It is often seen that
inventors are perplexed with the idea of filing a provisional patent
application or a non-provisional one. Interestingly
the solution lies in the hands of inventors themselves. Here are a few points
that may help you decide which one to file:
1. The
stage of your invention plays a crucial role in whether you end up filing a
provisional or a non- provisional patent application. If you are in the
preliminary stages of finalizing your invention concept, it is better to file a
provisional one. Apart from that filing
a provisional application gives you an
early priority date and an additional 12 months to file a non-provisional
application. This time could be utilized to hone your application and invention
research .
2. For start ups and sole businesses , filing a provisional
application proves to be beneficial when financial resources are limited and
the invention or concept is in the nascent stages of development . In this
case, the only benefit that a provisional application provide is an early
priority date.
3. In
case your invention is thorough and well defined, every detail is tested and foremost if the funding is
sufficient , one may think of filing a complete specification i.e. a non-provisional application . The filed non-provisional application will be
eventually examined by the examiner on payment of requisite fee and if accepted,
an inventor may get a patent granted for a span of twenty years in general.
4. There
is a misconception amongst inventors that
a provisional application will qualify for a patent. This is not true. The fact
is that a provisional patent application has a life span of 12 months , within
which an inventor is required to file a non provisional patent application
disclosing the invention in the best possible manner. The provisional application is not examined by the USPTO. One has to file a regular or a
non-provisional application with requisite fee to get their applications
examined in order to qualify for the patent.
5. There
is an interesting thing to note here. If an inventor files a provisional
followed by a non- provisional patent application within 12 months, then in case if a patent is granted on your
invention, you will enjoy the patent rights for a span of twenty years from the actual filing date of your non- provisional
patent application . Hence filing a provisional gives you an additional year of
patent term and the priority date benefit from the provisional application.
6. Some
inventors wish to save overall time and cost, hence prefer filing the non-provisional applications directly. However if an inventor directly files the non-provisional application then the term of twenty years will be applicable from the
filing date of non-provisional application and the priority date will be the effective
filing date of the non-provisional one.
I
hope inventors now find it easier to decide which application to go ahead with.
( Note:
The article is not intended to give any legal advice to the readers.)
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