To prevent theft of inventions, patents were created. Patents have both advantages and disadvantages. The registration process must be lengthy in order to provide the best protection. Additionally, the application process is quite expensive, including filing fees and preparation costs. Moreover, there is no guarantee that an invention will pay for its patent fees when it is sold. To address these disadvantages, the United States Patent and Trademark Office introduced an alternative to the normal patent process in 1995. An application for a provisional patent can now be filed. Discover how you can get a provisional patent for your own invention.
How Does a Provisional Patent Work?
Provisional patents are similar to non-provisional patents in many respects. It is crucial to create a record of an invention or idea’s creation so that any subsequent inventions that are similar can be proven to be infringements. The most significant differences are in the filing process, the term of protection, and the time it takes to register. Provisional patents are faster and cheaper to register, but their protection lasts only one year. Inventors have the opportunity to test their products at market to see if they are appealing and have potential. By waiting until they are sure their invention will succeed, inventors can save time, money, and effort rather than establishing a full patent and then seeing it fail without the benefit of the rest of the patent term.
Benefits
With a provisional patent, you can test your invention in a real market setting without risk of theft. However, there are also other advantages. A few examples are:
Searching for a manufacturer, distributor, or verifying any other variable that affects success is possible.
By promoting the invention, a reputation is created without increasing the risk of theft.
There is no publication of provisional patents, unlike typical patents.
It is possible to change the information on a provisional patent at a later date.
Provisional patents can be converted to full patents much easier than patent applications.
Provisional patent applications can be filed simultaneously.
“Patent Pending” branding can be used by inventors to file provisional patent online.
How to File
Provisional patents are favored for their ease of filing. For a provisional patent, you need only include a description of the invention, any drawings that help explain the invention, and the filing fee instead of the Patent Application Declaration, Information Disclosure Statement, claims, and summaries. To facilitate the transition to a full patent, it is important to include the full scope of the invention in the description even if it is only a provisional patent application.
How to Convert to a Full Patent
Provisional patents offer the final benefit of converting to full patents. Inventors looking to make this transition should file a petition for a conversion instead of a patent application. Provisional patents must be applied for within one year of their issuance. When this term expires, a non-provisional patent application must be filed. A provisional patent can be converted to a typical patent if an inventor chooses to do so. In the first place, the patent term is determined by filing the full patent, which gives an additional year of protection. Secondly, the filing date is maintained from the provisional patent. It is used to determine whether a similar invention was developed before the patented invention. Getting a date as soon as possible is advantageous.
Read more
Common FAQ on Provisional patent applications
Difference between provisional and non provisional patent application
