The authoritative guide to the preparation of patent drawings for filing in the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This is USPTO's own guide, which went out of print and is reprinted here.
Two small sections by an experienced practitioner (Carl Oppedahl of Oppedahl Patent Law Firm LLC) have been added -- a section on best practices for creating drawings for electronic filing, with examples of ways that USPTO's systems can degrade perfectly good drawings and tips for avoiding such problems, and a section on best practices for creating drawings for design patent applications.

• PROCESSING OF DRAWINGS
  • Review of Drawings by Office of Initial Patent Examination
  • Review by USPTO Draftsperson
  • On Examiner's First (Non-Allowance) Action
  • On Examiner's Subsequent Actions
  • On Allowance
  • After Allowance
• SELECTED U.S. LAWS AND RULES OF PRACTICE RELATING TO PATENT DRAWINGS
  • 35 USC 113 Drawings
  • 37 CFR 1.58 Chemical and mathematical formulae and tables
  • 37 CFR 1.74 Reference to drawings
  • 37 CFR 1.81 Drawings required in patent application
  • 37 CFR 1.83 Content of drawing
  • 37 CFR 1.84 Standards for drawings
  • 37 CFR 1.85 Corrections to drawings
  • 37 CFR 1.96 Submission of computer program listings
  • 37 CFR 1.121 Manner of making amendments in applications
  • 37 CFR 1.151 Rules applicable Designs]
  • 37 CFR 1.152 Design drawings
  • 37 CFR 1.161 Rules applicable Plants]
  • 37 CFR 1.165 Plant drawings
  • 37 CFR 1.171 Application for reissue
  • 37 CFR 1.173 Reissue specification, drawings, and amendments
  • 37 CFR 1.211 Publication of applications
  • 37 CFR 1.215 Patent application publication
  • 37 CFR 1.437 The drawings International Applications]
  • 37 CFR 1.530 Statement by patent owner in "ex parte" reexamination; amendment by patent owner in "ex parte" or "inter partes" reexamination; inventorship change in "ex parte" or "inter partes" reexamination
• Article 7 of Patent Cooperation Treaty and Selected PCT Rules Pertaining to Drawings
• Symbols
• Drawing Examples
  • Black ink
  • Black ink computer screen image]
  • Identification of drawings
  • Graphic forms in drawings chemical formulae]
  • Graphic forms in drawings waveforms]
  • Graphic forms in drawings DNA structures]
  • Views
  • Exploded views
  • Partial views
  • Sectional views
  • Alternate position
  • Modified forms
  • Arrangement of views
  • Front page view
  • Character of lines, numbers, and letters
  • Shading spaced lines]
  • Shading stippling]
  • Symbols
  • Legends
  • Numbers, letters, and reference characters
  • Lead lines
  • Arrows
  • Copyright or Mask Work Notice
  • Numbering of sheets of drawings