What is required within the provisional patent application to receive a “filing date”?
A filing date will be accorded to a provisional application for patent only when it contains: • a written description of the invention, complying with all requirements of 35 U.S.C. §112 ¶ 1; • any drawings necessary to understand the invention, complying with 35 U.S.C. §113; and • the names of all inventors. If any of these three items are missing or incomplete, no filing date will be granted. To be complete, a provisional application for patent must also include: • the filing fee as set forth in 37 CFR 1.16(k) and • a cover sheet identifying the application as a provisional application for patent. The cover sheet is required so as to distinguish the provisional application for patent from other applications and documents filed in the PTO. The cover sheet provides all of the information needed to process the provisional application promptly and properly and prepare the filing receipt. A sample cover sheet is available from the PTO. Use of the PTO’s cover sheet is not mandatory, however
• a written description of the invention, complying with all requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112 1; • any drawings necessary to understand the invention, complying with 35 U.S.C. 113; and • the names of all inventors. If any of these three items are missing or incomplete, no filing date will be granted. To be complete, a provisional application for patent must also include: • the filing fee as set forth in 37 CFR 1.16(k) and • a cover sheet identifying the application as a provisional application for patent. The cover sheet is required so as to distinguish the provisional application for patent from other applications and documents filed in the PTO. The cover sheet provides all of the information needed to process the provisional application promptly and properly and prepare the filing receipt. A sample cover sheet is available from the PTO. Use of the PTO’s cover sheet is not mandatory, however, as the cover sheet requirements pertain to content, not format. The cover sheet must identify: •
