As far as I know, it is illegal to advertise an invention as "patent pending" unless a patent application has actually been filed.
So, theoretically, if a company or individual wanted to file a provisional patent application (as quickly as possible and with minimum effort) only to be able to use the term "patent pending" when referencing their invention, what would be the minimum amount of work they would have to do (in the US)? I am aware that this is not considered good practice, but lets assume they will later be following up this PPA with a far more detailed PPA.
I've read that the requirements for a PPA (besides the fee) are a coversheet and a written description. Since provisional patent applications are never examined, could one theoretically only submit the required coversheet along with an attached very short (maybe paragraph-long) but accurate description of the invention when filing for a PPA? Would doing so allow the use of the term "patent pending" when referencing the invention?