Drafting a patent application is a complex process containing a variety of potential pitfalls. Still, if you ask a patent attorney what the most important aspect of patent drafting is, their answer will always be, “the claims.” Even the smallest mistake in the claims can jeopardize the entire application, turning a potential breakthrough into a missed opportunity.
Want to ensure your patent application will be as accurate as possible? Start by avoiding the following four common patent drafting mistakes!
- Insufficient Description
One mistake many inexperienced inventors make is not describing their invention in enough detail. Oftentimes, the inventor will assume that the examiner reading the application will have a clear idea of what the invention is trying to do. As a result, they’ll provide a vague description of the invention or fail to point out its novel and inventive designs.
To avoid this potential issue, assume that your application will be read by a person with ordinary skill in the art. Make the description comprehensible while still mentioning every key detail of the invention along with all possible variations you contemplate for the invention.
2. Broad Claims
A claim that’s too broad may apply to other devices that fall under prior art. Let’s say you’ve invented a patent that improves on a wrench and uses a rack-and-pinion arrangement to adjust the jaws. An inexperienced inventor may claim their invention to simply be a rack and pinion, instead of a wrench that consists of a jaw with a rack and a pinion gear attached to it.
In reality, this would be a mistake as your invention is not a rack and pinion. With such a broad claim, the examiner may reject it based solely on the existence of automotive steering.
- Lack of Clarity
Your patent claim should be as clear and consistent as possible. Using inconsistent terms will likely lead to a rejection of the claims by the examiner at the Patent Office but can also come back to haunt you during patent litigation. For instance, if you recite a motor in your claims, you shouldn’t use different nomenclature to refer to it later. Similarly, you shouldn’t recite “a gear,” and then refer back to it as “the drive gear” or “the plastic gear.”
Another tip is to structure your claims around a single sentence while still defining each of the elements of the invention that is being claimed. This will help you keep your claims concise and make things easier for the examiner.
- Unnecessary Terms
In general, it’s always better to use generic names instead of trademarks in your claims. A trademark simply indicates a particular service or product, not its description. If the product under a particular trademark changes over time, it could damage your claim. Meanwhile, generic descriptions of a product or service will always remain the same.
You should also avoid using adjectives while drafting claims. Adjectives tend to contribute to over-describing the invention, which can restrict the scope of your claims.