Patent & Trademark Attorneys
Helping Businesses, Entrepreneurs and Inventors Nationwide

The provisional application option was designed to provide a lower cost patent filing in the U.S. and to give U.S. applicants parity with foreign applicants. Provisional applications provide a means to establish a filing date in a patent application and permits the term “Patent Pending” to be used in connection with the invention.

Note: A provisional application alone does not lead to an issued patent and will become abandoned 12 months from its filing date. A non-provisional application referencing the provisional application must be filed within this period to take advantage of the provisional filing.

Design patents may be granted to anyone who invents a new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture. The design patent protects only the appearance of an article, but not its structural or functional features.

Utility Patents may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or compositions of matters, or any new useful improvement thereof.