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[fig.one]

I discovered this website today and am trying this.

I am a patent illustrator and have just completed invoice #2029. Not an old timer but not a total newcomer either.

I think we all need to discuss where our business is heading. I had my biggest year yet this year but am noting some ominous signs:

1. The relaxation of PTO drafting standards have definitely affected my work. I have more clients now to keep up the work flow.  I am awed at what the Examiners are accepting.

2. Many younger attorneys are doing their own formal drawings on Visio. This is particularly true of simpler Figs, flow charts, graphs etc.

If this post appears as I hope it will, I would like to get a discussion going on this topic.

I will respond to anyone here or by my e-mail - fig.one@starband.net

Regards,

Mark Rader
fig.one Inc.

[Isaac]

Your observation is very interesting.  Drawing requirements at the PTO haven't changed, but the review of the drawings is now done by examiners who really do not know or bother with most of the requirements.

My impression is that applicants still like great drawings, but that the PTO seems to take anything with acceptible margins and correct reference characters.   I would never do the drawings myself for a mechanical invention, but I can do perfectly acceptable flowcharts, state diagrams, block diagrams, and one line network drawings.

[fig.one]

It has been my experience that only in the last year or two have I seen attorneys doing their own simple drawings.

My business has been 60% mechanical and 40% other until of late. Mechanical is becoming by far the dominant.

Last year I lost one client to the tune of about 75 cases per year because of lax drawing requirements. These were all schematics, charts etc. They are now done 'ROUGHLY' in Visio by the client and submitted by the law firm involved as is with no rejections. I haven't seen a 948 form in a couple of years.

I recently bid on 100 cases per year for the preparation of flow charts and diagrams. Each case was 4-6 sheets. At that quantity I bid at $40/sheet. The attorneys said they could do it more efficiently themselves in Visio.

In the above two examples all of the attorneys involved still send all of their more complex misc. and mechanical work to me.

This is what I am seeing. It will dilute the workload and make what is left more competitive and probably drive down rates.

I would like to hear as many experiences and responses as possible on this. I am trying to decide whether to stay in this discipline

Thanks,

Mark

fig.one Inc.

[PatentDrafter]

Hello all,

I'm a newbie (found this today as well).  I started my patent illustration firm in 1984.  I worked at Bell Labs prior.  I was one of the first patent drafting service firms to use a computer to do their work.  BTW, it cost me $45,000 for my first computer back then, it was even on wheels it was so large.  

In 1999 I had 13 employees, I now have 3 full and 3 part timers (and losing 1 more full time in two weeks).  We averaged close to 200 cases per month in 1999 and now we are under 100 per month, and running a heck of a lot more efficiently as well.  We have produced over 23,000 patents (not drawings, patents) since 1984.

All this to say that the PTO has changed it's process and it's rules as well.  They have virtually eliminated the office draftsperson (there are still some left, with almost nothing to do), and they have greatly loosened their rules as well.  They eliminated the cross hatching patterns (plastic, metal and ceramic hatch patterns aren't needed anymore) but a general hatch pattern instead (making it easier for Visio people).

I don't want to discourage you, however, if you had been around during the "glory years", you would be discouraged already.  Going from 200 patents per month to less than 100 can be discouraging.  

Our clients are doing their own simple work and then coming to us for the more complicated stuff.  Back then (remember the glory years), our simple stuff's profit helped to defray the cost of the more complicated.  Now, without the easy stuff, our complicated drawings has increased but not to the level that would be equal to "them there glory years".

Fortunately the money earned back then was used to generate faster drawing solutions in house, and we also developed web-based databases that our clients take advantage of.  This process saves us a lot of management time and this savings is passed to our clients, which still makes us popular because our system is easy to use and our clients save time and money because of it.  In other words, we made our company a much more efficiently run organization.

So this has helped up in our downward trend.  

Stay in there, there will always be a need for good illustrators.  Just don't lower your quality for the sake of time, that is not the answer!

I believe that we have seen the "bottom" of this trend anyway.  There wasn't enough work for all of us and over the past 4 years people have slowly moved out of the business.  I have seen a slight increase in work but a great increase in new clients over the past year, especially the last 6 months.  Meaning that my clients are doing more on their own, but there are more clients that need work (their illustrators are leaving the field).  My opinion of course.  So stay in there, you'll slowly see an increase.

Jim

PS  Just remember the old saying "Patent Draftsman never die, they just shade away".

[fig.one]

Well I guess you are seeing the same thing I am but you certainly are keeping an optimistic attitude, great.

By simple arithmetic you seem to individually output about the same number of cases per year as I do. I illustratate 350-400/year using Autocad. I make a comfortable  living at home in the hills of Vermont and would like to continue this lifestyle. I fear commuting to work!! As I stated this was my busiest year yet but lately things have slowed down rather dramatically. I still get a full work week but it isn't rolling in like I am used to.

Hopefully we can get more  discussion going here to see if there are any ideas out there that can help restore some of the drawing standards and convince some of the attorneys that it doesn't seem cost efficient to make Visiso drawings, except for maybe the very simplest flow charts etc.

So if anyone would like to contribute to this we would like to hear from more interested parties.

It is my understanding that the USPTO has the lowest drafting standards in the world now and that is rather discouranging to someone like me who has made it my goal to provide the most concise, accurate and attractive drawings possible, at competitive rates.

I am sure the applicants would like to see drafting standards continue to be of highest quality also. It is of legal benefit to them.

Mark- fig.one Inc.

[fig.one]

Just a post to see if we can get anyone else involved in this discussion.

If there are any illustrators perusing this it would be to everyones advantage to share some ideas and prospects for keeping us all in business.

Mark -

fig.one Inc.

[PatentDrafter]

It's obvious that there are two reasons, one is that nobody has been reading this thread, the other, is that this is not something that they care about .   :-/

I think it's the second.

[JimIvey]

My guess is that there aren't many draftspersons participating here.  It's not the kind of question to which others can contribute much.

Having said that, I'll offer some thoughts on what's happening in the marketplace of patent figure drafting.  Here are a few developments affecting the market place.

1. Patent practitioners/inventors are getting better at using computers to draw.  Back in the early 1990s, I shifted from ink, pencils, white-out, erasers, photocopiers, scissors, and transparent tape to MacDraw.  I used my own personal computer (not the firm's) to do this and calculated that, despite taking longer to draw the first draft, subsequent drafts took seconds making MacDraw more efficient overall.  At least in my own firm, I was a pioneer.  But I was just one of a new generation of computer-comfortable attorneys.

2.  Computer tools are getting better and cheaper.  I use StarOffice/OpenOffice.org (collectively, "OOo").  It's free (or nearly so for StarOffice).

3.  Technology, and accordingly patent work, is shifting away from mechanical to more abstract technologies that lend themselves to particularly simple drawings -- e.g., software, chemical, and genetic (the latter two often not including any figures at all).

These first 3 combine to dramatically reduce demand for professional drafting services.

4.  In the late 1990s, many sought to enter the IT labor market.  In the early 2000s (is there a better way to identify this decade?), hiring (and retention) of IT workers dropped precipitously.  Thus, there's a bit of a glut of IT labor and the Tech sector hasn't fully recovered yet.  I know of a few who have tried their hand at patent figure drafting as a way to extract value from their computer skills.

The overall result is reduced demand and increased supply.  Guess what happens to price....

Yes, the new drafting entrepreneurs aren't as skilled at the particularly challenging mechanical applications, but I suspect that will become a highly specialized market served by a few and demanded by a few.  I suspect that prices for that type of work will rise and that the number of draftspeople that such a market will eventually support will drop significantly.

Of course, I'm not saying this is a good idea or a good thing, just something I see coming.  On a more general level, economies change -- professions grow and subside.  Go find a professional glass blower (other than a glass blowing artist) -- I've met one, by the way.  Go find a blacksmith.  Of course, governments sometimes subsidize obsoleted careers -- such as agriculture through the industrial revolution and through today and, increasingly, manufacturing laborers through (and probably after) the information revolution.  Change in the marketplace is just a fact of life.

Regards.

[Mac]

Jim is right; I'm having a heck of a time selling all of my buggy-whips.

[fig.one]

With such dim prospects for the future perhaps it would be wise if I switched to the raising and care of African Violets

[PatentDrafter]

Thanks for your comments Jim, and I agree, change is already here.  I remember when I first discussed this change with one of the PTO's Office Draftsman, and they said that we should fight to "keep our jobs".  I felt then and still do today that change is good as long as it doesn't hurt the industry as a whole.  As a patent illustrator, it is hard to swallow such a statement, but the fact is that change was needed.  I'm not for government stepping in to "save my job", that's for me to think "out of the box" and come up with something different or new, or I can, get "out of the box".  At least I have that freedom here.

I'm more concerned about the whole industry (not just patent illustrating).  With Examiners more and more concerned about producing numbers instead of quality exams, we will all feel that result!  But by the time we do, it may be too late.

[IIllustrators]

I've been "training" to become a patent draftsmen for the past couple of months now by a veteran who creates what I believe are some of the best drawings around. When he believes that my work is at par with his, he is going to pass along some of his work that he doesn't have time for.
My idea is to sooner than later, have a stream of work from him, and to go and get some of my own clients. What is the best way to establish new clients? I know that this industry relies on word of mouth but, you've all been where I am and I'm sure have tips you would have liked to have known yourself.
Also, is this something that I could make a career out of or is it a waste of time to try to get into?

[fig.one]

illustrator -

I am very unsure about the future of this business. As I said in my first post I am having a great year but it takes more and more clients to keep the volume up.

I think you should read all of the previous posts here carefully and draw your own conclusions.

I think the posts from "Jim"  and "Patent Illustrator" are very illuminating.

If I were starting over again I think I would look elsewhere for an illustrating career. I am not saying this as having anythng to do with competition. All are welcome and competitive ideas are positive in the long run. Even though I am still doing very well I am exploring other avenues. I think this discipline will produce enough income to see me through a transition

Sorry but I am not terribly positive about this and I think you can see from the other responses that everyone addresses out business with serious reservations.

FYI -  "Word of mouth" has always been my biggest advertiser/promoter

Mark - fig.one Inc

[PatentDrafter]

Hello Illustrator,

Good luck in your learning process.  When I learned from "some of the best around" as well, it took me literally over 5 years to learn the trade, and even then I was scared to go out on my own.  But the rules then were a lot different.  Now, the drawings aren't as rule demanding as they were.  But you do get the occasional examiner who will send the drawing to a patent draftsperson (in the USPTO) who will object to something.  Or when you do a design case, where the examiners really do examine the drawings.  When you get to these cases, you better know what you are doing, or you can actually hurt your client!  Learn from your expert trainer!!!  Learn all you can, and don't be afraid to ask questions.  Feel free to contact me if you need any advice.  I've been around long enough not to be afraid of my competition when they ask me questions.  And I'm not afraid to ask them questions when I have a situation as well.  This field is constantly changing (the "new" rule of REPLACEMENT SHEET / NEW SHEET) as an example.  We need to help each other!!!

Please contact me directly as I rarely look at this site.

  JLipsey@jblpatent.com

[William Murry]

Well I guess you are seeing the same thing I am but you certainly are keeping an optimistic attitude, great.

By simple arithmetic you seem to individually output about the same number of cases per year as I do. I illustratate 350-400/year using Autocad. I make a comfortable  living at home in the hills of Vermont and would like to continue this lifestyle. I fear commuting to work!! As I stated this was my busiest year yet but lately things have slowed down rather dramatically. I still get a full work week but it isn't rolling in like I am used to.

Hopefully we can get more  discussion going here to see if there are any ideas out there that can help restore some of the drawing standards and convince some of the attorneys that it doesn't seem cost efficient to make Visiso drawings, except for maybe the very simplest flow charts etc.

So if anyone would like to contribute to this we would like to hear from more interested parties.

It is my understanding that the USPTO has the lowest drafting standards in the world now and that is rather discouranging to someone like me who has made it my goal to provide the most concise, accurate and attractive drawings possible, at competitive rates.

I am sure the applicants would like to see drafting standards continue to be of highest quality also. It is of legal benefit to them.

Mark- fig.one Inc.

I have been in this frustrating business for 17 years, it was great while it lasted but it is time to move on, maybe do something like working at Wal-Mart. I agree about most everything I have read on this site...but losing my job after 15 years, getting screwed and the other illustrators saying that you will be contractors for a long time then 3 months later shipping all IP work to India sucks! It is bad enough having the cheap bastards (attorneys) put is out of work by doing there own illustrations, what is left goes out of the country.  Yes, I am Pissed off, but all of you illustrators know how difficult it can be working with all thoes premadonas.