Читать книгу Intellectual Property Law for Engineers, Scientists, and Entrepreneurs - Howard B. Rockman - Страница 106

The patent application ultimately prepared covering the invention must contain sketches or illustrations showing the important elements of the invention, where the invention comprises an article of manufacture, machinery, an electronic circuit, electrical circuit or the like, as well as a specification comprising a complete description of the structure of the invention, followed by a description of one cycle of operation of the described structure. The description of the structure and operation of your invention are keyed to the drawings through the use of reference numerals and lead lines identifying parts in the drawing that are described in the patent specification, somewhat similar to technical drawings. Therefore, it is important that the inventor or inventors prepare an adequate disclosure of the invention, with sketches and a description of the structure and function of the operation, prior to meeting with the patent professional at an initial invention disclosure meeting. It is no secret that patent agents and lawyers charge for their time, and an inventor can save substantial time, and thus money, by shortening the time the patent lawyer or agent has to spend preparing the patent application. By preparing detailed sketches and descriptions of the invention for presentation to the patent professional, hundreds and possibly thousands of dollars can be saved in the cost of obtaining and prosecuting the patent application. There are additional materials and information that the inventor or inventors should bring to the invention disclosure meeting with the patent professional, which will be covered in more detail as this chapter proceeds.

Your initial invention disclosure must be clear, although it is not necessary that it be typewritten. Also, a good disclosure is not necessarily long, but the important features of the invention and their operation and advantages must be adequately disclosed. When submitting your invention disclosure, always give the benefit of the doubt to including more in your disclosure rather than omitting information. The patent attorney can help decide what information you provide should be made part of the patent application, and which should not. Any drawings or sketches you prepare to submit to the patent attorney should be clear and sufficiently detailed, and coordinated with your written description. This is accomplished by numbering the various parts of the invention on the drawing and keying the numbers with the written disclosure. If you submit alternative embodiments, also submit the drawings or illustrations directed to those alternatives. If a model of the invention has been prepared, submit the model to the patent attorney with the other descriptive materials. Photographs of your model can also be used as the basis for the drawings initially filed with the patent application.

The key factor in preparing the initial disclosure of the invention and its different embodiments is to remember to present all information you know about your invention, and the environment in which it functions, to the patent attorney, leaving nothing out. The more information about your invention in the patent application, the more difficult it is for a potential infringer to design around your patent coverage. As will be explained in Chapter 10, the claims in your patent application will be drawn to cover all embodiments of your invention, and hopefully these claims will later be interpreted to cover those competing devices marketed in the future that are directed toward solving the same problems that your invention is directed toward solving.