How to Write a Good Application Abstract Text

Jonathan Friesen - Writing Coach

It is a condensed version of your patent where you abstract, or take out the essence of your invention. They should be written in a way to make the invention easily understood by those with a background in the field. The reader should quickly be able to get a sense of the nature of the invention so that they can decide whether they need to read the rest of the patent. The abstract describes your invention and says how it can be used, but does not discuss the scope of your claims. to write your abstract: give the page a title such as abstract or abstract of the specification for the cipo. Since your abstract may be read on its own the reader will not understand references to other parts of your application.

Cause Effect Essay Migration

It may take you a couple of tries to fit your summary into 150 words or less for the cipo and for the uspto. Try to avoid removing the articles such as 145 a 146 , 145 an 146 or 145 the 146 as this can make the abstract difficult to read. One is from a patent for a collapsible tent frame and the other is from a patent for an electrical connector.

The source of this information on writing patent abstracts came from the canadian intellectual property office or cipo. subscribe to the newsletter this article was originally published on the charity channel. many grant proposals require an abstract or executive summary, which is usually one mdash rarely two mdash pages in length. An abbreviated summary, the abstract serves to give a synopsis of the proposal rsquo s important factual information or major distinguishing elements. Think of it as a map that highlights the outstanding features of your proposal rsquo s terrain. It guides readers as they read to pay special attention to what you want them to notice and helps them to recall these points clearly when they think about and judge your proposal later on.

what should you include in the abstract?

often a funder will tell you exactly what to include in your abstract. This may be contact information, information about your organization rsquo s activities, your project rsquo s start and end dates, the number of people to be served, and which funding criteria your project meets. The abstract may contain a brief synopsis of the major sections of the proposal, such as: need, objectives, outcomes, target population, scope of services, or project methods.

when do you write the abstract?

although it can be tempting to start at the beginning and to write the abstract up front, it is most useful to save writing it until the end. This way, you can include excerpts from your own text, boiled down to suit a shorter format.

You may find that you need to add or delete information to make things clear in this new context. As you cut unnecessary information and eliminate wordiness, you rsquo re bound to find ways to streamline and strengthen your original text more on this below. Be sure you make the abstract easy to read by using bold headers and bulleted or numbered lists.

what if you don rsquo t have enough space in the abstract?

you rsquo ll rarely have enough space in the abstract to say all you want to say. However, the challenge of fitting everything in is also the biggest opportunity the abstract presents.

The abstract will make you rethink your project and see it from the outside in rather than the inside out. One of the pleasures of grant writing is finding a way to say a lot in a very few words. Grant writing can be dull, pedestrian prose however, good grant writing consists of crystalline and energetic sentences. Take a look at the sample problem statements and project synopses below and see how brief one can get and still convey the essence of the proposed work. In each project synopsis, the second paragraph could be cut if there were space constraints or might be placed under a heading entitled ldquo evaluation/outcomes. See if you can find ways to make them leaner still.

sample problem statement 1

elementary school students in northwest county, like most young people of color who live in poverty, are more likely than higher income students to become ill and to die at young ages. They are more likely to live in poor environmental situations with limited healthcare resources mdash factors that can compromise their health status mdash and three and a half times more likely to be overweight or obese than their more well to do peers.