Characteristics
The earliest filing date of a "provisional" (application) may be very important where, for example, a statutory condition of patentability is about to expire and there is insufficient time to generate a complete non-provisional application. In many cases, a provisional is filed the same day as a public disclosure of the invention, which disclosure could otherwise permanently jeopardize the patentability in non-U.S. countries having strict requirements on "complete or absolute novelty". In other cases the provisional application is filed soon after such a disclosure in order to preserve only the inventor's U.S. patent rights.
The date of filing of the provisional patent application can also be used as the foreign priority date for applications filed in countries other than the United States and for an international application, but not for a design patent. The filing of a provisional application triggers a review period for the U.S. license necessary for the subsequent foreign or international filings. Though the "provisional" need not be submitted in English, a translation will be required when (and if) a non-provisional application claims the benefit of the provisional.
A provisional application, as such, is never examined by the USPTO, and therefore can never become a patent. It is also not "published", but will become a part of any later non-provisional application file that references it, and thus becomes "public" upon issuance of a patent claiming its priority benefit.
A "provisional" is automatically abandoned (expires) one year after it is filed. The provisional filing date is not counted as part of the 20-year life of any patent that may issue with a claim to the provisional filing date.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced on December 8, 2010, that it was implementing a Missing Parts Pilot Program. This pilot program would provide applicants with a 12 month extension to the existing 12 month provisional application period. This pilot program would not change the requirement for an applicant to file a non-provisional application within 12 months; though it would allow additional time to reply to a missing parts notice.
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