Editing Patent model (section)

{{short description|Type of functional model used to illustrate features of a patent}}
[[Image:US Patent 72x Eli Whitney cotton gin.png|thumb|Patent model of [[Eli Whitney]]'s [[cotton gin]].]]

A '''patent model''' was a handmade [[scale model|miniature model]] no larger than 12" by 12" by 12" (approximately 30&nbsp;cm by 30&nbsp;cm by 30&nbsp;cm) that showed how an [[invention]] works. It was one of the most interesting early features of the United States [[patent]] system.<ref name="USPTO">Byers, Kim. [http://www.uspto.gov/news/pr/2002/02-11.jsp Patent Models: Icons of Innovation], [[USPTO]], February 11, 2002. Retrieved September 11, 2010. {{webarchive|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20121007220812/http://www.uspto.gov/news/pr/2002/02-11.jsp}}</ref>

Since some early [[inventor]]s had little technological or legal training, it was difficult for them to submit formal patent applications which require the novel features of an invention to be described in a written application and a number of diagrams.