Germany Patent Drawing Rules

Germany Patent Drawing Rules – Standards for the filing of drawings

1. The Germany Patent Drawing Rules shall be on sheets with the following minimum margins:
   top 2.5 cm
   left side 2.5 cm
   right side 1.5 cm
   bottom 1.0 cmThe area used for drawings may not exceed 26.2 cm x 17 cm; the area used for the drawing of the abstract may be 8.1 cm x 9.4 cm when presented in an upright position, or 17.4 cm x 4.5 cm when presented sideways <Germany Patent Drawing Rules>
2. Drawings shall be executed with sufficient contrast in durable, black, sufficiently dense and dark, uniformly thick and clearly delineated lines and strokes without colorings. <Germany Patent Drawing Rules>
3. For illustrating the invention, in addition to views and sectional views, perspectives and exploded views may be used. Cross-sections shall be indicated by hatching which should not impede the clear reading of the reference signs and leading lines. <Germany Patent Drawing Rules>
4. The scale of the drawings and the distinctness of their graphical execution shall be such that all details can be distinguished without difficulty, after electronic data capture (scanning), in a linear reduction in size to two-thirds. If, as an exception, the scale is given on a drawing, it shall be represented graphically.
5. The lines in the drawings shall be drawn with the aid of drafting instruments rather than freehand. The numbers and letters used in the drawings shall not be less than 0.32 cm of height. For the lettering of drawings, the Latin and, where customary, the Greek alphabets shall be used. <Germany Patent Drawing Rules>
6. The same sheet of drawings may contain several figures. The different figures shall be arranged without wasting space while remaining clearly separated from one another, preferably in an upright position, and shall be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals. Drawings concerning the state of the art are admissible if the understanding of the invention is thereby facilitated; however, they shall be clearly marked as “Stand der Technik” (state of the art). Where figures on two or more sheets form in effect a single complete figure, the figures on the several sheets shall be so arranged that the complete figure can be assembled without concealing any part of the partial figures. All elements of a figure shall be on the same scale, except where the use of different scales is indispensable for the clarity of the figure.
7. Reference signs not mentioned in the description and claims shall not appear in the drawings, and vice versa. The same shall apply mutatis mutandis to the abstract and its drawing.
8. The drawings shall not contain text matter, except, when absolutely indispensable, a single word or words such as “water”, “steam”, “open”, “closed”, “section on AB”, and, in the case of electric circuits and block schematic or flow sheet diagrams, a few short catchwords indispensable for understanding. Germany Patent Drawing Rules.