File that Provisional Patent Application Instead?

Generally, instead of filing a regular utility patent application and entering the patent process, filing a provisional application for patent is requires some research on your part. Don't just listen to other inventors, you must do your own research. But it can be used to your strategic advantage.

First, the biggest advantage is that it's a cheap way to immediately claim Patent Pending status on your inventions. You will be able to mark your products based on your invention as Patent Pending. Maybe you don't even care about getting a patent in the end because you just want the attributes of being patent pending. The public or your investors may be more likely to trust your products.

Second, it will give you one year to decide if you really want to continue with the patent process. There are no such things as provisional patents. So, at the expiration of one year after filing your provisional application, you must file your non-provisional patent application. You get a whole year with patent pending status to think about whether going through the whole process is worth it. If after your research you see that nobody is intersted, then you can end you can cull your efforts and you've saved quite a bit of money.

Third, if you need more time, you can extend your researching time before you absolutely must file your non-provisional application. You should know that you have one year from your public disclosure to file a patent application. So, basically, this extends your one year after your public disclosure by one more year. Now, you have two years to decide whether going into the patent process is worth it.

Lastly, be careful who prepares the application for you. You must ensure that your provisional properly discloses your invention and does not limit it in such a way that later when you file your non-provisional you will be unable to use your provisional as your priority date. This would make your provisional worthless. This is definitely something you should understand by communicating with a professional and not rely on other inventors for..

I suggest you look into it before you file a patent application, provisional or not.