The proper drafting of a patent application takes into account technical breadth, legal strategy, conformance with a vast number of rules and regulations codified in U.S. statutory law, guidelines issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and over a hundred years of constantly evolving case law. Present texts on the drafting of U.S. patent applications generally fall into two categories: First are the weighty legal treatises that focus on theory and case law to the detriment of practical information; second are the "patent it yourself" books, which are very basic and limited in scope, and thus not of much use to a practicing patent attorney or patent agent.

Patent Application Drafting: A Practical Guide actually teaches the drafting of patent applications from a practical perspective. Intended as an introductory text, it covers the entire patent application and includes many helpful examples illustrating the process from start to finish. It is written for novice patent attorneys, agents, law students, and for those preparing for the patent bar exam.

Morgan D. Rosenberg is presently the Director of Middle East Operations at Litman Law Offices in Manassas, VA. He has specialized in patent application drafting for the past 15 years and is a regular contributor to Intellectual Property Today. He is also the author of the Essentials of Patent Claim Drafting [Oxford University Press, November 2011], and co-author with Richard J. Apley of Business Method and Software Patents [Oxford University Press, January 2012].

Foreword	p. xiii
Preface	p. xvii
Introduction	p. xix
Claims Part 1: Basic Elements of a Claim	p. 1
Claim Structure	p. 1
Introduction	p. 1
Example	p. 2
The Class and Preamble	p. 5
Transitional Phrases	p. 8
The Claim Body	p. 9
The Purpose Clause	p. 10
Essential Form	p. 11
Claim Fundamentals	p. 11
Single Statutory Classification	p. 11
Completeness	p. 13
Definiteness	p. 14
Dependent Claims	p. 18
Claims Part 2: Types of Inventions and Types of Claims	p. 23
Apparatus Claims	p. 23
Method Claims	p. 24
Product-by-Process Claims	p. 24
Means-Plus-Function Claims	p. 50
Markush Claims	p. 51
Jepson Claims	p. 80
Software and Beauregard Claims	p. 87
Chemical Claims	p. 143
Pharmaceutical Claims	p. 143
Business Methods Claims	p. 151
Claims Part 3: Claim Construction	p. 169
Choosing Essential Elements	p. 169
Broad vs. Narrow Claiming	p. 169
Apparatus Claims	p. 170
Method Claims	p. 181
Choice of Language	p. 181
Punctuation	p. 183
Plural Elements	p. 184
Ranges and Measurements	p. 185
Brevity	p. 185
The Summary of the Invention and the Abstract	p. 187
The Summary of the Invention	p. 187
The Abstract	p. 191
The Specification	p. 193
Title	p. 193
Priority Claims	p. 194
Background of the Invention	p. 196
Field of the Invention	p. 196
Description of the Related Art	p. 197
Brief Description of the Drawings	p. 198
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments	p. 199
Language	p. 203
Incorporation by Reference	p. 205
Sequence Listings	p. 206
Deposit of Biological Material	p. 207
Best Mode Requirement	p. 208
Enablement	p. 209
Miscellaneous Considerations	p. 210
Information Disclosure Statement	p. 213
The Drawings	p. 215
35 U.S.C. § 101: Utility and Patentable Subject Matter	p. 235
Patentable Inventions	p. 235
General Utility Requirement	p. 236
Mental Steps	p. 237
Printed Matter	p. 238
Products of Nature	p. 238
35 U.S.C. §112: Enablement, Form, and Language	p. 239
First Paragraph	p. 239
Written Description	p. 240
Enablement, Inoperability, and Best Mode	p. 241
Second Paragraph	p. 242
Articles of Speech	p. 243
Alternative Language	p. 243
Negative Limitations	p. 243
Relative Language	p. 244
Sixth Paragraph: Means-for Language	p. 244
35 U.S.C. §102 and §103: Considering Prior Art	p. 247
A More Complex Example with Prior Art Considerations	p. 258
Client's Original Disclosure	p. 260
Prior Art Search and Analysis	p. 260
The Essential Elements and the Point of Novelty	p. 260
Sketches	p. 273
Claims	p. 279
Summary	p. 282
Abstract	p. 283
Specification	p. 283
Finalized Drawings	p. 292
Issued Patent	p. 298
Prosecution using the Complex Example	p. 309
Office Action	p. 310
Examiner's Cited Prior Art	p. 322
Interview	p. 380
Amendment	p. 383
Notice of Allowance	p. 393
Algorithms, Business Methods, Computers, and Software	p. 399
Introduction	p. 399
Overview	p. 400
The Supreme Court Trilogy	p. 403
Bilski v. Kappos	p. 405
Background of Bilski	p. 406
The CAFC Decision	p. 408
Conclusion	p. 409
Patent Office Guidelines and the Post-Bilski Aftermath	p. 410
Post-Bilski Case Law	p. 411
USPTO Guidelines	p. 412
Latest Application of Bilski	p. 415
Claiming	p. 417
The Specification	p. 422
Further Examples of Different Classes and Types of Applications	p. 425
Apparatus	p. 426
Method/Process	p. 443
Product-by-Process	p. 463
Improvement with Jepson Claims	p. 471
Computers, Algorithms, Software, and Business Methods	p. 479
Chemical	p. 507
Pharmaceutical and Treatment Methods	p. 516
Strategy and Enforcement	p. 551
The Doctrine of Claim Differentiation	p. 551
The Usage of Dependent Claims	p. 553
Target Claiming	p. 554
Realistic Enforcement	p. 554
Design Patent Applications	p. 557
Appendices
Example of Complete Application and Forms for Filing	p. 563
Claim Drafting Checklist	p. 603
Glossary	p. 605
USPTO Interim Examination Instructions (August 24, 2009)	p. 613
USPTO Interim Business Method Training Material (August 2009)	p. 625
USPTO Guidelines for Business Methods (July 27, 2010)	p. 635
35 U.S.C. §101-Practical Tips	p. 636
Update on Business Method Patents and Best Practices to Streamline Examination	p. 650
More on Business Methods	p. 667
Bibliography	p. 671
Index	p. 673
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