Provisional patent fees

[svsv]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? OR

Im considering filing some PPA's. Never done it, trying to get clear on the fees. It looks like there's a zillion fees for full patent filing, but if I'm understanding it right, it looks like for a PPA it's more of a one time fee for filing? (about $220, or $110 for a small entity according to a fairly recent book I have on patents).

 

[divgradcurl]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? OR

Im considering filing some PPA's. Never done it, trying to get clear on the fees. It looks like there's a zillion fees for full patent filing, but if I'm understanding it right, it looks like for a PPA it's more of a one time fee for filing? (about $220, or $110 for a small entity according to a fairly recent book I have on patents).

Current fee schedule for the PTO is here: Current Fee Schedule

A provisional is a one-time fee, but that's only for a year -- if you don't convert a provisional to a nonprovisional (or file a nonprovisional that claims priority to the original provisional) within 1 year, the provisional goes abandoned and you have to start over again. So you will eventually have to pay the more complicated fee schedules eventually if you ever want something you can enforce.

 

[svsv]

ok, makes sense. This is probably a stupid question, but can you file another provisional the day after the first one goes abandoned? I'm kind of worried I won't be ready, or have the money for the full patent when the 1 year mark comes along.

 

[divgradcurl]

ok, makes sense. This is probably a stupid question, but can you file another provisional the day after the first one goes abandoned? I'm kind of worried I won't be ready, or have the money for the full patent when the 1 year mark comes along.

You can, but you will not be able to point to the original provisional patent for your priority date -- once a provisional patent expires without a nonprovisional in place, its as if the original provisional never existed.

And remember, provisional or not, you only have a 12-month window to file an application once you first disclose your invention to the public. If you disclose, and file a provisional, and let the provisional expire, then you would not be able to file another provisional, because the 12-month window for patentability (35 U.S.C. 102(b)) would be closed.