MPEP § 1606 — Drawings (Annotated Rules)
§1606 Drawings
This page consolidates and annotates all enforceable requirements under MPEP § 1606, including statutory authority, regulatory rules, examiner guidance, and practice notes. It is provided as guidance, with links to the ground truth sources. This is information only, it is not legal advice.
Drawings
This section addresses Drawings. Primary authority: 37 CFR 1.84 and 37 CFR 1.165. Contains: 3 requirements.
Key Rules
Plant Patent Practice
(a) Plant patent drawings should be artistically and competently executed and must comply with the requirements of § 1.84. View numbers and reference characters need not be employed unless required by the examiner. The drawing must disclose all the distinctive characteristics of the plant capable of visual representation.
Drawing Content Requirements
(a) Plant patent drawings should be artistically and competently executed and must comply with the requirements of § 1.84. View numbers and reference characters need not be employed unless required by the examiner. The drawing must disclose all the distinctive characteristics of the plant capable of visual representation.
Plant Description Requirements
(a) Plant patent drawings should be artistically and competently executed and must comply with the requirements of § 1.84. View numbers and reference characters need not be employed unless required by the examiner. The drawing must disclose all the distinctive characteristics of the plant capable of visual representation.
Examiner Form Paragraphs
Examiner form paragraphs are standard language that you might see in an Office Action or communication from the USPTO. Examiners have latitude to change the form paragraphs, but you will often see this exact language.
The disclosure is objected to under 37 CFR 1.165(b) because applicant has not provided copies of the color drawing in duplicate. Correction is required.
- Color Drawings Must Be Submitted If Color Is Distinguishing
- Color Drawings Must Be Submitted If Color Is Distinctive
- Color Drawings Must Be Submitted
- Color Drawings and Photographs Must Have Two Color Copies
- Color Drawings Require Two Copies
- Drawings Must Be Artistic and Compliant
- Drawings Must Disclose Distinctive Characteristics
- Drawings Must Disclose Distinctive Plant Characteristics
The disclosure is objected to under 37 CFR 1.165(a) because Fig. [1] not artistically and/or competently executed.
- Drawings Must Be Artistic and Compliant
- Drawings Must Disclose Distinctive Characteristics
- Drawings Must Disclose Distinctive Plant Characteristics
- Color Drawings Must Be Submitted If Color Is Distinguishing
- Color Drawings Must Be Submitted If Color Is Distinctive
- Color Drawings Must Be Submitted
- Color Drawings and Photographs Must Have Two Color Copies
- Color Drawings Require Two Copies
The disclosure is objected to under 37 CFR 1.165(a) because the drawings are of an inadequate scale to show the distinguishing features of the plant.
- Color Drawings Must Be Submitted If Color Is Distinguishing
- Color Drawings Must Be Submitted If Color Is Distinctive
- Color Drawings Must Be Submitted
- Drawings Must Be Artistic and Compliant
- Drawings Must Disclose Distinctive Characteristics
- Drawings Must Disclose Distinctive Plant Characteristics
- Color Drawings and Photographs Must Have Two Color Copies
- Color Drawings Require Two Copies
Citations
| Primary topic | Citation |
|---|---|
| Drawing Content Requirements Plant Description Requirements Plant Patent Practice | 37 CFR § 1.84 |
Source Text from USPTO’s MPEP
This is an exact copy of the MPEP from the USPTO. It is here for your reference to see the section in context.
Official MPEP § 1606 — Drawings
Source: USPTO1606 Drawings [R-01.2024]
37 CFR 1.165 Plant drawings.
- (a) Plant patent drawings should be artistically and competently executed and must comply with the requirements of § 1.84. View numbers and reference characters need not be employed unless required by the examiner. The drawing must disclose all the distinctive characteristics of the plant capable of visual representation.
- (b) The drawings may be in color. The drawing must be in color if color is a distinguishing characteristic of the new variety. Two copies of color drawings or photographs must be submitted.
If the drawings, including watercolor renderings, or photographs are in color, two color copies of each drawing or photograph are required. If the required copies of the drawings are not included, the application will be accorded a filing date, but correction will be required before the application is forwarded for examination.
37 CFR 1.84 Standards for drawings.
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- (c) Identification of drawings. Identifying indicia should be provided, and if provided, should include the title of the invention, inventor’s name, and application number, or docket number (if any) if an application number has not been assigned to the application. If this information is provided, it must be placed on the front of each sheet within the top margin. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be identified as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to § 1.121(d). If a marked-up copy of any amended drawing figure including annotations indicating the changes made is filed, such marked-up copy must be clearly labeled as “Annotated Sheet” pursuant to § 1.121(d)(1).
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- (e) Type of paper. Drawings submitted to the Office must be made on paper which is flexible, strong, white, smooth, non-shiny, and durable. All sheets must be reasonably free from cracks, creases, and folds. Only one side of the sheet may be used for the drawing. Each sheet must be reasonably free from erasures and must be free from alterations, overwritings, and interlineations. Photographs must be developed on paper meeting the sheet-size requirements of paragraph (f) of this section and the margin requirements of paragraph (g) of this section. See paragraph (b) of this section for other requirements for photographs.
- (f) Size of paper. All drawing sheets in an application must be the
same size. One of the shorter sides of the sheet is regarded as its top. The size
of the sheets on which drawings are made must be:
- (1) 21.0 cm. by 29.7 cm. (DIN size A4), or
- (2) 21.6 cm. by 27.9 cm. (8 1/2 by 11 inches).
- (g) Margins. The sheets must not contain frames around the sight (i.e., the usable surface), but should have scan target points (i.e., cross-hairs) printed on two cater-corner margin corners. Each sheet must include a top margin of at least 2.5 cm. (1 inch), a left side margin of at least 2.5 cm. (1 inch), a right side margin of at least 1.5 cm. (5/8 inch), and a bottom margin of at least 1.0 cm. (3/8 inch), thereby leaving a sight no greater than 17.0 cm. by 26.2 cm. on 21.0 cm. by 29.7 cm. (DIN size A4) drawing sheets, and a sight no greater than 17.6 cm. by 24.4 cm. (6 15/16 by 9 5/8 inches) on 21.6 cm. by 27.9 cm. (8 1/2 by 11 inch) drawing sheets.
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- (i) Arrangement of views. One view must not be placed upon another or within the outline of another. All views on the same sheet should stand in the same direction and, if possible, stand so that they can be read with the sheet held in an upright position. If views wider than the width of the sheet are necessary for the clearest illustration of the invention, the sheet may be turned on its side so that the top of the sheet, with the appropriate top margin to be used as the heading space, is on the right-hand side. Words must appear in a horizontal, left-to-right fashion when the page is either upright or turned so that the top becomes the right side, except for graphs utilizing standard scientific convention to denote the axis of abscissas (of X) and the axis of ordinates (of Y).
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- (t) Numbering of sheets of drawings. The sheets of drawings should be numbered in consecutive Arabic numerals, starting with 1, within the sight as defined in paragraph (g) of this section. These numbers, if present, must be placed in the middle of the top of the sheet, but not in the margin. The numbers can be placed on the right-hand side if the drawing extends too close to the middle of the top edge of the usable surface. The drawing sheet numbering must be clear and larger than the numbers used as reference characters to avoid confusion. The number of each sheet should be shown by two Arabic numerals placed on either side of an oblique line, with the first being the sheet number and the second being the total number of sheets of drawings, with no other marking.
- (u) Numbering of views.
- (1) The different views must be numbered in consecutive Arabic numerals, starting with 1, independent of the numbering of the sheets and, if possible, in the order in which they appear on the drawing sheet(s). Partial views intended to form one complete view, on one or several sheets, must be identified by the same number followed by a capital letter. View numbers must be preceded by the abbreviation “FIG.” Where only a single view is used in an application to illustrate the claimed invention, it must not be numbered and the abbreviation “FIG.” must not appear.
- (2) Numbers and letters identifying the views must be simple and clear and must not be used in association with brackets, circles, or inverted commas. The view numbers must be larger than the numbers used for reference characters.
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- (x) Holes. No holes should be made by applicant in the drawing sheets.
Form Paragraphs 16.06, 16.07, and 16.11 may be used to object to the drawing disclosure.
¶ 16.06 Color Drawings Must Be in Duplicate
The disclosure is objected to under 37 CFR 1.165(b) because applicant has not provided copies of the color drawing in duplicate. Correction is required.
¶ 16.07 Drawing Figures Not Competently Executed
The disclosure is objected to under 37 CFR 1.165(a) because Fig. [1] not artistically and/or competently executed.
¶ 16.11 Drawings in Improper Scale
The disclosure is objected to under 37 CFR 1.165(a) because the drawings are of an inadequate scale to show the distinguishing features of the plant.