Since June 8, 1995, the PTO has offered inventors the option of filing a
provisional application for patent which was designed to provide a lower
cost first patent filing in the United States and to give U.S.
applicants parity with foreign applicants. Claims and oath or
declaration are NOT required for a provisional application. Provisional
application provides the means to establish an early effective filing
date in a patent application and permits the term “Patent Pending” to be
applied in connection with the invention. Provisional applications may
not be filed for design inventions. The filing date of a provisional
application is the date on which a written description of the invention,
drawings if necessary, and the name of the inventor(s) are received in
the PTO. To be complete, a provisional application must also include the
filing fee, and a cover sheet specifying that the application is a
provisional application for patent. Applicant would then have up to
twelve months to file a non-provisional application for patent as
described above. The claimed subject matter in the later filed
non-provisional application is entitled to the benefit of the filing
date of the provisional application if it has support in the provisional
application.
Provisional applications are not examined on their merits. A provisional
application will become abandoned by the operation of law twelve months
from its filing date. The twelve month pendency for a provisional
application is not counted toward the 20 year term of a patent granted
on a subsequently filed non-provisional application which relies on the
filing date of the provisional application.
A surcharge is required for filing the basic filing fee or the cover
sheet on a date later than the filing of the provisional application.
A brochure on Provisional Application for Patent is available by calling
the PTO General Information Services at 1–800–786–9199 or 703–308–4357
or by accessing PTO’s Web site at _http://www.uspto.gov_.