How to Get a Provisional Patent

February 12, 2008 by Dane | 0 Comments
In Inventions, Inventors

According to Wikipedia, a provisional patent application is

a provisional application for patent is a type of national application for patent filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), but which does not mature into an issued patent unless further steps are taken by the applicant.

It is a patent application with a specification, i.e. a description, and optional drawing(s) of an invention, but does not require a formal patent claims, inventors’ oaths or declarations, or any information disclosure statement (IDS).

Because no examination of the patentability of the application is performed, the fee for filing a provisional patent application is much lower than a standard non-provisional patent application. A provisional application can establish an early filing date in a later patent application, so that if there is ever a question as to who patented something first there’s a record on file.

The Do-It-Yourself Provisional Patent is a 1-hour instructional video taught by Andrew Knight, J.D., Registered Patent Agent. Andrew Knight is a graduate of MIT and Georgetown Law, a university instructor, and the inventor of 13 issued U.S. patents and 15 pending patent applications. The free course covers everything you need to know to write your own provisional patent application, including:

Differences between provisional and nonprovisional applications, including fees, rights, and benefits
Creating drawings and figures
Writing a thorough description that will provide proper support for a future nonprovisional application
Drafting a provisional patent application with an eye toward future claim drafting
Aspects of U.S. Patent Law that dictate how you draft the application
Filling out the necessary forms and paperwork
Enabling your invention to become “patent pending” in one day

Andrew’s video course also covers specific examples, mistakes to avoid, and strategies. The videos will teach you, in an easy-to-understand, step-by-step format, how to get your invention patent pending and how to write and submit a provisional patent application on your invention.

The hour-long video is broken into 20 parts. They are below.

Part 1