Intellectual Property An inventor is permitted to file a “provisional patent application” (PPA) providing a detailed description of the invention explaining how to make and use it, as prescribed by 35 U.S.C. §112. The PPA must also include drawings (when necessary to understand the invention), a cover sheet, and a fee. However, claims are not required. A PPA is not a utility patent application and, therefore, it is not generally examined by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Importantly, it cannot by itself result in a patent issued by the USPTO. The primary advantage of a PPA is that, because there are fewer requirements for filing a PPA compared to a utility patent application, the inventor may obtain an earlier filing date. In addition to the benefits of an early filing date, the PPA gives the inventor the right to claim that her invention is “patent pending.” If a utility patent application is filed within one year after a PPA, then that utility patent application takes as a priority date the date that the PPA was filed. For example, if an inventor has completed her invention and now wants to preserve her rights at least expense while she seeks funds to market the invention, her patent attorney can draft and file a PPA can be filed and then replaced within a year by a utility patent application. The inventor must not fail to file a utility patent application within one year after the PPA is filed, otherwise the PPA will be automatically abandoned, and it cannot be revived. The time that the PPA is pending does not count against the 20 years from the effective filing date of a U.S. patent. In other words, a PPA gives the inventor a filing date, but does not start her 20-year patent term.
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