the_zara•1mo ago

Spent half a year waiting on a patent that came back with doodles in the margins

The examiner drew little cartoons next to every claim. Is this normal or did I accidentally submit to an art contest?

4 comments

4 Comments

victorh811mo ago

What the heck, they drew on an official document?

the_simon17d ago

It's just a piece of paper with some ink on it... not a holy text. People get bored and doodle, it happens all the time. Hardly the end of the world.

calebd821mo ago

My old boss used to highlight random lines in our contracts with a neon green marker. Not for any legal reason, just because he got bored during meetings. It drove our lawyer nuts trying to figure out what the highlighted parts meant. Makes you wonder who’s actually looking at these things before they go out, right? Seems like some people just can’t leave a blank page alone.

sage_green1mo ago

Honestly, I'd take it as a good sign. Means a human actually read your stuff front to back instead of just rubber-stamping it. Those little doodles show they were engaged, maybe even trying to visualize your claims. Way better than a form letter rejection with no personality at all. I've seen way worse from people who are supposed to be paying full attention.