iPatent · ipatent.qnfo.orgGUIDE · UPDATED 2026-10-02

Drawings in a provisional patent application

When a provisional needs drawings, what each figure should show, and how reference numerals tie figures to the description.

When drawings are required

An application must include drawings wherever they are necessary to understand the invention (35 U.S.C. 113). For a mechanical or electrical invention that is almost always. A method can be shown as a flowchart.

What each figure should show

• the whole invention, and each part that matters, from the views a reader needs (perspective, side, section, exploded);
• every embodiment and alternative you describe, not only the preferred one;
• for methods and software, a flowchart of the steps and a block diagram of the components.

Reference numerals

Give each part a number and use the same number for the same part in every figure and in the text ("the pivot pin (14)"). Add a short description of each figure ("FIG. 2 is a side view of the hinge folded flat"). This is how the drawings support the written description.

Format

Use clear black-and-white line drawings. Photographs are accepted only in narrow cases, where they are the only practical way to show the invention (37 CFR 1.84(b)). The formal drawing rules (37 CFR 1.84) govern the nonprovisional; preparing the provisional's figures to that standard now saves rework later.

Draft a disclosure, freeSee a real run

More guides

• What a provisional protects, and how to draft one
• Before you publish: grace periods, pitches and preprints
• Claims in a provisional: optional, and still useful
• Provisional vs nonprovisional patent applications