Provisional Patent Applications
The provisional patent application gives inventors
a lower cost option for protecting their inventions.
A provisional patent acts as a "stepping stone" towards
filing a utility patent application. When a provisional
patent application is filed in the United States Patent
Office, it "reserves the right" for an inventor to
file a utility patent application within the next
year.
Benefits
Provisional patent
applications, when prepared properly with a full and
concise description, preserve priority for the inventor
for a period of one year.
After the provisional patent is filed, the product
may be legally marked "patent pending".
The inventor is free to disclose the invention to
others that could help market, manufacture, and promote
the product, without fear of the invention being "stolen".
Provisional patent applications cost less than a utility
patent application. A lower initial investment is
required before the invention can be safely disclosed
to others.
The inventor has almost a year to decide whether the
invention is worthy of further investment.
If the inventor determines that the invention is not
worthy of further investment, the provisional patent
application is simply abandoned at the end of the
year.
