A provisional patent application (PPA) is not a cheap option but it is a lower-cost alternative to a nonprovisional patent application. The reason is that although the provisional patent application has lower minimum requirements than the nonprovisional patent application, the PPA has to disclose all of the details that the NPA must disclose.
The provisional patent application is not a cheap option or a poor man’s patent as some internet sightings may lead one to believe. Here is one of the internet sightings. (eHow)
Let me explain in more detail. The provisional application must fully disclose the invention just like the nonprovisional patent application. In my 10 years of experience, I spend about 70-80% of my time drafting up the full disclosure of the invention when preparing a nonprovisional patent application. As such, for the provisional patent application to provide the same level of protection as the nonprovisional patent application, I must still spend that 70-80% in preparing the provisional patent application.
Of course, if you don’t want an attorney to spend the full amount of time preparing the full disclosure, the costs for the provisional patent application can be as low as a few hundred dollars. There are many websites that offer this service.
Here is one of the internet sightings. (Legalzoom)
Why is filing a full disclosure of the invention important? The reason is that the patent application regardless of whether it is filed as a provisional patent application or a nonprovisional patent application only provides protection for what it discloses. If you fail to disclose an aspect of your invention, then the patent application does not protect you.
Although the provisional patent application has lower requirements for filing than the nonprovisional patent application, the same amount of time must be spent on preparing the full disclosure of the invention if you want the provisional patent application to give you the same level of protection as the nonprovisional patent application. Hence, the provisional patent application may be a lower cost option but it is certainly not a cheap option or as some may describe it a poor man’s patent.
I invite you to contact me with your patent questions at (949) 433-0900 or [email protected]. Please feel free to forward this article to your friends. As an Orange County Patent Attorney, I serve Orange County, Irvine, Los Angeles, San Diego and surrounding cities.