Patent Drawings: Draw Your Own
You can prepare your own patent application drawings -- here's how.
Preparing the drawings that must accompany a patent application can be an intimidating task. Can you do the drawings yourself -- particularly if you're no draftsman, much less an artist? The answer is "yes," and by doing so, you'll not only save a bundle of money, but reap other benefits as well. Here's the lowdown.
Advantages of Doing Patent Drawings Yourself
When it comes to preparing patent drawings you have two options: using a professional draftsperson or preparing them yourself.
Using a professional draftsperson. Many inventors turn the job of preparing drawings over to a professional draftsperson. This can be costly. Typically, you'll pay $75 to $150 per sheet of patent drawings. Because most patent applications have two or more sheets of drawings, you can easily shell out many hundreds of dollars per patent application.
Advantages of doing the drawings yourself. Fortunately, if you can do the patent application, you can probably do the patent drawings yourself, too. You'll need to learn some U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) rules, and there's a certain learning curve. But there are many rewards. In addition to saving a ton of money on the application, you will be able to:
- prepare promotional brochures for prospective manufacturers or customers
- probably render your invention more accurately than a hired professional (because you know your invention best)
- avoid the difficulty of making someone else understand your invention, or sending drawings back and forth for corrections, and
- achieve great satisfaction by completing the entire patent application by yourself -- an impressive accomplishment for an inventor.
Here are the various ways you can create your own drawings:
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