Patent drafting task # 3: patent drafting

Task # 3: patent drafting

This is a session to learn the basics of drafting, which includes the various written components of the patent application as well as the numbered and labeled drawings.

Watch my video: Patent drafting workshop (not legal advice, do not use for real-world drafting) – YouTube

Download the following three items:

1. USPTO checklist for  nonprovisional patent applications (USPTO Checklist, PDF)
2. Application Template: annotated with guidance (Application Template/Guidance, PDF form)
3. Application Template: clean copy suitable for drafting (Application Template/Clean, DOCX form)

Read the USPTO Checklist (# 1) and the Application Template/Guidance form (# 2). Note that your Application Template (# 2 and # 3) does not include all the sections discussed in the USPTO Checklist. Instead, you will be drafting only select portions of a nonprovisional patent application.

Using these tools (and referring to relevant sections of patent law such as the MPEP), start drafting your client’s patent application. You must use the Application Template/Clean (# 3). Do not change the template’s format. This is the form and format you must use. The instructions and guidance contained in the Application Template/Guidance form are detailed and point you towards sections of the MPEP, patent law, patent regulations, and online resources at the USPTO and elsewhere.

The Application Template includes the following sections, the ones most most directly tied to our study of patent law:

• Declaration
• Specification
  • Title of the invention
  • Background of the invention
  • Brief Summary of the Invention
  • Brief Description of Drawings
  • Detailed Description of the Invention
• Claims
• Abstract
• Drawings
• Prior art (listing, with labeled attachments)

So during Spring break, you should work on drafting your patent application. 

For the assigned class, bring a printout of your draft application and be prepared to discuss it. This will be an important opportunity for you to pose questions as a group. We will discuss the applications and help each other with our drafting

Below are links that may be of further guidance.

USPTO MPEP sections relevant to drafting a nonprovisional application:

• Specification: MPEP 600
• Title of invention: MPEP 606
• Background of the invention: MPEP 608.01(c)
• Brief summary of the invention: MPEP 608.01(d)
• Brief description of drawings: MPEP 608.01(f)
• Detailed description of the invention: MPEP 608.01(g)
• One or more claims: MPEP 608.01(i) through (n)
• Abstract: MPEP 608.01(b)
• Drawings: MPEP 608.02

Other USPTO drafting resources:

• Checklist for Filing a Nonprovisional Utility Patent Application with the USPTO (PDF)
• Nonprovisional (Utility) Patent Application Filing Guide
• USPTO Inventor Info Chat Series: How to File an Application (PDF)
• USPTO Inventor Info Chat Series: How to File an Application (video)
• Patent forms
  
• 37 CFR 1.56 (duty of disclosure)
• 37 CFR 1.63 (inventor’s oath or declaration)

Other drafting resources (not necessarily reviewed by Professor):

• Patent claim terminology
• Reading and Understanding patent claims
• Transitional phrases in patent claims Comprising vs. Consisting Of (via Wayback Machine)
• UpCounsel.com, non-provisional patent application example
• IPWatchdog: Patent Drafting for Beginners: The anatomy of a patent claim
• IP Watchdog: Patent Drafting for Beginners: A prelude to patent claim drafting
• IP Watchdog: Understanding patent claims
  
• IP Watchdog: Patent Claim Drafting, The Basics
• IP Watchdog: Drafting Patent Applications: Writing Method Claims
• IP Watchdog: An Introduction to Patent Claims

Revised Feb. 23, 2022