9
The law requires that the application provide a complete "written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains" to make and use the invention. If you want the provisional application to be valuable then it ...
8
There is no requirement for claims
Provisional applications are not examined, and therefore have no formality requirements. As long as they are validly filed, it doesn't matter precisely what format they are in.
But including claims in a provisional is good
One key purpose of a provisional is to for a later non-provisional or Convention application to be ...
7
The answer to this turns on 35 USC § 102(a), which reads:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless—
(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention; or
(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent ...
5
If you don't have a viable alternative and you are wiling put in the work, why not. I would recommend the well known book: Patent it yourself, by David Pressman and the less well known book by Ronald Slusky: Invention Analysis and Claiming. Although provisional applications do not need claims, seeing the thinking behind claims should help you with ...
5
Why does it puzzle you? If it is not available to the public, it is not prior art.
I think relevant US provision is here (MPEP 901.02)
https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s901.html#ch900_d225b5_2caa7_e7
Notice that it only mentions printed or published provisionals OR provisionals that are publicly available because they ended up to normal filings, ...
5
So here we have a tidy distinction between description and claims.
Description
You must provide a description sufficiently detailed that the skilled person, reading your description, would understand how to put the invention into practice. You must also disclose the best way of doing it that you know. To this end, it is irrelevant whether the different parts ...
5
The USPTO imposes an additional fee beyond the provisional filing fee for each 50 sheets beyond 100 sheets (pages) for a provisional patent application. That fee ranges from $100 for a micro entity, $200 for a small entity and $400 for a large entity. The limit is based on the number of total sheets(pages) in the application, including the drawings and ...
4
There is no such thing as international protection in the sense of world-wide protection. Each country issues its own patents based on its own patent laws and its patents are enforceable only in its courts. There are regional bodies like the EPO for Europe that offer the possibility to go through a single examination and end up with patents issued by several ...
4
This is why the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) exists. A patent application filed as PCT may be filed in other member states.
There is a good overview of PCT filing here, and more authoritative information can be found at WIPO, especially in this overview figure.
I strongly recommend finding a patent agent who can step you through this process.
4
I think, very. As noted in the other answer, there is (probably) no legal requirement for claims. However, the whole purpose of the provisional filing is to give you a date for the invention. If you do not write the claims, chances are you will not actually set out the invention, but only one or a few specific implementations. This can get tricky. A ...
4
The rule on this is quite tidily stated at MPEP § 211.05(I)(A) (which I hope will suffice as a legal reference of some nature):
[F]or a claim in a later filed nonprovisional application to be entitled to the benefit of the filing date of the provisional application, the written description and drawing(s) (if any) of the provisional application must ...
4
No but kinda yes.
You cannot change the provisional patent once filed, but there are two other ways to achieve the same.
You can file another provisional and claim priority to both when filing the non provisional and get both priority dates, effectively having different priority dates for different claims in the non provisional.
Alternatively you can add ...
4
A provisional (or a non provisional) allows you to claim priority to it. That means, any application validly claiming priority in the period of one year after the filing will be assumed to have the same filing date as the priority document.
(I'm talking about a first and second application, if you want to claim priority to an application that is already ...
4
The answer is very clearly: you can release anything you want without invalidating your patent application. Actually, 18 months after the filing, the USPTO and most other patent offices will publish your application by themselfs even if it hasn't been granted then.
Legal basis can be found in 35. USC 102 which describes what is prior art (=what can ...
3
Ideally, while drafting a provisional application one should ensure that the subject matter to be claimed by a complete application is “enabled” in the provisional application. Otherwise, a claim in the complete application that was not enabled in the provisional application but included in the complete application may not be entitled to the benefits of the ...
3
It's only stupid if you plan to build a proper business plan around this idea and commercialize it. In that case, your provisional patent may not 'have teeth', and you wasted time and money.
Software patents are exceptionally tricky. You claims could hold no real weight, if challenged.... which is the only time that really matters. Remember that a ...
3
To obtain a patent for an invention, it should pass through various toll gates such as a)Novelty b)Obviousness c)Enablement d)subject matter and e)Industrial application.
In order to overcome the novelty criteria, the invention should be new.It should not be available in the public domain prior to filing for a patent.Such law relating to novelty is ...
3
This is a picture of a "kerf bend" in wood. Material is removed to make a flexible portion from something inflexible. In Apple's case the geometry is different and more complex.
3
There is no formal requirement that a non-provisonal have the same scope of content as a provisional from which it gets priority benefit. However the reason to file a provisional application (no such thing as a provisional patent) is to establish that, on the date of filing, you had the invention in hand. Anything you later want to claim as your invention ...
3
I'm not an attorney and it sounds like you need one. If the "full" applications did not add new matter to the provisional's content then signing away one can be signing away both.
What state/country you are in will make a difference. A factor that may be involved is that the new AIA patent law has made it easier for employers to file on your invention ...
3
A provisional application is filed to secure an early priority date for your invention. Once you have filed a provisional application you may go ahead and file a complete application within 12 months of filing the provisional application.
Please note that a provisional cannot claim priority from another provisional and for priority the earliest filing date ...
3
The PCT Applicant's Guide (National Phase) is the resource you are looking for. It contains a detailed guide on the WIPO Rules and Articles from the Applicant's perspective, and covers the time limits in detail, with pointers to information on exceptions for certain patent offices and explanations on how to address delays.
From the table linked via the ...
3
As far as I know, this scenario is not well-settled law in the U.S.
Prior to the changes to patent law introduced by AIA, any patent would almost certainly have been invalid if secret commercial use of the invention by the patentee exceeded one year prior to the filing (or priority) date.
After AIA, things aren't so clear; see below:
http://patentlyo.com/...
3
It's a tough question to answer because it can depend on the particular facts of your invention. The application must describe the invention with enough detail that a software developer with an ordinary level of skill in computer programming could read the application and then build your invention. It's not uncommon for companies/inventors to omit certain ...
3
These are paragraph numbers. They are considered good practice to include since they aid referencing portions of the description, but are not mandatory.
They are described in a extremely detailed manner by 37 CFR § 1.52(b)(6), which provides:
Other than in a reissue application or reexamination or supplemental examination proceeding, the paragraphs of ...
3
Yes. In a USPTO pdf it states -
"Once you have your Customer Number, you must also associate your current patent
applications with it. . . .
- Download and complete the Customer Number Upload Spreadsheet
To get more information and to download this form you can go to Electronic Business Center. People at the EBC are very helpful for this type of question. ...
3
Should my provisional be written as if it were a non-provisional?
Yes.
A claim of your non-provisional application is entitled to the filing date of your provisional application if your provisional application adequately supports and enables the subject matter of the claim.
The reverse of this is that if your provisional does not adequately support and ...
3
I am wondering if there is any legal backing for a idea that was written in a document and stored on a local file system
No, especially now that the US is in a first-inventor-to-file regime. Documenting that you conceived of it first did have relevance pre the AIA patent law in 2012. Who was first to conceive is no longer relevant.
The only way your own ...
3
I know an inventor who didn't get a filing date because the entire body of the short amount of text in the application was labeled something like "Summary" or "Overview". Another did get a filing date but the drawings he submitted had very light lines and all of the drawings in the USPTO's servers were blank.
3
It's more than not necessary. It's not possible.
37 CFR § 1.51(d) provides:
Applicants are encouraged to file an information disclosure statement in nonprovisional applications. See § 1.97 and § 1.98. No information disclosure statement may be filed in a provisional application.
MPEP § 609 discusses this a little more:
Information Disclosure ...
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