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PITCH TO AMERICA
COMPANIES ATTENDING INPEX® 2008
Provisional and Non-Provisional Patent Application
NOTICE: The content of this page contains material from the United States Patent and Trademark Office Web site and is intended for purely informational use. It should in no way be construed as any type of legal advice whatsoever. InventHelp® cannot and does not perform legal services associated with the seeking of patent protection. InventHelp® does offer patent idea services by referring clients to a patent attorney or patent agent.
Application for a Patent
Non-Provisional Patent Application
A non-provisional application for a patent is made to the Assistant Commissioner for Patents and includes:
- A written document which comprises a specification (description and claims),
and an oath or declaration; - A drawing in those cases in which a drawing is necessary; and
- The filing fee.
All application papers must be in the English language or a translation into the English language will be required along with the required fee.
The application for patent is not forwarded for examination until all required parts, complying with the rules related thereto, are received. If any application is filed without all the required parts for obtaining a filing date (incomplete or defective), the applicant will be notified of the deficiencies and given a time period to complete the application filing (a surcharge may be required) – at which time a filing date as of the date of such a completed submission will be obtained by the applicant. If the omission is not corrected within a specified time period, the application will be returned or otherwise disposed of; the filing fee if submitted will be refunded less a handling fee as set forth in the fee schedule.
All applications received in the USPTO are numbered in sequential order and the applicant will be informed of the application number and filing date by a filing receipt.
The filing date of an application for patent is the date on which a specification (including at least one claim) and any drawings necessary to understand the subject matter sought to be patented are received in the USPTO; or the date on which the last part completing the application is received in the case of a previously incomplete or defective application.
Provisional Patent Application
Since June 8, 1995, the USPTO has offered inventors the option of filing a provisional application for patent which was designed to provide a lower cost first patent filing in the United States and to give U.S. applicants parity with foreign applicants. Claims and oath or declaration are NOT required for a provisional application. Provisional application provides the means to establish an early effective filing date in a patent application and permits the term "Patent Pending" to be applied in connection with the invention. Provisional applications may not be filed for design inventions.
The filing date of a provisional application is the date on which a written description of the invention, drawings if necessary, and the name of the inventor(s) are received in the USPTO. To be complete, a provisional application must also include the filing fee, and a cover sheet specifying that the application is a provisional application for patent. The applicant would then have up to 12 months to file a non-provisional application for patent as described above. The claimed subject matter in the later filed non-provisional application is entitled to the benefit of the filing date of the provisional application if it has support in the provisional application.
The 12 month pendency for a provisional application is not counted toward the 20 year term of a patent granted on a subsequently filed non-provisional application which relies on the filing date of the provisional application.
Examination of Applications and Proceeding in the United States Patent And Trademark Office
Applications, other than provisional applications, filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) and accepted as complete applications are assigned for examination to the respective examining technology centers (TC) having charge of the areas of technology related to the invention. In the examining TC, applications are taken up for examination by the examiner to whom they have been assigned in the order in which they have been filed or in accordance with examining procedures established by the Director.
Applications will not be advanced out of turn for examination or for further action except as provided by the rules, or upon order of the Director to expedite the business of the Office, or upon a showing which, in the opinion of the Director, will left advancing them.
The examination of the application consists of a study of the application for compliance with the legal requirements and a search through U.S. patents, publications of patent applications, foreign patent documents, and available literature, to see if the claimed invention is new, useful and nonobvious and if the application meets the requirements of the patent statute and rules of practice. A decision is reached by the examiner in the light of the study and the result of the search.
As a result of the examination by the Office, patents are granted in the case of about two out of every three applications for patents which are filed.
Office Action
The applicant is notified in writing of the examiner's decision by an "action" which is normally mailed to the attorney or agent of record. The reasons for any adverse action or any objection or requirement are stated in the Office action and such information or references are given as may be useful in aiding the applicant to judge the propriety of continuing the prosecution of his/her application.
If the claimed invention is not directed to patentable subject matter, the claims will be rejected. If the examiner finds that the claimed invention lacks novelty or differs only in an obvious manner from what is found in the prior art, the claims may also be rejected. It is not uncommon for some or all of the claims to be rejected on the first Office action by the examiner, relatively few applications are allowed as filed.
Applicant's Reply
The applicant must request reconsideration in writing, and must distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the examiner's Office action. The applicant must reply to every ground of objection and rejection in the prior Office action. The applicant's reply must appear throughout to be a bona fide attempt to advance the case to final action or allowance. The mere allegation that the examiner has erred will not be received as a proper reason for such reconsideration.
Final Rejection
On the second or later consideration, the rejection or other action may be made final. The applicant's reply is then limited to appeal in the case of rejection of any claim and further amendment is restricted. Petition may be taken to the Director in the case of objections or requirements not involved in the rejection of any claim. Reply to a final rejection or action must include cancellation of, or appeal from the rejection of, each claim so rejected and, if any claim stands allowed, compliance with any requirement or objection as to form. In making such final rejection, the examiner repeats or states all grounds of rejection then considered applicable to the claims in the application.
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