photos instead of drawings for provisional patent?

[Toby]

I have a working prototype, for which I want to file a provisional patent.
Are photos acceptable--with appropriate captioning, or do they have to be
drawings? Photos sure would be easier...

TIA,

Toby

[Dripnot]

Post by Toby
I have a working prototype, for which I want to file a provisional patent.
Are photos acceptable--with appropriate captioning, or do they have to be
drawings? Photos sure would be easier...
TIA,
Toby

Sure they would... but not in reality. Each drawing you include in
your application has to have separate, labeled figures (Fig. 1, Fig. 2)
and so on. It is kind of difficult to write on photos without making a
mistake, not easily erased. In addition, even the greatest photo
cannot show hidden lines, cross section elements and such. Remember,
your PPA is only as good as what you put it into it. Don't look for
shortcuts, do it right the first time, you'll thank yourself later. A
decent book by NOLO press (same folks who wrote Patent It Yourself) is
"How to Prepare Patent Drawings" and is available on Amazon for a
whopping 20 bucks . I highly recommend you take a look at it.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1413301975/

Good luck!

[Toby]

Post by Dripnot

Post by Toby
I have a working prototype, for which I want to file a provisional patent.
Are photos acceptable--with appropriate captioning, or do they have to be
drawings? Photos sure would be easier...
TIA,
Toby

Sure they would... but not in reality. Each drawing you include in
your application has to have separate, labeled figures (Fig. 1, Fig. 2)
and so on. It is kind of difficult to write on photos without making a
mistake, not easily erased. In addition, even the greatest photo
cannot show hidden lines, cross section elements and such. Remember,
your PPA is only as good as what you put it into it. Don't look for
shortcuts, do it right the first time, you'll thank yourself later. A
decent book by NOLO press (same folks who wrote Patent It Yourself) is
"How to Prepare Patent Drawings" and is available on Amazon for a
whopping 20 bucks . I highly recommend you take a look at it.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1413301975/
Good luck!

Many thanks! My invention is basically a new application of existing
technologies to make a camera brace that works better in a variety of
situations than anything that now exists commercially to my knowledge. There
are really no hidden lines or cross section elements--it's all quite obvious
from photos really, and the plan was to do the captioning in Photoshop using
digital files.

I thought that clear photos of the prototype would actually be neater and
clearer than anything I could put together with a vector illustration
program. However I quite agree that it should be done right, and I will
check out the NOLO book.

Best,

Toby

[James White]

Post by Toby
Toby
I have a working prototype, for which I want to file a provisional patent.
Are photos acceptable--with appropriate captioning, or do they have to be
drawings? Photos sure would be easier...

Since it's impossible to file a "provisional patent" the question is moot.
See www.idearights.com.

[Toby]

Post by James White

Post by Toby
Toby
I have a working prototype, for which I want to file a provisional patent.
Are photos acceptable--with appropriate captioning, or do they have to be
drawings? Photos sure would be easier...

Since it's impossible to file a "provisional patent" the question is moot.
See www.idearights.com.

Thanks James,

Much good information and valuable experience contained herein. I much
appreciate it.

Toby

[Mike Brown]

Post by Toby
I have a working prototype, for which I want to file a provisional patent.
Are photos acceptable--with appropriate captioning, or do they have to be
drawings? Photos sure would be easier...

I have filed a number of utility patent applications using annotated
digital photographs instead of line drawings, and there the drawings
will be examined by the examiner and the draftsman for compliance with
the drawing rules. Since there are no format requirements for a
provisional application and it will never be examined, there's even less
reason not to use photographs in a provision - we do it all the time to
save the expense of drafting. You do want to be sure that the photos are
clear, contrasty and black-and-white.

The first few times I filed photos, it was because there wasn't time,
with the intention of later replacing the photos with drawings - I was
amazed when the patents issued with the photographs "as is". Since then,
I've used photos frequently where the client was budget sensitive or the
drawings wouldn't have been as clear, and in many, if not most, cases
they were accepted.

See, for example, http://www.bpmlegal.com/6379150.html

[Toby]

Thank you Mike,

Usenet is made great by people like you.

Toby

Post by Mike Brown

Post by Toby
I have a working prototype, for which I want to file a provisional
patent. Are photos acceptable--with appropriate captioning, or do they
have to be drawings? Photos sure would be easier...

I have filed a number of utility patent applications using annotated
digital photographs instead of line drawings, and there the drawings will
be examined by the examiner and the draftsman for compliance with the
drawing rules. Since there are no format requirements for a provisional
application and it will never be examined, there's even less reason not to
use photographs in a provision - we do it all the time to save the expense
of drafting. You do want to be sure that the photos are clear, contrasty
and black-and-white.
The first few times I filed photos, it was because there wasn't time, with
the intention of later replacing the photos with drawings - I was amazed
when the patents issued with the photographs "as is". Since then, I've
used photos frequently where the client was budget sensitive or the
drawings wouldn't have been as clear, and in many, if not most, cases they
were accepted.
See, for example, http://www.bpmlegal.com/6379150.html
--
Michael F. Brown
Registered Patent Attorney No. 29,619
http://www.bpmlegal.com/

[Mike Brown]

Post by Toby
Usenet is made great by people like you.

Awww... *sniffle* ;)