Effectively protecting intellectual property can help businesses to maintain their competitive edge within their industry, specifically, and within the marketplace more generally. Filing provisional patent applications can help companies to achieve this often-consequential goal.
While filing a successful provisional patent application will not result in an issued patent on its own, a provisional application creates a foundation that can strengthen a company’s chances of success when it comes to securing a non-provisional patent. For this reason, investing resources in a provisional application can be a smart business decision.
The provisional patent application process can be undeniably valuable
A provisional patent application allows an inventor or business to secure an early filing date with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This is important because U.S. patent law operates on a “first to file” system. By filing provisionally, a company can establish priority, protecting its place in line while continuing to refine an invention and its corresponding non-provisional patent application (which can take months to complete). This prevents competitors from filing first, which could otherwise block or limit future rights.
Once filed, businesses have 12 months to file a non-provisional (or full) patent application that claims the benefit of the earlier filing date secured by the provisional filing date. This period gives companies time to test a product, attract investors, evaluate market potential, etc., before finalizing their full application. For startups and growing businesses, this breathing room can be invaluable when it comes to safeguarding innovation from claims of prior art.
Of course, the quality of a provisional application matters. Having “patent pending” status is not going to matter much if a company’s provisional application is structured so poorly that it doesn’t support the design outlined in its corresponding non-provisional application. Incomplete or vague filings may not provide the protection companies expect. As a result, working with a skilled legal team at this phase of development is generally very wise.