Editing and Auto-Completing Part Names During Patent Drafting

Follow these steps to edit part names/numbers in the specification and enable auto-complete of part names.

1. Launch Part Number Editing Tool

   From the ClaimMaster tab, click on the Individual Proofing Tools menu, then select Part Checking and Utilities, then either Check Part Names and Numbers or Edit All Part Names and Numbers:

   

   This will start the parsing process during which ClaimMaster will go through the document identifying part names and numbers.

2. Switch To Drafting View (Optional)

   The table of all parts used in the document is shown in the Drafting View. If you clicked on Edit All Part Names and Numbers option, you’ll be taken to this view directly. Otherwise, switch to the Drafting View in the interface.

   When in Drafting View, you will see the Parts Table section that contains all of the identified parts in the document and loaded from figures (if any). You will notice that the Drafting View has many functions, such as exporting part numbers/names to CSV format, renumbering part numbers, inserting part numbers into claims, and also bold/italicizing part numbers in the specification. You can also right click on the table to sort parts or numbers in ascending/descending order.

   

3. Edit Part Names/Numbers (Optional)

   To edit/add/delete multiple elements in the table at the same time, switch to Edit All Parts tab, where you can make edits to all of the parts listed in the table simultaneously. Once you make the edits, simply switch back to the Parts Table tab. If you want the changes made to the parts list to propagate back to the Word document, check Update parts in the document … checkbox. Doing so will permit ClaimMaster to update part #s in the document with the changes in the table after you switch back to the Parts Table tab.

   

4. Enable Auto-Complete of Part Numbers

   To enable auto-complete of part names in the specification, switch to the Auto-Complete Settings tab to enable various auto-complete and auto-suggest settings.

   

   When you enable the Load parts from document option, ClaimMaster will periodically scan the document for any new part names and numbers and add them to the parts table. You can specify the frequency of the scan in item (e.g. every 30 seconds, every minute, and so on). The scan itself will run in the background and is fast because ClaimMaster will only process paragraphs that have been changed in the document.

   In addition, if the auto-complete part names by part # option is enabled, you’ll be able to complete part names in the document using the ‘//” shorthand. This is helpful to speed up drafting, especially if you have many long part names. Specifically, to use auto-complete, type in “//” followed by a part number and press space. For example, when you type “//212” and press space, the software will automatically replace “//212” with the corresponding element name + number in the open Word document, such as “digital channel measurement block 212.”

   
   In addition, if auto-complete part names by part #s is not enabled, you can still use part name + number placeholders (i.e., //#”) when editing the document. Once you are done with editing, click on the Replace all //# placeholders button, which will force ClaimMaster to go through the entire document and replace all placeholder items with their full names. For example, if ClaimMaster finds “//17” in the document, the software will automatically replace “//17” with the corresponding element name + number, such as “mechanical widget 17.”

5. Enable Auto-Suggest of Part Names

   You can also enable auto-suggest for part names as you are typing. While you are in the Auto-complete Settings tab, check the Auto-suggest part names when typing checkbox to have Word provide you with suggestions after you type-in the first 4 characters of the part name, as shown below.

   

   
   Note that this option is not available when periodic auto-loading is also enabled.