Patent Attorney and Founder
Hi everyone, I’m J.D. Houvener, your host of the Bold Today Show, where you, the inventor or entrepreneur, get your daily inspiration so you can all make the world a better place. [Music]
Alright, we’re continuing our 10-part series covering the inventor Mr. Johnson and his Super Soaker invention. We’ve been looking at the very discrete steps, what are the pieces of document and how to read them, what do they mean, and how should you and your attorney approach the definition when you get to write your own specification or your invention.
Today, I want to take some time and address one specific section called the “Brief Description of Drawings.” Not much attention is normally given to this part of the specification, but I want to give it the full video here today so that there’s no misunderstandings. You understand every little part of it and why it’s labeled, why it’s defined, and how we use certain grammar to emphasize departments.
So yesterday we talked about this summary and how it painted color upon the invention, but the attorneys were careful writing and limiting the scope to only cover the embodiment disclosed in the claim, which we’ll talk about later. Similarly, in the brief description of drawings, and by the way, there are only four figures in this invention in this specification, the same approach is taken where wording, as you’ll see, we’ve got it pulled up here for you to take a look at. For example, Figure one isn’t the top view of a preferred embodiment, but those are very, very careful words. It’s a brief description and so, of course, you know given its brevity, every word counts. The drawing is saying that look, this is a top view, nothing fancy there, but the fact that it’s just one version, just the preferred embodiment, allows the later claims to claim broader than that. So yeah, that’s one version of what it could look like in Figure one, but it could have A, B, and C embellishments or versions or alternative embodiments. That’s the power of using the right words in the brief description of drawings. It brings those drawings to life and allows them to have a lot more improvements on them and have a broader claim down the road. A broader claim, of course, means more rights and more value for the invention.
So, back to the brief description of drawings here for this specific patent. There are four figures. We talk about Figure one being the top, Figure two and Figures three are the side and bottom views of the patent, whereas Figure four is a view that they call selective view because it shows depth. It shows a cut-in view specifically in that bottle portion where you can see the back wall. The inventor and the attorney wanted to make sure they showed and claimed the interior portions of that chamber. Whenever functions or structures are being identified with any patent drawing, then they oftentimes need to show the interior, like the inside of that structure, in order to do it. Oftentimes, a separate figure is used. In this case, they elected to do a dual-purpose, right? The side view and with a cut shown so you can see that itemized. For example, in numeral 61, you can see that shown is the interior wall cavity of that container holding the water. If you have any questions at all about patent drawings or specifically about the spec and what’s required when it comes to doing your brief description of drawings, hop online, give us a shout. You can book directly from our website at boldIP.com. You can book a 30-minute consultation with one of our patent attorneys. Have a great day, everybody. Go big, go bold.