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From Sketch to Submission: An Attorney’s Guide to Speeding Up Figure Prep
Why Figure Preparation Deserves Attorney Attention Patent figures aren’t just technical—they’re legal. When drawings are slow to create or hard to update, that delay can ripple through intake, drafting, and prosecution. Yet many attorneys remain dependent on tools or teams that slow the process.
Read MoreFrom Slow to Streamlined: Drawing Workflow ROI in Law Firms
Why Drawing Workflow Deserves a Second Look In many law firms, drawing workflows remain informal or fragmented. Attorneys sketch on paper. Paralegals assemble drafts. Drafters go back and forth through email. Each team member plays a role—but the process is often slow, inconsistent, and hard to scale.
Read MoreGain Confidence in Drawing Tasks with Hands-On Visio Training
Confidence Isn’t About Mastering Software — It’s About Eliminating Hesitation For many attorneys, drawing tasks are frustrating—not because they’re difficult, but because they’re unfamiliar. It’s easy to avoid editing a figure or giving clear drawing instructions when you’re unsure how the tools work.
Read MoreGain Confidence in Drawing Tasks with Hands-On Visio Training
Drawing Tasks Shouldn’t Feel Unclear or Overwhelming Many patent assistants find themselves working with figures — adding labels, adjusting shapes, or reviewing drawings for filing. But Visio can feel intimidating if you haven’t been trained, especially when the pressure is on.
Read MoreGive Your IP Team a Competitive Advantage with Faster, Efficient Drawing Workflow
Figure Preparation Is a Bottleneck — and an Opportunity In many patent teams, drawings are the silent bottleneck.
Read MoreGive Your Paralegals a Career Edge — and Your Firm a Productivity Boost
More Than Support — A Strategic Advantage Patent paralegals are already the backbone of procedural efficiency. But the ones who can handle drawing tasks — even basic ones — offer a different level of value:
Read MoreHow One Paralegal Took Over Drawing Prep — and Got Promoted
When You Know How to Handle Drawings, People Notice In many firms, drawing prep feels like a bottleneck: attorneys sketch figures by hand, pass them to drafters, wait for revisions, then mark them up again. Paralegals and assistants often just relay messages between teams.
Read MoreHow Patent Assistants Can Add More Value by Handling Drawing Tasks
Why Drawing Tasks Are a Natural Fit for Patent Assistants In many firms, patent assistants are responsible for tracking documents, managing filings, and keeping prosecution on schedule. But figure preparation often sits in a gray zone — handled by outside drafters, delayed in email chains, or bounced between team members.
Read MoreHow Standardized Drawing Training Reduces Risk and Saves Time for IP Teams
Why Drawing Practices Shouldn’t Vary Team to Team In many IP teams, figure preparation and editing are handled differently by each drafter, assistant, or attorney. Some use outside vendors. Others edit manually. Some rely on legacy templates that no one maintains.
Read MoreHow to Add Reference Numbers in Visio in Seconds
Why Speed Matters in Annotations Adding reference numbers may seem like a minor step in preparing patent figures, but it’s often the slowest and most error-prone part of the process.
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