Skip to main content
Start Drafting with Rowan Patents: Recommended Claims-First Workflow for Preparing an Application

Our Integrated Drafting Environment supports your work no matter where you start. This workflow is optimized for claims-first drafting.

Laura Berwick avatar
Written by Laura Berwick
Updated over a week ago

This article gives quick notes for 7 main steps of a workflow for drafting a patent application with Rowan, starting with your Claims:

  1. Create/Open Application

  2. Draft Claims

  3. Identify Terms

  4. Create Figures

  5. Draft Specification

  6. Review Application

  7. Export Files

1. Create/Open Application

  • Brings up the application window, with easy navigation to the prepopulated Claim 1 section.


  • All automatic text is editable, and sections can be added/removed as desired.


  • To view different content areas side-by-side, click File > New Window.

2. Draft Claims

  • Draft claims in the tool, copy and paste from Word, or import/merge claims by dragging and dropping an existing .rp or .docx file onto the application window.


  • Hit Enter after the final period of a claim to create a new claim section with an automatically-populated, editable preamble.


  • Transform method claims to CRM or apparatus claims using the toolbar Generate dropdown.


  • Select multiple claims to perform batch transformations.


  • Drag and drop to reorder claims.


3. Identify Terms

  • Terms are elements that will be highlighted gray and treated as data objects for consistent use across your application.


  • Click Terms > Find and Tag Terms to automatically identify terms in your existing text.

    Select and right-click individual words and phrases to convert them to terms as you draft.


  • Create, import, edit, define, and delete terms using the Terms Manager, available under the Tools and Terms menus.

4. Build Parts List & Figures

  • Open the Drawing Tool from the Tools or Drawings menus.


  • Create flowcharts from method claims using Generate in the application window and/or using the left-hand claims sidebar in the Drawing Tool.

  • Create your parts list by adding parts in the Parts Panel, if desired. Select manual numbering mode if autonumbering features don't provide the control you need.


  • Build up your figures by dragging parts from the Parts Panel, stencils from the Stencil Panel, or Terms from the Terms Panel onto the drawing canvas OR import images or Visio files and call out figure features with part number stencils.


  • Drag and drop figures in the sheet sorter to change figure order. Drag and drop parts in the Parts Panel or in the numbering tab or to adjust autonumbered part ordering. All numbered part references will always be kept up-to-date.


5. Draft Specification

  • Sections are provided to structure your application using common patent content types. Sections can be added, removed, and customized.


  • Brief and detailed description fields are provided for each figure and are kept consistent with figure reordering.


  • A Generate Drawing Description feature can be used to provide an auto-generated figure parts inventory or flowchart description where desired.


  • Autocompletion options appear as you type for terms, part references, and other data objects.

6. Review Application

  • Select Review > Consistency Review to confirm that your claim terms, part references, and other data objects are adequately supported in your application.


  • Select Review > Local Validations to perform patent proofreading checks such as antecedent basis, claim support, and patent profanity usage with locally stored and run algorithms.


  • Select Review > Launch Analytics to access cloud-based natural language processing for more robust patent proofreading.


7. Export Files

  • Export a clean copy of your specification and claims to Word for filing, or a copy with suggestion markup, comments, and highlighting for additional peer or inventor review.


  • Export figures to PDF for filing or review, or export Visio or SVG versions of your figures for archival purposes.

Any step of this workflow can be iterative with other steps. You can identify a new term while working on a drawing. You can add a new claim while working on your specification. Each step may also include a number of tasks not shown here that Rowan Patents will help you accomplish.

This is simply a high-level overview we feel will help you get the most efficiency and performance out of the Rowan Patents preparation module.

Did this answer your question?