Major reason and one of the important steps towards getting a successful patent grant is writing an error free patent application. An accurate patent application draft protects you from various office actions that can originate from silliest of mistakes in draft. Thus, you get the patent grant without any difficulty. However, no human being on this earth can do a work which is 100% accurate. Since patent application draft also requires human assistance, thus it will be prone to errors. This arises the need to have the patent proofreading services to find and omit the errors in your application.
Patent proofreading services, makes your application error free, and provides your application a solid base to meet USPTO requirements. Thus, if you want to know more about, why you should hire these services, you are at the correct place. So keep reading till end, and see for yourself why you need it.
Also read: Patent Proofreading Tools: What it does for you?
What do you understand by Patent Proofreading?
Patent proofreading services consists of steps and processes to spot and correct underlying mistakes that originate during the meticulous patent writing process. These mistakes are so small that you can’t find them with an ordinary reading, this requires skills of proofreading and patent proofreading tools.
It makes sure that the illustrations as well as captions and labels are consistent with one another. Other use of this is in checking claims to ensure that they are enforceable, a certified proofreader adheres to the established guidelines for ensuring a smooth patent grant.
Importance of Patent Proofreading Services
A recent survey on 1600 approx. patent grants by USPTO has reported that nearly 98% of them had mistakes in their draft. Further, 2% of the given patents had the enough serious errors which can ruin their original claim. Thus, it becomes evident that why using the patent proofreading services are in the benefit for you.
Also read; Patent Proofreading Software: All You Need to Know
What are the common and major errors in Patent Application?
When you consider the amount of time and money that is spent on writing an application for patent. Then importance of proofreading services becomes essential to ensure that the patent is error-free specifications. These are the areas where errors are the most frequent:
Unable to determine the scope of Patent
If an invention has a scope that is excessively broad, the patent is at the risk facing rejection. However the patent’s narrow coverage renders it useless. It’s essential to balance the two because errors can limit the extent of disclosure. Patent proofreading services eliminate such things and makes sure that the draft is correct in defining the protections sought by the applicant.
Unable to determine the Scope Of Claim
Claim construction is a crucial element of a patent’s specification. Untrue or inconsistent definition of claim elements may indicate contradictions with the claims and disclosure. Thus impacting the validity of the patent. Patent proofreading tools assists in identifying ambiguous claims as well as ambiguous references to an antecedent. The claim is given an identifiable form. A clear and well-written claim can reduce the possibility of rejection by patent.
Presence of Grammatical Error
While grammar may appear to be an unimportant element but it could lead to invalidating a patent claim in the most extreme of instances. Simple spelling errors and inconsistencies can affect the message the sentence conveys, altering the meaning of the sentence. Patent proofreading makes sure that sentences are unambiguous and succinct to convey the meaning you want to convey.
Incorrectness in Enabling Invention
Sometimes an application for patents could not disclose the invention’s enabling factor, eventually which could result in its rejection. Patent proofreading assists to review the disclosure of the an enabling invention. A competent proofreader ensures that no mistakes remain from the beginning in the process of preparing the patent.
Errors in Definiting the constituents in The Drawings Invention
If an element in the drawing isn’t defined within the specification of the patent it could be subject to a limitation in the form of office actions. Proof Reading thus ensures that every element in the drawing is identifiable in the specifications.
Also read: Office Action on Patent: Reasons & Solutions
Critical stages where Patent Proofreading Services are Vital to Use
Patent drafting is characterised by the extensive communication of information, which is prone to errors in various phases. This is why the study mentioned above, based on samples of 1600 US patents shows that 50% of errors within the document were committed by the USPTO in the stage of prosecution and the rest were committed by the applicants.
To avoid such mistakes Patent proofreading could be carried out at different phases. Thus, it is important to proofread the patent in these five scenarios that are crucial:
Application Stage of Filing
Application filing is the stage in which the inventor or applicant is planning to apply for a patent through the drafting of an application. This is when the vast majority of grammatical mistakes and inaccurate claim dependencies happen. IP companies begin the process of proofreading in this phase by obtaining a written copy that the applicant has provided to them. They verify that the application conforms to the necessary requirements. The proofreading process at this stage will also decrease the likelihood of opposition being raised under U.S.C 101 or 103 due to a violation of USPTO rules.
Following Patent Application Gets Published
If the application is accepted by the US without any objections, and the client wants to extend it beyond its home country. In this case it is crucial to look at the requirements for application for the country that is of interest. The proofreading process at this point will ensure that any changes (even preliminary) submitted by applicants in the course of publication are taken into account. Thus, if the application is extended to multiple countries the chance of rejection is lower. likelihood of rejection.
Before Patent Grant
After a patent has been granted, it will cost around $150 to correct any applicant mistake. So having the patent proofread prior to the grant can prevent certification for Correction(CoC) expense. It is recommended to do it just before the patent is issuedbecause it is the best way to make use of the proofreader. This stage of proofreading helps to reduce the expense and benefit of efforts.
After Patent Grant
In this instance, proofreading is to verify that document has everything in it properly. The process is quite simple. Intellectual property professionals need to download the patent along with its image file wrapper , then proofread it. When you get the patent grant, it improves the chances of receiving grant of “office action” by examiners from other countries. Thus, proofreading is beneficial for the applicant even after the patent grant.
PCT Application Stage
Clients usually ask their IP service providers to proofread the PCT application. After PCT publication the application goes through an entirely different stage in the national system and is susceptible to rejection by a particular nation’s examiner. This process can help to improve the quality of patent proofreading during this phase.
Whom to hire for patent proofreading services?
Following the banes of not proofreading your patent application, you understand why it is highly in favor of you to hire patent proofreading services. Further, facing a rejection is not the problem, but the rejection due to silly mistakes such as spelling errors, is the thing that will hurt you the most. It is because the time and money you spend in developing the patent draft, gets into water because you ignore the proofreading. Thus to free your patent draft from errors, you can hire us, “Patent Paralegal Force” inventio from the errors,
The complete security for our clients is our goal and we do not compromise on the matter. We perform several checks and quality checks before delivering you your final report on proofreading. This way, we make sure that your application doesn’t have even the tiniest of mistakes. Find out more about us here.
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