Patents are a source of creativity, a vehicle for commercialization and technology transfer, and a tool for limiting competition. Patents establish an imaginary barrier that protects an invention as well as provides a monopoly on one's innovation for a set duration. Anyone who utilizes, sells, produces, or imports a product or utilizes or executes a technique that is secured by a patent without the authorization of the patent holder crosses the boundary and infringes on the patent claims. Whereas most patent petitioners are aware of the filing procedure, there appears to be a lack of understanding of the importance of patent drafting: the patent will construct an imaginary line between what infringes on a patent and what does not.

Small & Medium Enterprises, start-ups, and individual innovators, in particular, face difficulties in understanding how the protection defined in the techno-legal document known as the "complete specification" is enabled, and how the patent specification is used in India and elsewhere when it comes to enforcing their rights.

Protection of Innovation Via Patents

To respond to an interested reader, we must return to the fundamentals: The so-called comprehensive specification, which consists of four parts: description, claims, abstract, and drawings, discloses the aspects of the invention, whether it is a product or a process. To grasp how to complete specification enables patent protection, consider the following inquiry: "Which component of the prescribed form specifies the breadth of the innovation?" The solution is simple: the claims define the imaginary barrier around the innovation, characterize its uniqueness and creative step, and serve as a standard for determining the degree of "encroaching" in the event of infringing.

Even though the claims define the "border" around the innovation, the actual content of the claims must also be disclosed in the description and drawings, according to Indian Patent Office practice (if applicable).

Patent Drawings for Low-Tech Products

Patents offer protection to the invention, which can occur in any area, not just to top-end technology. Patents are crucial in the pharmaceutical industry since it costs hundreds of millions of dollars to acquire approval for a treatment that may be easily replicated. However, they may be quite useful in industries that we don't think of as heavily reliant on tech, such as textiles.

Sports or Padded bras are already common, and their popularity is steadily increasing. Since women are constantly turning to the more comfortable sports bra for use outside of workouts, sales of sports bras surpassed $9 billion last year and are expected to reach $38 billion by 2026. Patent Drawings are have been proven very effective and functional in the designing of these Sports Bras or Padded Bras also.

What’s Ahead?

Businesses, start-ups, and inventors should be informed on the value of patent protection in general, as well as the importance of patent drafting and its impact on patent protection. They should be aware that if a third party files an opposition or challenges the validity of their invention, a badly written patent will be quickly invalidated. Infringers commonly employ this method, namely contesting the validity of patents in court, especially in India. Patent candidates should also be informed that these patents will not adequately protect their innovation in the event of an infringement.

Although naturally, Businesses and small creators may lack internal experience, they should be incentivized to learn the fundamentals of patent composition so that they may educate themselves and assess the quality of draughts supplied by their patent lawyers or IP suppliers. Furthermore, patent candidates should be urged to examine why the description is written in a certain way or how the innovation's innovative characteristics are communicated and detailed in the claims. Candidates should always get a second opinion on their patent draught if they believe they have a game-changing idea or if they plan to file their patent application in multiple countries, which would require a significant investment in patent prosecution and official fees.

Worth of Patent Drawings

When innovation is capable of being illustrated by way of a drawing, the patent laws require a patent applicant to provide at least one patent illustration (also known as a patent drawing). To put it another way, you'll need to have a minimum of one patent drawing anytime a drawing will help you grasp an innovation. Based on the experience, patent drawings are nearly always necessary, and including many patent drawings is the easiest and best approach to construct a better, stronger petition.

Patent Drawings aren't needed only if the invention is a chemical compound or composition, or if it's merely a method or procedure that's being claimed. Nonetheless, almost any method or process may be shown in some manner, form, or shape. As a result, even when a technique is claimed, it is prudent for applicants to give illustrations. As a result, there is a gap between what the law "requires" and what should be delivered. The key is to realize that anything included when filing a patent petition constitutes the entire disclosure, and patent illustrations are apparently worth 1,000 words!

It is necessary for innovators and those new to the process of preparing patent applications to understand that the invention must be stated in as much depth and clarity as possible. You don't just want to explain the specific; you also don't want to leave anything out. Innovators don't want to explain things particularly because they wouldn't want to be tied in and want strength and power, We hear all the time. That's great, but if you simply disclose the broadest, most general parts of your innovation, your chances of securing a patent plummet to approximation 0%. The more wide and generic your description is, the more likely it is to be found in the prior art.

You end up with no invention or a patent with claims that are invalid on their faces if you do not add another layer of depth and specificity to distinguish yourself from the previous art.

This implies that you think of the innovation as a multi-layered onion. Never use language like "should have" or "some variants can have this feature/element" to describe your idea; instead, use "some versions can have this feature/element."

To know more about patent drawings please visit www.thepatentdrawing.com or email us at info@thepatentdrawing.com

Related Links :

1. Guidelines on Patent Drafting – How to write a patent application and what is the importance of Illustrations?
2. What can Patent Attorneys do in COVID-19 Pandemic disruption on the patent filing?