accepted in 1995, the provisional patent application provides an early priority date without counting against the twenty-year life of the patent. Requirements for filing a provisional are specifications, drawings if necessary, filing fee, and assignee. No claims are submitted with the provisional.
A method by which an inventor may quickly and inexpensively file for an invention date. A PPA does not require most of the elements necessary to file a full or “non-provisional application,” and is not examined for patentability by the U.S. Patent Office.
Preserves the rights of the invention in the United States for up to 12 months, then a standard patent application must be filed if a patent is desired. Unlike a regular patent application, a complete provisional application does not require one or more claims since no examination on the merits of the invention will be given. If not publicly disclosed, the provisional application can be re-filed at the end of 12 months.
In the US patent system, the submission of preliminary documentation to the patent office, which affords the inventor up to one year patent pending protection, as long as they submit a full application by year end. Documentation does not have to be as rigorous as it does with a full patent application.
A "provisional Patent Application" is a relatively new form of protection for inventions which is very simple and inexpensive to file and which allows the owner to use the term "Patent Pending" for a period of one year. However, a Provisional Patent Application CANNOT become a patent, expires at the end of one year and CANNOT be renewed or extended. Click HERE for more information on provisional patents
An application for a patent that is made to secure priority only. It gives no rights against infringers, but allows the priority date to be preserved for patent applications (in Australia and most other countries or an international application) made within 12 months for the same invention. This allows additional time for the applicant to determine if the commercial potential of the invention warrants continuing the patenting process.
a preliminary patent application filed without a formal patent claim, oath or declaration, or any prior art statement. It provides the means to establish an early effective filing date in a subsequent non-provisional patent application and allows the term ‘Patent Pending' to be applied.
The provisional patent application is a simple, inexpensive strategy to preserve your rights while you decide whether to file for a regular patent. It establishes an official U.S. patent application filing date for the invention and is much less expensive, and much easier to prepare, than a regular patent application.
