Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 30

Thread: I am looking for Patent drawing advice

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Inkerman, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    1,389

    I am looking for Patent drawing advice

    Does anyone have any experience with turning 3D CAD models into drawings acceptable for a patent application?

  2. #2
    Your patent attorney will have the ability to create the drawings required for your patent application. They do it with almost every patent. Not that they draw it themselves but they can have someone do it.

    And you do need a patent attorney to file a patent.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Inkerman, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    1,389
    Hi Mike,

    After looking around online, i had been considering doing the drawings myself, but have not seen any easy solution for it, so maybe it is best to leave it up to the professionals.

    Thanks for your reply and advice.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Location
    Wayland, MA
    Posts
    3,655
    I've never written a mechanical patent, but have done many on chemical compositions and uses. The drawings for those (genetic constructs, sequences, chemical structures, and biological data) are just the same as we would prepare for a journal publication. I don't ever remember any special requirements. We'd provide them in Powerpoint or Excel tables and the lawyers would insert them into the documents as they prepared them.

    Ask your lawyer what they need.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Inkerman, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    1,389
    Hi Roger,

    Mechanical drawings from what i can find, need to have line drawn shading as in the photo. The Cad program can produce an outline drawing or fully shaded photo realistic image but not the line drawn shading.

    Patent-drwg-Leveling-Caster-540w[1].jpg

  6. #6
    I've filed 3 patents in USA; no attorney required; used CAD-shaded dwgs. Canada may have other requirements?

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Inkerman, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    1,389
    Thanks Malcolm,

    I would probably file for a US patent anyway.

    I have spoken to an attorney some time back, and the cost was a big factor in considering doing the drawings and filing myself. One idea would require quite a few drawings to cover many variations, so it was looking quite expensive, and that made me back off. I would like to go ahead and that's why i was looking into the possibility of filing myself or at least doing as much of the work as possible.


    Quote Originally Posted by Malcolm McLeod View Post
    I've filed 3 patents in USA; no attorney required; used CAD-shaded dwgs. Canada may have other requirements?

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    E TN, near Knoxville
    Posts
    12,298
    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Hennebury View Post
    Hi Roger,

    Mechanical drawings from what i can find, need to have line drawn shading as in the photo. The Cad program can produce an outline drawing or fully shaded photo realistic image but not the line drawn shading.

    Patent-drwg-Leveling-Caster-540w[1].jpg
    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Hennebury View Post
    Does anyone have any experience with turning 3D CAD models into drawings acceptable for a patent application?
    We sent drawings and details to the patent attorneys and they wrote up everything. When the patents were issued someone, probably in the attorney group, had redrawn them. (I thought mine were better but hey, theirs worked. ) They were always line drawings similar to one you showed, sometimes cruder.

    If your cad program won't produce line drawings you could trace a rendering with Illustrator or something, or get a graphics person to do it. You might contact the company that created your cad software or ask on a forum/user group. There may be a solution or a plugin that will do it. Also, I did a quick google search and got a bunch of hits including videos - at first glance it looked like they were all specific to certain programs. Maybe include the name of your software in the search. Or ask an architect - they do this all the time. I could ask my son if I can catch him with a free moment.

    JKJ

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Malcolm McLeod View Post
    I've filed 3 patents in USA; no attorney required; used CAD-shaded dwgs. Canada may have other requirements?
    The important part of a patent is the claims section. Drafting those takes someone who is trained and is skilled in writing claims. They need to be able to stand up to a court challenge (if it comes to that).

    I certainly would not want to draft claims myself.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Inkerman, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    1,389
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Henderson View Post
    The important part of a patent is the claims section. Drafting those takes someone who is trained and is skilled in writing claims. They need to be able to stand up to a court challenge (if it comes to that).

    I certainly would not want to draft claims myself.

    Mike
    I have a bunch of designs for various things over the years, some very simple, maybe one or two parts, which i would be okay filing myself; some very complicated with hundreds of parts and dozens of variations and possible could be a big deal, for which i wouldn't be able to write the claims, only supply the drawings and info to the attorney. So i was thinking of getting my feet wet with a very simple tool idea, two parts, nothing complicated. Every time that I have looked at getting patents it got quite overwhelming and i just put it on the back burner. I am at a point in my life, where it is time to do it, cant put it off any longer. So i just have to figure out the way ahead, and I know that a few people on the forum have got patents, so was hoping to find some direction to get going.

  11. #11
    The problem with patents is that you have to enforce them and that's very expensive. When I was at AT&T, we would occasionally have some individual claim that we were infringing his/her patent. I remember one time the chief patent attorney told the person, "I have 250 attorneys on staff. I'll assign one of them to your case and he'll drag the case out for at least ten years. Can you afford to pursue your case that long? If not, why don't we make a reasonable deal?" In this case, "reasonable" didn't cost us very much.

    It's different when two companies sue each other, but they're very reluctant to do so because juries don't understand patents and patent law so you never know how the case will come out. Most claims between companies are settled out of court, perhaps with a cross license agreement.

    Mike

    [I have a number of patents but they're all assigned to the company I was working for at the time.]
    Last edited by Mike Henderson; 02-17-2021 at 12:50 PM.
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Inkerman, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    1,389
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Henderson View Post
    The problem with patents is that you have to enforce them and that's very expensive. When I was at AT&T, we would occasionally have some individual claim that we were infringing his/her patent. I remember one time the chief patent attorney told the person, "I have 250 attorneys on staff. I'll assign one of them to your case and he'll drag the case out for at least ten years. Can you afford to pursue your case that long? If not, why don't we make a reasonable deal?" In this case, "reasonable" didn't cost us very much.

    It's different when two companies sue each other, but they're very reluctant to do so because juries don't understand patents and patent law so you never know how the case will come out. Most claims between companies are settled out of court, perhaps with a cross license agreement.

    Mike

    [I have a number of patents but they're all assigned to the company I was working for at the time.]
    I did speak to a lawyer a few years back that had done some work for me on a different matter; he said similar thing in that, if you idea is a big deal, you would have no chance of defending it against a large corporation. He said that you wouldn't find a law firm to defend it; they would be risking going bankrupt by going up against a large corporation.
    Which is a little disheartening to say the least. I did see the movie about the intermittent wiper "Flash of Genius" where the inventor took Ford to court over infringing on his patents.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Hennebury View Post
    I did see the movie about the intermittent wiper "Flash of Genius" where the inventor took Ford to court over infringing on his patents.
    Yes, it's so unusual that they made a movie out of it.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Ottawa, ON Canada
    Posts
    1,468
    Do you have a higher resolution graphic? This one is only 72dpi.

    I've sent you a PM>
    Last edited by Grant Wilkinson; 02-17-2021 at 1:58 PM.
    Grant
    Ottawa ON

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Henderson View Post
    The problem with patents is that you have to enforce them...
    Agreed. The ones I filed - years ago - were for another's inventions and in their names (I just adjusted the design slightly to improve manufacturability), and to the best of my knowledge never earned a dime. I guess the upside is that no one had to attempt enforcement?

    Often inventions that seem to be the PERFECT solution to your problem, are just that. Your problem. No one else knows or cares.

    Aside: I wonder what percentage of patents issued - forget those not issued - ever earn any money? ...I've never seen statistics.
    Last edited by Malcolm McLeod; 02-17-2021 at 2:21 PM.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •