What is a provisional application for a patent?
A provisional application permits an applicant to obtain a priority filing date for an invention. A provisional application must contain a detailed description of an invention, including any drawings – which may be informal – necessary to understand an invention; along with the proper filing forms and filing fee. Provisional applications have a one year duration, at which time they become abandoned. There are no extensions of time or renewals. However, any (non-provisional) patent application filed while a provisional application is pending, on the same subject matter, and claiming the priority of the provisional application, will be able to use the filing date of the provisional. If a non-provisional patent application is filed more than one year after the provisional application, the non-provisional cannot avail itself of the provisional filing date. A provisional application is therefore an inexpensive way to obtain a filing date, and the legal right to the phrase “patent pending.”
