FAQ: What is a provisional patent?

CD, when you get a chance, please edit your answer as a reply to the original post, if you wil. We want any replies to show up in the index, or a "0" if no one has responded yet.

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by **Roger Brown** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 7:42 pm

FAQ

by Roger Brown » Tue Oct 02, 2007 7:42 pm

Roger Brown

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Remember the clock is ticking with the one year time limit. If you are planning on licensing your idea to a company it may take 2 months to get a Yes or No response from a company. Have a list of companies you want to approach ready and don't delay if your response is a NO to submitting it to the next company.

Come visit my sites at http://www.RogerBrown.net
or http://www.looking2license.com
I have gotten 9 products licensed spending less than $100 on each, you can too.

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by **CriterionD** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 1:56 pm

by CriterionD » Wed Oct 03, 2007 1:56 pm

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A provisional patent application is more like a reservation than an actual patent. This dated application simply establishes proof of invention with the USPTO. It does not actually offer any protection in itself – what it does do is establish a "filing date" for a relatively cheap fee.

Because the cost of filing a provisional patent application - generally around one hundred dollars in government fees - is noticeably lower than the cost of filing a non-provisional patent, "provisionals" remain a popular option among inventors and even companies. However, not only does a provisional application still require a fully "enabling" disclosure, but the date of filing it may establish is useless if a non-provisional patent is not filed pursuant to the same innovation(s) within one year of filing the provisional application.

Many people simply use "provisional patents" as a form of procrastination. However, at times they can represent an excellent option for inventors and corporations that have not yet decided whether they care to invest significant money into developing (or patenting) a specific product or concept. They are also a very good option for those who simply want to claim that their product is “patent pending” without spending much money.

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by **Scrupulous** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 8:48 am

by Scrupulous » Thu Oct 04, 2007 8:48 am

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A â€œprovisional patentâ€

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by **CriterionD** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:31 pm

by CriterionD » Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:31 pm

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One note that has not been covered in this thread: Substance wise - the difference between a provisional application and a non-provisional application is that the provisional application does not need to include any claims. This makes it easier to write a good provisional application as opposed to writing a good non-provisional app, as the claims are the most "technical" part of any patent. That said, before writing your own provisional application - it still may be worthwhile to check here - viewtopic.php?t=1017

Last edited by CriterionD on Wed Mar 18, 2009 1:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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