An inventor may wish to file a provisional application if the inventor is not ready to enter into the regular examination process, typically because of time or money constraints. A provisional application establishes a filing date at a lower cost for a first patent application filing in the United States and allows the term “Patent Pending” to be applied to the invention.
A provisional patent application serves only to establish the filing date for the patent application and automatically becomes abandoned after one year. The U.S. Patent Office does not examine a provisional application and such an application cannot become a patent. An applicant must submit the non-provisional application within one year of submitting the provisional application in order to possibly receive the benefit of the provisional application’s filing date.
Claims are not required in a provisional application. Our firm’s provisional patent applications generally include exemplary claims, however, to serve as examples of the invention for any later filed non-provisional applications.
At least one drawing is required in a provisional patent application. While it is not necessary to have the drawing made by an experienced patent draftsman, preparing a formal drawing for a provisional filing can save time and expense when a non-provisional patent application is filed later.
The filing fee for a provisional patent application is modest (as low as $75 for an individual inventor as of January 2022). Legal fees for preparation are also lower, but extra care paid to preparation can reduce time and fees for the later non-provisional application.
As an incentive for engaging us, our firm discounts your fee for a later filed non-provisional application by the fee you paid us for your prior provisional application.
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