Invention Disclosure Form

Our invention disclosure form is provided to help you organize your thoughts about your invention. There is nothing "magic" about it. Please do not feel constrained by it's bounds, and do whatever you need to do in order to explain your invention clearly to one who is not familiar with it.

• Be careful to describe what, specifically, makes your invention different from what has gone before. Avoid general statements that your invention is "better" - why is it better, or what makes it better?
• If you use any unusual terms, or ordinary terms in an unusual way, explain them.
• In addition to describing all the parts, describe how the parts work together.
• Why did you do things the way you did them, and not some other way? How else could you have accomplished the same end?
• In answering the questions, do not limit yourself to exactly the prototype you have in front of you, or to the very best way you might think your invention might be built. Allow your imagination to run - how else might this invention work? How far would it need to be changed before you say, "that's not my invention any more"? Are there less desirable, but still useful, ways of making the invention work?
• It's as important to point out what is not part of your invention (that is, what is "old") as it is to carefully explain what is new. Has the design, or part of the design, been used before, even if for a different purpose? How else have people accomplished the same function as your invention in the past?
• What are the possible problems? Under what circumstances might your invention not work? Are there critical parts, dimensions, ingredients?
• Drawings are always helpful, and if you are e-mailing the form you can include them electronically in one of the standard graphic formats (PCX, GIF, JPG) or as a drawing file in AutoCAD DXF or DWG formats.

Please feel free to download our invention disclosure form, fill it out at your convenience, and contact us with it when you are ready. Our invention disclosure form is available in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF formats.

This form is copyright © 1992,1997, 2021 by Brown and Michaels, PC. Feel free to use it, and print and pass it along to others. 
If you do distribute this form, however, our name and address and this copyright notice must be included.
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