Have you tried and tested the product you have created with your intellect? Do you need some time to determine its commercial potential? We have an excellent solution for you that will get you around a one-year timeframe to evaluate the monetization potential of your innovation.
You can file a Provisional Patent Application with the US patent office to secure a filing date so that none of your competitors could claim an early filing date for the same invention before you.
What’s more, the provisional patent application cost won’t put a big dent in your pocket as it excludes patent attorney and filing fees that a non-provisional patent application often requires.
Above all, you don’t need to disclose your invention thoroughly as provisional patent applications accept rough sketches of your machine or device instead of fully-labelled CAD drawings in non-provisional patent applications. Now let’s see what the provisional patent application cost is and why filing a provisional patent application for your innovation is imperative:
1 – The cost to submit a provisional application to USPTO is pretty low
Are you waiting eagerly to know the provisional patent application filing fee? Well, if you qualify as a micro-entity according to the US patent office’s rules, then you need to pay just $70 as the filing fee for a preliminary patent application. Taking advantage of this discounted rate is pretty essential, especially when you own a small-sized business and every dollar is of utmost importance to you.
Note that if you are mapping out a plan to draft an initial patent application yourself, you must drop this idea right now. It’s because you may lack the techno-legal experience and expertise that a professional patent attorney at patent drafting firms has. They can write down your get-go patent application in a proper format without compromising on the quality that you might not.
2 – A provisional patent application helps you leverage the “Patent Pending” mode for your creation
After the lower provisional patent application cost, you might get surprised to know that this type of application provides your invention with a “Patent Pending” mark. It means whatever product or technology you have created will eventually be yours if none of your rivals file a patent application for the same innovation before you.
However, to make the most of this feature, your beginner patent application should get on file with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) or any other international or regional patent office for that matter. In this way, you can indirectly inform your opponents that you will soon get the legal rights of ownership for your invention.
3 – A provisional application gets you an official filing date
Do you know what the most significant benefit of getting a filing date for your patent application is? It means that you will ultimately get the patent for your invention if you have given a patent application to USPTO before your competitors.
It is the main reason why you must strive to get your initial patent application on file with the desired patent offices before your rivals do it. Remember, it is wise to count on the leading patent drafting companies to perform these types of tasks to improve your chances of the patent grant.
4 – A preliminary patent application requires lesser technical details
An excellent advantage of filing a provisional patent application first regarding the device or machine you have created is that it needs less technical information than the non-provisional patent application. For instance, you can attach rough drawings of your invention to the initial patent application instead of detailed sketches drawn by professional draftsmen in non-provisional patent applications.
Not just that, the provisional applications need not include the claims of the invention, which is a must in the non-provisional patent applications. So, the fact of the matter is, a beginner patent application is a lot easier to file than any other patent application.
5 – A preliminary patent application gives you twelve months to evaluate the market
Best of all, a provisional patent application provides you with a 12-month pendency period to check the money-making potential of your invention before you finally make up your mind to file a non-provisional patent application. If you realize that your product or design has considerable commercial potential, you can proceed with a non-provisional patent application. If not, you can drop the idea of patent acquisition altogether.
Last note
I hope you know why it is necessary to file a provisional patent application before a non-provisional application. So, if you wish to avail high-quality patent application drafting services, all you need to do is make a call to the inventor-oriented patent drafting companies in the US.