[Noisebridge-discuss] Seeking advice on Autocad and patents

[Taylor Alexander]

I also do lots of work in AutoCAD and other CAD programs.

I'm not really sure how to answer your question though - I'm not very
familiar with the patent application process. I can say that AutoCAD is
perfectly fine for drawing up mechanical parts, and you can easily add
dimensions and create tables of text. The text is generally all static and
not linked in any way to the content of the drawing though.

Solidworks, on the other hand, lets you design multiple parts, put them all
in one assembly, then create a drawing of your assembly with multiple views
and tables of all parts.

However, this may not be necessary at all - most of the patents I've seen
feature somewhat poorly drawn sketches of things; including patents from the
likes of Apple, etc. I don't think you normally want very exacting drawings
in your patent application, lest someone make the thing 1/8" longer and
claim it does not violate your patent.

Also, will you be filing many patents with many similar parts? If you're
only talking about one patent, having a program that can automatically
generate tables may not be worth it. Solidworks can do all that, but it's
something like 8 grand.

If you haven't talked to a patent lawyer, go and do that. If the patents
I've seen are any indication, you don't want high quality drawings; you want
vague, approximate sketches.
-Taylor


On Wed, Mar 9, 2011 at 5:08 PM, Robert Fletcher <lobatifricha at gmail.com>wrote:

> I've done quite a bit of work with AutoCAD.  With all of its scripting
> interfaces and ways of linking in files I'm sure you could find a way to do
> what you're talking about, but I'm also fairly confident that it's not
> really the best tool for the job.  If you're developing devices then
> something like AutoDesk Inventor might be more up your alley.  If you're
> stuck with AutoCAD then you should probably look into cross-pollenating
> fields between a word document and your drawings, or worst case having a
> layout in your dwg files for your application and plugging fields into it
> from there.  I also found the forums at augi.com<http://www.augi.com/forum/>to be very helpful back in my drafting days.
>
> Good luck,
> - Robert
>
> On Wed, Mar 9, 2011 at 4:53 PM, Owen Pietrokowsky <opietro at yahoo.com>wrote:
>
>> Greetings,
>>
>> This request is for intermediate to advanced users of Autocad. I'm looking
>> for advice/feedback on Autocad and its ability to provide information for
>> patent applications. Has anyone used Autocad's documentation abilities to
>> create drawings, parts lists, and text, and then plugged these three items
>> into a patent application? I'm not familiar with Autocad, and I'm assuming
>> it has the significant documentation features mentioned above. I hope this
>> request makes sense. Thank you.
>>
>> Owen
>> opietro at yahoo.com
>>
>>
>>
>> Owen Pietrokowsky
>> Editor, writer
>> Biotech, high-tech, linux, materials science
>> opietro at yahoo.com
>>
>> LinkedIn:
>> http://www.linkedin.com/in/owenpietrokowsky
>>
>> Poetry and Science pages
>> https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Poetry_%26_Science
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>
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