawings the first time.  Here is a first draft.  *What are your hot
buttons?*   I'll add them (and then send the consolidated doc to folks that
ask for it -- attachments won't circulate through the listserv)

Here are a few guidelines for good patent drawings.

*BIG is better, white space is bad.*   Always keep in mind that the goal is
to show, to teach.  In patent drawings, the drawings should almost always
be as big as they can be.  White space is bad.  The required margins are:

·         For A4, top 2.5cm, left 2.5cm, right 1.5cm, bottom 1cm, leaving a
site of 26.2cm×17cm.  Recommended maximum: top 4cm, left 4cm, right 3cm,
bottom 3cm

·          For 8 ½ ×11, same margins, leaving a sight of 17.6cm×24.4cm (6
15/16 × 9 5/8)

·          White space between the figures of a sheet should be fairly
small—not crowded, but as tight as reasonable.  Every square centimeter of
white space is a wasted opportunity.

In almost all cases, the drawings should come out to touch those margins at
three of the four edges.

*Placement of FIG legends*:

·          If there’s a neutral white corner of the figure, put the FIG
legend there.  Centering the FIG legend as a matter of habit is wasted
opportunity.  If the size of the figure is reduced *at all* to accommodate
the FIG legend, then almost always something should move.  Sometimes it’s
unavoidable, but rarely.

·          Avoid putting the FIG legend in the space between two
figures—that creates ambiguity.  Most of the time, the FIG legend should be
somewhere away from the center of the sheet, and *not* in the space between
figures, so that the designation of a figure is unambiguous.

*Layout of figures on sheets.*  Pay attention to what the drawings are
trying to show, and arrange the figures on the sheets accordingly.  Sometimes,
the goal is detail of one drawing.  Sometimes the goal is to show a
storyboard, a time-sequence.  For a detail, the individual drawing should
be big.  For a storyboard, it’s OK to make the drawings a little smaller so
that they fit on a sheet to show the time sequence—the time sequence is far
more visible if the figures are on one sheet than if they’re
one-to-the-sheet









*Showing 3D:*  There are two techniques that help show 3D:

·         Line weight: show the outer boundary of an object in a slightly
darker line, and the interior lines of an object in a darker line

·         Little white gaps to show where one thing goes behind another:


-- 


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*David Boundy *| Partner | Potomac Law Group, PLLC

P.O. Box 590638, Newton, MA  02459

Tel (646) 472-9737 | Fax: (202) 318-7707

*dboundy at potomaclaw.com <dboundy at potomaclaw.com>* | *www.potomaclaw.com
<http://www.potomaclaw.com>*

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