A provisional patent application is a shorter version of a full (non-provisional) patent application. It is used to secure a filing date for a later filed full patent application.

Once a provisional patent application is filed, an inventor has exactly one year to file a full patent application. If an inventor does not file a full application within a year, the provisional patent application is considered abandoned and the inventor loses the right to the filing date.

Although inventors may still be able to file a full patent application later, they lose the filing date of the provisional application and may also lose the right to the invention if they have already disclosed the invention to the public.

Filing a provisional patent application saves inventors significant upfront investement and allows them time to assess their invention’s commercial value, conduct research, or seek funding before committing to the high cost and lengthy process of a full patent application.

A full or “non-provisional” application establishes an invention’s filing date and initiates the official examination process with a U.S. Patent Office examiner.