Qian Neng   PATENT ATTORNEY

I. Introduction

It is of great significance to deeply study how to clearly express mechanical device patents. On the one hand, although the focus of patent applications in developed countries such as Europe and America has shifted from electronic information technology to biomedicine and chemistry, patent applications in the mechanical field still dominate in China. On the other hand, the top 20 domestic patent agencies mainly handle foreign-related applications. Such foreign patent documents usually have a rigorous structure and detailed expressions, and agents mostly focus on translation, with less pressure on writing. In contrast, domestic applicants generally lack standardized technical expression skills, often struggling to accurately convey their invention concepts and technical key points. Therefore, the primary task of a patent agent is to accurately understand the applicant's technical intentions and transform them into clear and standardized technical language, thereby reasonably defining the scope of patent protection.

Against this background, although the number of patent applications in the mechanical field is huge, the practical problem that applicants struggle to clearly elaborate their technical solutions makes the agent's ability in technical content expression particularly critical. Most current patent writing textbooks often assume that the applicant's technical solution is already clearly complete, and thus focus on how to write claims. However, in practical work, the real challenge is how to 提炼 and construct a clear, systematic, and protectable technical solution from vague or even fragmented technical concepts. This article aims to explore how to completely and accurately write the technical solution of mechanical device patents to improve the expression quality and writing efficiency in practice.

II. Tree Table

The tree diagram is a common tool that can clearly present the hierarchical relationship of mechanical devices through a top-down branch structure. For patent agents new to the industry, tree diagrams have good guiding effects. However, manually drawing tree diagrams is inefficient, especially in work scenarios that require frequent patent document writing. Now that patent writing highly relies on computer software, using a "tree table" instead of the traditional tree diagram has become a more efficient choice. The tree table not only simplifies the drawing process but also helps agents focus on the substantive content of the technical solution.

In practical work, agents often face situations where applicants only provide device drawings or even just physical photos of mechanical devices. At this time, agents need to draw drawings based on these image materials, name each part and assign drawing marks, and sort out a complete technical solution combined with the applicant's oral description. This is the true portrayal of patent agency work in the mechanical field.

The following will further elaborate on the preparation method of the tree table. Although the tree diagram is intuitive and clear in structural display, its limitations are also obvious: drawing boxes and adjusting the layout with computer software is tedious, especially when typesetting text and frames, which is particularly time-consuming. In addition, the tree diagram can only reflect the logical hierarchical relationship between parts, making it difficult to directly mark the technical features of each part. For example, some detailed features are difficult to visually express with text in the diagram, thus limiting the practicality of the tree diagram in practice.

With the help of spreadsheets, the tree diagram can be transformed into a tree table with a clear structure and flexible operation. Spreadsheets have good editability, and operations such as inserting rows and columns, merging or splitting cells, and inputting and modifying text can be easily completed. This format not only retains the clarity of the hierarchical structure but also facilitates adding specific technical feature descriptions, avoiding the interference of complicated drawing on the writing idea. In specific operations, if you need to add rows and columns, you can quickly insert them through the right-click menu; merging or splitting cells can also be easily completed through the right-click or toolbar. When the table content is 较多 (too much), switching to the normal view can improve the display effect and enhance readability.

For a long time, there have been two main ways to write the claims of mechanical device patents: one is to list all necessary components first, and then describe their attributes and mutual relationships one by one; the other is to extend from component A to components B, C, etc. in sequence according to the correlation between components. The former is the international mainstream writing method and more compatible with the characteristics of mechanical products. The tree table is a powerful supplement to this writing method, which can enhance the logic and clarity of the claims.

III. One of the Five Elements: Name

The writing of mechanical product patents is to uniquely define a product composed of different components through the combination of language and drawings. In view of this, it is essential to grasp several elements of mechanical product patents. The five elements refer to five attributes that can be used as the technical features of mechanical products, including name, structure, material, position, and connection relationship.

The goal of patent writing is to describe a mechanical product, which is composed of various components in various ways. The first thing in writing is to determine the product name and the names of each component.

The technical materials provided by the applicant may not name each part of the product, or even if a name is provided, it does not meet the requirements of the Patent Law, or the provided name is not conducive to obtaining the maximum protection scope. In the first case, suppose the inventor calls a component a "spring," but any "elastic member" can perform the same function. As a qualified writer, it is necessary to change the spring to an "elastic member," which is a kind of generalization to expand the applicant's protection scope.

In the second case, suppose the inventor calls a component "×× belt," but the word "belt" here limits the shape and structure because, in general, a "belt" refers to a flat and long object. The word "belt" itself has a dual description of shape and structure. If "long and flat" is not an essential technical feature, the name "×× belt" should not be used. Changing it to "×× member" can expand the protection scope. It can be seen that the choice of name is closely related to the quality of writing and the size of the protection scope.

The best name is a "functional word + universal word." A functional word refers to the role of the part, such as connection, shielding, tearing, and rotation. Universal words are part, member, device, and equipment. The part can be named connection part, connection member, connection device, connection equipment, shielding part, shielding member, etc. Naming the part as a functional word + universal word can not only be appropriate but also expand the protection scope to the greatest extent.

IV. Two of the Five Elements: Structure

The core of mechanical device patents lies in protecting the shape and structure of products. Among them, shape and structure together constitute the structural elements of the product. Shape covers plane forms such as circles and squares, as well as three-dimensional shapes such as spheres, cubes, prisms, cones, and pyramids; structure is a further extension of the shape, such as hollow and grooving, which cannot be 概括 (summarized) by simple single shapes.

In actual mechanical devices, the objects protected by patents are often composed of multiple components working together. Each component contains different parts, and these components and their internal parts all have unique shapes and structures, which cooperate with each other to support the functional realization of the entire mechanical product.

In the field of mechanical device patents, the difference between physical components and virtual components is often encountered. In a sense, physical components can be regarded as a shape, while virtual components can be regarded as a structure. Physical components are real parts. In contrast, virtual components are virtual spaces such as holes and grooves formed on physical components. When describing the shape and structure of mechanical device patents, we must face the difference between physical and virtual components. Generally, physical components often correspond to shapes, while describing virtual components requires the use of structural expressions.

Through holes, dovetail grooves, and slides belong to virtual components. They are spatial structures formed by surrounding physical components and play an important role in mechanical devices.

In fact, deeply exploring the definitions of shape and structure themselves is not particularly meaningful. The key is that when writing mechanical product patents, we must consciously consider whether the shape and structure of the components composing the product are essential technical features. If not, only the name of the component needs to be clarified; if they are essential technical features, we must carefully consider how to accurately describe their shape and structure.

V. Three of the Five Elements: Material

The protection scope of mechanical device patents covers materials, but it should be noted that utility model patents do not involve the protection of materials. In mechanical devices, each part may produce unique technical effects due to improvements in the material itself. These technical features based on material improvements may also become the necessary technical features for defining the mechanical device, playing a key role in the protection of the mechanical device.

VI. Four and Five of the Five Elements: Position and Connection Relationship

Position and connection relationship are also issues that must be considered when writing mechanical device patents. Among them, the connection relationship is often the core technical feature in mechanical patents, and its importance even exceeds that of the structure; the position feature is also an absolutely indispensable technical feature of mechanical patents. In fact, sometimes the shape and structure may not be technical features, but the connection relationship is always a necessary technical feature of mechanical products. During the writing process, agents should always pay attention to the connection relationship between components. The definition of any component should be described in combination with its connection method with other components. Without the description of the connection relationship, the function and positioning of the component are difficult to clarify.

Among the five basic elements of mechanical device patents - namely name, shape, structure, position, and connection relationship - the name, position, and connection relationship must usually be described as necessary technical features in the claims (unless they belong to the common knowledge in the preamble). If only the names of the components are listed without explaining their mutual positions and connection methods, the technical solution will be incomplete, possibly leading to unclear protection scope. This may not only be the reason for the application to be rejected but also the basis for the patent to be invalidated.

Therefore, in mechanical device patents, the position and connection relationship should always be clearly described as core technical features, which is not only the basic requirement for improving writing quality but also an important guarantee for ensuring the stability of the patent right.

VII. Three Levels and Five Elements

Mechanical devices can be divided into three major levels: assemblies, parts, and components. An assembly is a combined structure composed of multiple parts to jointly complete a certain function. For example, an electric motor includes multiple parts such as a housing, an inner core, and an output shaft, but it is generally described as a single technical feature in a patent, mainly reflecting the function of providing power.

Next is the part, which is the smallest mechanical component that remains complete when the mechanical product is disassembled to the most dispersed degree, such as a shaft or a screw.

A component refers to a technical feature that needs to be further defined on a part. For example, a screw includes two parts: a threaded rod and a nut, which are components.

For these three levels of mechanical products, the five elements have different importance:

Name

Generally speaking, naming the components of mechanical devices is a basic skill for patent agents in the writing process. Assemblies and parts mostly have common names in the mechanical industry and do not need special naming. For example, assemblies such as electric motors, oil cylinders, and chains, and parts such as frames and housings. The naming of components usually requires agents to define them independently according to the structure and function, reflecting the writing skills.

Structure

The shape and structure of assemblies are relatively easy because the structural features (such as shape and structure) of the assembly itself are usually not the focus, and their value is more reflected in functional realization. The structural features of parts and components are relatively more important.

Material

Assemblies and components generally do not involve materials, and material features are mainly applicable to parts. An assembly is composed of multiple parts, and different parts have different materials, which need to be described separately. A component is a part of a part, and different components of the same part are made of the same material, so there is no need to describe the material of each component.

Position

Assemblies and parts generally do not emphasize position features, and their functions are mostly determined by the structure and connection. Position features are the most important for components because components are basically named by patent agents themselves and are each part of a part. The technical features that can limit each component are mainly the structure and position.

Connection Relationship

It is very important for assemblies and parts because the technical features of assemblies and parts themselves are generally clear, and the attribute that can further limit assemblies and parts is the connection relationship. For components, since components are each part of a part, their connection relationships are integrally formed and do not involve various connection methods.

VIII. Conclusion

When writing a patent for a mechanical device, a tree table should first be formed, either in the mind or on the computer. However, the columns in the tree table should be set by the patent agent according to the specific mechanical product and are not limited to the first column being the patent device, the second column being the assembly, the third column being the part, and the fourth column being the component.

For example, the first column may be the device, the second column may be the part, and the third column may be all the technical features constituting the independent claim, which are the elements such as the name, structure, material, position, and connection relationship of each part. The fourth column is dependent claim 2, the fifth column is dependent claim 3, and so on. In this way, a tree table can contain the entire claims, and completing a tree table is completing a claims, with clear logic and convenient operation.

Furthermore, the tree table can be called a claims table. Each row of the claims table is a technical feature, and each column is a claim. This is no longer a tree table of a mechanical device but a coordinate table of technical features and claims. This form of the claims table is very helpful for understanding the technical solution.

In a broader sense, the form of the claims table is not only applicable to the writing of mechanical device patents but also to the claims of any type of patent. Whether it is a biochemical product, an electronic product, a mechanical product, or a method patent, it is ultimately a collection of technical features and claims. It may be feasible to rewrite various claims into a coordinate table of technical features and claims in the form of a claims table, which will also greatly improve people's understanding of the claims.