UPDATE: I’ve since refined the techniques described in this posting — see Fast-track patent drafting: Diagram, then catalog, the invention’s resource flows
The short version: Six slides
I’ve posted a PDF of a six-slide deck I did for a recent client presentation. It explains the approach I use to do inventor interviews for patent applications. In a nutshell, the inventor and I camp out in a conference room with my laptop (or we work remotely over a screen-sharing connection). We collaboratively draft actual claims and explanatory footnotes.
This approach has proved quite popular: Inventors like being able to provide real-time feedback. That way, they don’t later have to correct a lawyer “term paper” that’s likely full of gaps and misunderstandings.
In a pinch, we could complete and file the patent application in one day if necessary. Employers like that.
The more-detailed explanation
I also posted a longer deck. It goes into considerably more detail about the approach.
The published JPTOS paper
And here’s a paper I wrote some years ago on the same subject. It was published in the Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society.
See also: (list is automatically generated)
Contract review: A final checklist

{ 2 comments }
The thumbs can’t be enlarged at the end of the slide.
@Joe, sorry, but I don’t understand what you’re saying here.