Patent Drawing

A patent application or patent may contain drawings, also called Patent Drawings, illustrating the invention, some of its embodiments (which are particular implementations or methods of carrying out the invention), or the prior art. The drawings may be required by the law to be in a particular form, and the requirements may vary depending on the jurisdiction.
In utility and design patent applications, drawings can be in black ink or color. Black and white drawings are normally required. On rare occasions, color drawings may be necessary as the only practical medium by which to disclose the subject matter sought to be patented in a utility or design patent application or the subject matter of a statutory invention registration.
Black and white photographs are not ordinarily permitted in utility and design patent applications, unless this is the only practicable medium for illustrating the claimed invention. For example, photographs of electrophoresis gels, blots, autoradiographs, cell cultures, histological tissue cross sections, animals, plants, in vivo imaging, etc. Color photographs can be accepted in utility and design patent applications if the conditions for accepting color drawings and black and white photographs have been satisfied.