Why should writing a patent abstract be a big deal? This question may occur to inventors who are drafting a patent application on their own. It’s obvious to think that when a patent abstract or abstract of the disclosure is only 150 words. Yes, you read it right. The USPTO guidelines say that your abstract of the disclosure should be of 150 words or less than it. However, a patent application is incomplete without an abstract of the disclosure. As a result, it becomes important to have the basic understanding of a patent abstract. In this article, you will come to know abstract of the disclosure and the USPTO guidelines for it.
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Guidelines for Writing a Patent Abstract
What is an Abstract of the Disclosure or Patent Abstract? Well, an Abstract of the Disclosure or Patent Abstract is a paragraph summing up an invention in 150 or less words. Its purpose is to understand an invention quickly. Moreover, you must include a patent abstract in your patent application. Your application gets rejected without an abstract as per the USPTO guideline.
The following are the guidelines for writing a concise and suitable patent abstract:
Background
The USPTO has clearly mentioned that a patent abstract should be easy to understand. Thus, looking through the abstract, readers should be able to understand the subject matter and basic technicalities of the invention.
Content
Your patent abstract should be concise, and it should disclose entire technical part of your invention. Moreover, it must mention the improved aspect of the prior-art. However, if the invention is basic in nature, then the abstract should disclose the invention entirely. In addition, the abstract shouldn’t compare the invention with prior-art. Your patent abstract may vary, depending on the type of invention.
If the invention is:
- a machine or apparatus, include its organization and operation,
- an article, include its method of making,
- a chemical include compound, its identity and use
- a mixture, include its ingredients,
- a process, include the steps
Language and Format
Your invention abstract should be present on separate sheet that comes after claims section in the patent application. Moreover, the sheet should have the heading “Abstract” or “Abstract of the disclosure”. You have to use a narrative language while writing a patent abstract. Also, the language of the abstract has to be concise and clear. In addition, it shouldn’t repeat the information given in the title.
No need to include legal phraseology in your abstract. For instance, you have to avoid words like “said” and “means”. Moreover, avoid the terms that are obvious to understand without mentioning, such as, “This disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “This disclosure describes,” etc.
Responsibility
It’s your sole responsibility to prepare the abstract of the invention. A patent abstract is important as it tells the background of an invention and inventor’s contribution.
Sample Patent Abstracts for Writing a Patent Abstract
Double-cage heart valve with contoured oversize orifice
Abstract of the disclosure
“A heart valve which has an annular valve body defining an orifice and a plurality of struts forming a pair of cages on opposite sides of the orifice. A spherical closure member is captively held within the cages and is moved by blood flow between open and closed positions in check valve fashion. A slight leak or backflow is provided in the closed position by making the orifice slightly larger than the closure member. Blood flow is maximized in the open position of the valve by providing an inwardly convex contour on the orifice-defining surfaces of the body. An annular rib is formed in a channel around the periphery of the valve body to anchor a suture ring used to secure the valve within a heart.”
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US3416159
Camera module
Abstract of the disclosure
A camera module according to the present invention includes a lens barrel including one or more imaging lenses, an auto-focusing driving unit for moving the lens barrel in an optical axis direction, and an image-stabilization driving unit for moving the lens barrel in a direction orthogonal to an optical axis. The auto-focusing driving unit and the image-stabilization driving unit include an auto-focusing and image-stabilization driving common magnet, an auto-focusing corner magnet, a coil for auto focusing, and a coil for image-stabilization. One surface of the auto-focusing and image-stabilization driving common magnet and the auto-focusing corner magnet face the coil for auto focusing. The other surface of the auto-focusing and image-stabilization driving common magnet faces the coil for image-stabilization. The auto-focusing and image-stabilization driving common magnet and the auto-focusing corner magnet facing the coil for auto-focusing are magnetized in the same pole.
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/KR101343197B1/en
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