Since June 8, 1995, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has offered the option of filing a provisional application for patent. This is designed to provide a lower-cost first patent filing in the United States. Applicants are entitled to claim the benefit of a provisional application in a corresponding nonprovisional application filed not later than 12 months after the provisional application filing date.

A provisional application for patent is a U.S. national application for patent filed in the USPTO under 35 U.S.C. § 111(b). It allows filing without a formal patent claim, oath, or declaration or any information disclosure (prior art) statement. It provides the means to establish an early effective filing date in a later-filed nonprovisional patent application filed under 35 U.S.C. § 111(a). It also allows the term “Patent Pending” to be applied in connection with the description of the invention.

A provisional application for patent has a pendency lasting 12 months from the date the provisional application is filed. The 12-month pendency period cannot be extended. Therefore, if you file a provisional application, you must file a corresponding nonprovisional application for patent (nonprovisional application) during the 12-month pendency period of the provisional application to benefit from the earlier filing of the provisional application. In accordance with 35 U.S.C. § 119(e), the corresponding nonprovisional application must contain or be amended to contain a specific reference to the provisional application within the time period and in the manner required by 37 CFR 1.78.