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Patent drafting is an art as well as a science, wherein, we need to keep a balance between these two. For quality patent drafting it is important for the draftsperson to have adequate technical knowledge of the invention and at the same time should have acquaintances of drafting rules. What makes patent drafting more complex is its techno-legal structure wherein the legal aspects need to be kept in mind, because at the end of the day, what matters is that you get protection for your invention and can get sufficient rewards for your investments. Let’s learn about the various options available to draft a patent, that can make it through the patent grant.
The above outcome is achieved by involving various players while drafting patents for inventions, for example, your patent drafting team could have a mix of people who can give their insights during that period. For example, the team may have patent analysts (who can do effective prior art searches), research scholars (who worked on the invention/domain), patent attorneys (who have experience of filing patents), illustrators (who can create drawings for the patent) and many others.
To know everything about patent drafting, please read Patent Drafting: “Not Everyone’s Cup of Tea”.
Options To Draft A Patent: Learning Various Ways
Stated simply, patent drafting is not an individual’s task it is a team-work and you need to take insights from many such professionals who are expert in their own domain. Viewing the complexities of patent drafting we have tried to come up with an outline that will underline what should be the approach of an inventor/company in drafting and filing a patent application.
Option 1: Choose what is the best for you, i.e. Patent or trade-secret
Inventions can be protected in many ways and among them “Patents” and “Trade-secrets” are the most important ones. While in patents, we need to disclose our invention, in trade-secrets disclosure is not needed and you can enjoy your monopoly in the market as long as you can keep your invention a secret. However, unlike patents, trade-secrets don’t give you the option of licensing your invention and if someone comes up with the same invention that you kept secret you can’t claim for monetary compensation.
The decision will be yours and you will have to determine which route will benefit you more. For example, the recipe of “Coco-Cola” is a trade-secret and they have not disclosed the recipe with the patent office. Likewise, the recipe of “KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN” (KFC) is a trade secret.
Option 2: Determine the Enablement Requirements
Once you have decided the route of protecting your inventions the next step would be to determine the enablement requirements and write your invention accordingly. The enablement requirement refers to the requirement of 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the first paragraph that the specification describes how to make and how to use the invention. The invention that one skilled in the art must be enabled to make and use is that defined by the claim(s) of the particular application or patent.
The enablement requirements reads “The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.”
Option 3: Search for effective and good prior art
According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), “Prior art is any evidence that your invention is already known. The prior art does not need to exist physically or be commercially available. It is enough that someone, somewhere, some time previously has described or shown or made something that contains a use of technology that is very similar to your invention”.
Listing “prior-art” before filing is of utmost importance as it provides literature that might work on the principles your invention is based on. This helps the patent office determine the novelty of your invention thus reducing the workload of the patent office.
Option 4: Add adequate description to your invention
This is going to be the meat of your draft and much of the success is dependent on this paragraph as it describes what the invention is all about and how an individual skilled in that domain could reduce it to practice. It should be “adequate” means making it too broad can open avenues for future litigations and keeping it too narrow can be insufficient to be granted a patent.
Thus before drafting patents, it is important for the inventor to take care of all such things those were mentioned in the above paragraphs. Inventors can either draft their patents in-house or can hire some patent drafting companies that are professional and have wide experience of drafting patents. At Patent Drafting Catalyst, we have perfected the art of patent drafting for multiple technology areas and countries. To know about our work in detail, please visit our service page.
Some Of Our Interesting Web Blogs:
Drafting Patents: The Art Behind Every Successful Patent
Patent Drafting Enemies: Get Rid of These!!
Top 5 Patent Drafting Mistakes: You don’t want to have!!
Here you can download all free resources