Preserve your patent rights with a low-cost Provisional Patent.
Preserving Patent Rights with a Provisional Patent Application
Often inventors and companies want to preserve their option to get patent protection for an inventive concept, but may lack the time and/or resources to proceed with a full (non-provisional) patent filing. A provisional patent application is one tool that allows some to preserve their right to seek full patent protection in the future, while not using up as much time and or cost as a non-provisional patent filing. Provisional patent applications last for one year before they expire.
When It Is Appropriate To File a Provisional Patent Application
When time is short: A public disclosure of a patentable invention may destroy certain patent rights. Accordingly, it is often important to get a patent application filed before a particular disclosure date. However, a non-provisional patent application may take months to complete as there are many formal requirements in non-provisional patent applications. However, a provisional patent application does not always have to conform to all the formal requirements of a non-provisional patent application. Therefore, with less stringent requirements, it is possible to prepare a provisional patent application in a matter of weeks or less.
When money is short: Similarly, by having less formal requirements, the cost of preparing a provisional patent application is significantly less expensive (sometimes less than a third of the cost of a non-provisional application). Also, the government filing fees for a provisional patent application are less than a quarter of the filing fees for a non-provisional patent application.
When a later patent expiration date is important: The one year term of a provisional patent application does not count against the twenty year term of a patent. Therefore, if you want your patent to expire at a later date, then file the patent application as a provisional patent application even if you have the time and money to file a non-provisional patent application.
What You Need To Get Started With a Provisional Patent Application
It is a good idea to have much of the following information in your possession (even if it is only in your head) before getting started with the provisional patent application filing.
- A descriptive title.
- Inventor full name(s); residential address(es); citizenship(s); e-mail address(es) and phone Number(s)
- Date of conception of the invention
- First successful reduction to practice (if actually made)
- First successful test (if tested)
- Oral and written descriptions provided (if described to anyone) [by date and circumstances (e.g., meetings, to whom described, where, when, etc.)]
- First sale or offer for sale (Date and to whom, if delivered or not)
- Publications (date and name of publication and/or nature of publication)
- If any public disclosures of invention planned? If yes, when?
- Technical description, including:
- Statement of problem solved by the invention.
- Statement of previous attempts to solve the problem and why they failed.
- References to any known attempt to solve the problem, both published and unpublished.
- Written description of the invention, including drawings or sketches.
Getting the Provisional Patent Application Filed
Like a non-provisional patent application, a provisional patent application will start with a disclosure of some form. The disclosure can either be a disclosure document where the inventive concept is described in detail, a disclosure meeting with a patent attorney or some combination of the two.
Once the patent attorney has a sufficient understanding of what the invention is, the patent attorney is then able to begin preparing the provisional patent application. In some cases where the inventor had already prepared detailed written materials, these may be incorporated into the preparation process; in particular when a scholarly article has been prepared covering the subject matter of the invention.
After the provisional patent application has been prepared, the application is filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Most patent applications may now be filed electronically, and a confirmation of patent pending status and the application’s serial number are usually received in less than a minute after an electronic filing.
Additional Resources
Avvo Patent Attorneys - http://www.avvo.com/browse/intellectual-property-patent-application-law.html
United States Patent and Trademark Office – http://www.uspto.gov
Avoiding Painful Patent Pitfalls
While patents may be filed by inventors representing themselves; it is often very helpful to seek the advice of a patent attorney prior to filing. Patent attorneys are required to have technical backgrounds and all have passed a rigorous national exam before they are allowed to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
