Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Legal Advantage
4330 East-West Highway Suite 304 Bethesda, Maryland 20814 301.637.6180 Sales@legaladvantage.net www.LegalAdvantage.net
Drawings are the foundation of any patent application, whether it is a provisional or non provisional application. Therefore, it is imperative to abide by the guidelines of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to ensure that the drawings are clear and the patent passes examination.
To understanding the differences between the two drawing approaches, we first need to know what provisional and non-provisional patent applications are.
Provisional patent application basics: Provisional patent applications require a low USPTO filing fee and are less expensive than the regular non provisional patent applications. Provisional patent applications last only for 12 months. You still have to file a non provisional patent application within 12 months of your provisional application in order to retain the advantage of the provisionals filing date. This is just like filing an extension on your tax return; you still need to pay the taxes and file real tax returns. Claims are not required for a provisional patent application. Provisional applications are not examined. A follow-on non provisional goes to the back of the examination line. So if you are racing against time and want your patent issued quickly, a provisional application is not ideal. To be successful, any provisional application must include thorough details of the invention, just as in a non provisional application.
Non provisional patent application basics: A non provisional application establishes the filing date of your patent application and begins the examination process by the USPTO. Non provisional applications are comprised of a specification (description and claims), an oath or declaration, a drawing (when necessary), and a fee.
Legal Advantage
By law, all patent applicants are required to provide a drawing of the invention if it increases the understanding of the invention. Exceptions may include for matter compositions or processes where drawings are irrelevant for comprehension.
Legal Advantage
Legal Advantage provides the highest quality output in a timely fashion to IP professionals, attorneys and law firms. Our experienced and trained team can prepare drawings in a broad range of technical fields, as per the guidelines of the USPTO, the European Patent Organization (EPO) and other international patent offices. Our staff consists of IP attorneys, graphic designers, patent designers, prior art researchers and engineers who are well versed in the intellectual property laws and procedures of various countries. After analyzing the invention for disclosure, our experts conduct in-depth searches for prior art. Our prior art search is cost effective and guarantees high quality research when compared to other organizations. Our team understands the US patent laws and technologies and has expert knowledge in this field. We give priority to quality and follow a strict and comprehensive Quality Assurance program. After being quality checked by our accomplished managers and technical team, the project is sent to the client. Our turn-around time is one of the fastest in the industry. We work around client deadlines and have built an excellent reputation for speed and quality. We have successfully completed 15,000 projects in the past seven years, and aim to finish the same number in the next two years. Legal Advantage offers the following services: Intellectual Property services: Patent Illustrations Patent Drawings Patent Proof Reading Prior Art Search Legal services: Contract Management and Drafting Document Review, which consists of Litigation Review and Merger & Acquisition Review Immigration Services E-Discovery Legal Research Securities Exchange Commission Services Animation Services: Trial Graphics 2D and 3D Animations Pie charts and Flow charts