"There's such a focus on cost-cutting in so many industries now -- pride of your work goes out the window for the benefit of reducing costs. There's a lot of emphasis on, 'Let's save money on the drawings,'"

... I also suspect that lawyers prefer ambiguous drawings that are only as specific as required. Easier to defend a patent that way, or something.

stenciledb: "There's such a focus on cost-cutting in so many industries now -- pride of your work goes out the window for the benefit of reducing costs. There's a lot of emphasis on, 'Let's save money on the drawings,'"

... I also suspect that lawyers prefer ambiguous drawings that are only as specific as required. Easier to defend a patent that way, or something.

Yes, though I predict you'll start seeing some movement in the other direction, since we're really seeing the value of design patents now, and utility patent applications can support later-filed design patent applications. For example, I've got one on my desk right now with more than two dozen nicely detailed figures because in addition to all of the utility applications that it will support, it's also going to support at least three design patents.

My 88 year old father is a long-retired architect.

His drawings were a thing of beauty. You could throw them in a pile of 100 other plans, and I could pick his out in a second.

His hand drawn renderings were even better. Little pieces of artwork.

Funny part of this story? He hated to draw, and apparently so do most architects. "that's why we have draftsmen" he used to tell me.

No sense in adding detail that will only get lost. Granted I haven't been doing this for very long, but it blows my mind that I can electronically submit detailed drawings with beautiful shading, only to later find a printed and scanned version in PAIR. Government efficiency for you.

that was my nickname in highschool: No sense in adding detail that will only get lost. Granted I haven't been doing this for very long, but it blows my mind that I can electronically submit detailed drawings with beautiful shading, only to later find a printed and scanned version in PAIR. Government efficiency for you.

I've given nice drawings to paralegals in pdf format, all set for uploading... and they print and scan them back to pdf, with smudges and dirt and every line at a slight angle.

Theaetetus: I've given nice drawings to paralegals in pdf format, all set for uploading... and they print and scan them back to pdf, with smudges and dirt and every line at a slight angle.

Ugh, I bet they use fax machines, too.

stenciledb: "There's such a focus on cost-cutting in so many industries now -- pride of your work goes out the window for the benefit of reducing costs. There's a lot of emphasis on, 'Let's save money on the drawings,'"

... I also suspect that lawyers prefer ambiguous drawings that are only as specific as required. Easier to defend a patent that way, or something.

Actually, that's exactly it. As long as patents are viewed under such rigid points of view, it is in the best interests of the patent holders to be as broad and vague as possible. Otherwise, visual stylistic choices on the drawings could be used to limit the patent's strength.

It's also that the entire nature of patents has changed. Patents used to be "Hey, check out this cool new thing I invented! Here's how you can take it and make your own, I just call dibs on making profit"; now it's "MINEMINEMINEMINEMINE" and "OMG my design is sooooo super-sekrit u can't look at it but i still need to stop u from stealing!"

stenciledb: "There's such a focus on cost-cutting in so many industries now -- pride of your work goes out the window for the benefit of reducing costs. There's a lot of emphasis on, 'Let's save money on the drawings,'"

... I also suspect that lawyers prefer ambiguous drawings that are only as specific as required. Easier to defend a patent that way, or something.

I did some 3d work for someone who had some stuff patented, he has stuff redrawn by hand before it gets added to the patent as opposed to sending 3d renderings. It's to make it more difficult to replicate

course he is a cranky old bastard

To be fair, the simple drawings are being sent to the government for review.

Subby's Mother: It's also that the entire nature of patents has changed. Patents used to be "Hey, check out this cool new thing I invented! Here's how you can take it and make your own, I just call dibs on making profit"; now it's "MINEMINEMINEMINEMINE" and "OMG my design is sooooo super-sekrit u can't look at it but i still need to stop u from stealing!"

Not at all. The very first patent was because of a guy who said "OMG my design is sooooo super-sekrit u can't look at it," albeit in Italian. In exchange for letting everyone look, they gave him a 3 year monopoly.

loonatic112358: I did some 3d work for someone who had some stuff patented, he has stuff redrawn by hand before it gets added to the patent as opposed to sending 3d renderings. It's to make it more difficult to replicate

course he is a cranky old bastard

It could also be the fact that 3D renderings are likely to be rejected by the patent office as not reproducible. They really don't like shading.

Theaetetus: loonatic112358: I did some 3d work for someone who had some stuff patented, he has stuff redrawn by hand before it gets added to the patent as opposed to sending 3d renderings. It's to make it more difficult to replicate

course he is a cranky old bastard

It could also be the fact that 3D renderings are likely to be rejected by the patent office as not reproducible. They really don't like shading.

This. I've patented a couple of things. Shading is a no-no. Hatching is okay on cross sections, but not too fine.

Those hands on the Apple tablet are the most horrendous of any of the drawings. Absolutely ridiculous, especially for a grown up company like Apple.

loonatic112358: I did some 3d work for someone who had some stuff patented, he has stuff redrawn by hand before it gets added to the patent as opposed to sending 3d renderings. It's to make it more difficult to replicate

course he is a cranky old bastard

Well, that's just stupid. He could have had you export less detailed 2D images and saved the redrawing-by-hand thing...

stenciledb: "There's such a focus on cost-cutting in so many industries now -- pride of your work goes out the window for the benefit of reducing costs. There's a lot of emphasis on, 'Let's save money on the drawings,'"

... I also suspect that lawyers prefer ambiguous drawings that are only as specific as required. Easier to defend a patent that way, or something.

I also think they are very ambiguous because they don't want to tip any competitors off on what the next generation of devices is going to look like.



Sure, it is only going to be a speed bump for companies like Meizu, but it gives you a little bit of an advantage.

I think it was a sad day when the US Patent Office dropped the model requirement for patents. The models had to be below a certain size, and I've seen some photos of some amazingly well-built miniature models of machines.

Okay, I've seen this one before, and I expect a lot of you have, too:



I get that it's a 'slot machine,' by which I assume they mean a casino game. But it's not clear to me what it does, what's special about it, or anything. Does anyone understand what the hell it's about? Sure, watermelons, but how?

Cherry picking drawings isn't a great way to prove a point. There are plenty of amazing pictures such as Link

Mikey1969: Well, that's just stupid. He could have had you export less detailed 2D images and saved the redrawing-by-hand thing...

he has good ideas, but some times i just got to bill him more because he makes things take 3x longer then they likely should

Sylvia_Bandersnatch: Okay, I've seen this one before, and I expect a lot of you have, too:

[www.wired.com image 660x593]

I get that it's a 'slot machine,' by which I assume they mean a casino game. But it's not clear to me what it does, what's special about it, or anything. Does anyone understand what the hell it's about? Sure, watermelons, but how?

Gallagher's one armed bandit delivers real watermelons

The robot ride looks an awful lot like a former Ohio registered sex offender who shall remain unnamed.

Basily Gourt: My 88 year old father is a long-retired architect.

His drawings were a thing of beauty. You could throw them in a pile of 100 other plans, and I could pick his out in a second.

His hand drawn renderings were even better. Little pieces of artwork.

Funny part of this story? He hated to draw, and apparently so do most architects. "that's why we have draftsmen" he used to tell me.

Yup. Although these days with Revit you're not only making your construction documents for paper, you're building a 3D model that can produce fantastic renderings. It's all done at the same time. We're finally reaching the point again where architectural drawings can be art again in the age of CAD/BIM

Mikey1969: Those hands on the Apple tablet are the most horrendous of any of the drawings. Absolutely ridiculous, especially for a grown up company like Apple.

/obligatory

DrGunsforHands: Mikey1969: Those hands on the Apple tablet are the most horrendous of any of the drawings. Absolutely ridiculous, especially for a grown up company like Apple.
[i50.tinypic.com image 639x434]
/obligatory

patent drawings by Rob Liefield