Exposing of your idea or invention to the public more than 12 months before you file for patent protection may prevent you from obtaining patent rights to your idea or invention. There a number of ways you could have disclosed your invention to the public in the legal sense – the examples shown here only…
One way to prevent the provisional from expiring is to continuously have a provisional one file (just updated to the latest version of your back-end). If you let the provisional expire (and your back-end isn’t receiving a lot of press), you are back to square one. For the provisional to save you the risk of…
The USPTO allows you one year from the date of your first public disclosure to file for patent or provisional patent on your idea. This one-year period is known as the ‘grace period’. If you do not file for a patent or provisional patent within one-year of your first public disclosure, you will have been…
How Long Does It Take To Get A Patent? “On average, it takes 2-1/2 years to complete the application process for a patent in the U.S., according to data in the infographic generated by online patent law service SmartUp. Mechanical engineering patents are likely to take longer, with average wait times clocking in at almost…
Patent Rights: Should Patent Search Come Before Provisional Patent? “Do you recommend doing a patent search before applying for a provisional patent or should you do the provisional patent right away? I have a product that is already on the market, and want to know if it has an active patent. Thanks for your time.”…
The documents you submit will be added in an appendix to your provisional patent upon your request, but this will not be done without your authorization. It is important that you do not disclose any confidential information in your submitted documents. It is also important that you do not disclose anything in your document that…
Figures submitted with a provisional application can be informal. A figure can be a hand drawing, a photograph, a CAD illustration, VISIO files, flow charts, block diagrams, or any other type of visualization of your invention. They do not need to contain labels or be referenced to the description portion of your Provisional Patent, though…
How to Patent: Benefits of Provisional Patent The most affordable way to begin the processing of patenting something is to obtain a Provisional Patent. To obtain a Provisional Patent, an inventor (or an attorney acting on behalf of the inventor) must file a description of his invention along with a small fee to the USPTO. Notwithstanding…
A provisional Application for patent may be filed anytime after your invention is created – once you are able to coherently describe how to make and use it. It is recommended that you file a provisional application before you publicly disclose your invention. In this way, you can publicly disclose your invention and put the…
A provisional application for patent is the most cost effective way to begin protecting your invention. It establishes your priority to the patent rights for your invention while you put the finishing touches on it, work up your non-provisional patent application, seek funding and do market research. With a provisional application on file, you can…
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