1. I NEED TO FILE A
PROVISIONAL PATENT
APPLICATION. WHAT
ARE THE 7 MOST
IMPORTANT THINGS I
SHOULD KNOW?
2. What is a „Provisional Patent‟?
The purpose of a patent is to convey to the
public what the patentee considers his own
invention.
This is achieved by „specification‟.
An application for a patent should always be
accompanied by a „provisional‟ or „compulsory‟
specification.
The provisional specification should roughly
disclose about the nature of the invention
without going into details
3. What is the object for filing a
provisional patent application?
To ascertain the „priority date‟ of the patent.
Priority date is the earliest filing date after
which the prior art search for the patent
begins.
The time period between filing a provisional
specification and a complete specification
allows the applicant to carry further research
and development concerning his invention.
4. Why is a provisional patent
recommended?
A provisional patent freezes the filing date for
12 months. So, later when a non – provisional
application is filed, it will be entitled to the filing
date of the provisional application.
5. What are the benefits of a
provisional patent application?
It costs much lesser than a non provisional
application.
The minimum requirements of a provisional
patent application are less than a non
provisional one. For instance, a provisional
patent application does not require a „claim
set’ whereas a non provisional application
does require.
It proves the possession of the invention with
the inventor (applicant) at the time of filing of
the application.
6. What protection does it give to the
applicant?
It protects „claims‟ for further developments
against invalidity caused by publication or use
of things related to the subject of his invention.
7. Are there any limitations?
It does not protect the inventor from the
dangers of a published description of his
original work as a basis for further
development.
8. Is there any precaution to be
taken?
Although a provisional application does not
have the same requirement standards as a
non provisional one, care must be taken to
ensure that there is “full disclosure” of the
invention in the provisional application in the
same way that a full disclosure is to be made
in a non provisional application.