Searching Provisional Patents

{Don Debelak’s new book, Turning Your Invention into Cash is now available on Amazon for $3.49. Go to Amazon.com and enter inventions Don Debelak to purchase. From the author of Entrepreneur Magazine’s Bringing Your Product to Market.}

Searching provisional patents is not possible because first they are not published and second they are not even opened and evaluated until a utility patent claiming priority on that provisional patent is applied for.  Standard non-provisional utility patents also aren’t published for 18 months so you also run the risk of a utility patent being filed that you won’t know about in a typical patent search.  What are the consequences for inventors as they evaluate what other patents have priority under the United States and most International countries first to file rules.  The consequence is that there is always some uncertainty as to what other patent applications might be in place with the Patent Office which could affect your ability to patent your idea.

Inventors’ Game Plan in Response

1. Don’t panic and start thinking patents are not worthwhile.  There are ways to effectively address the issue that you don’t know all of the patent in process, but not yet published.  The first point to remember is that the patent office doesn’t often issue broad patents that exclude all other competitive products.  So you still may be able to patent your idea as long as its claims an invention that has differences from the other product. A second point is that provisional patents may not properly describe the invention the provisional patent holder eventually describes in a non-provisional patent application.  In that case the priority date of the provisional patent would not apply.  A third point is that the patent office may not allow a patent contained in a published application so you still may be able to patent your idea even if an application looks similar to your product
2. Apply early as you can.  Start with a provisional patent if you are still doing market or reliability testing of your idea.  You can place a large number of possible embodiments in a provisional patent and you can also information regarding a method of use patent in your provisional.  You aren’t limited to a specific invention in a provisional patent, so you can leave your options to what specific idea you want to patent.  You can also apply for multiple patents based on a provisional patent’s priority date provide all the inventions are covered in the provisional patent.  If you have already have decided on what you want to patent proceed forward with a non-provisional patent application.
3. Don’t be intimidated by the term patent pending, especially if your cost to produce your product idea is low.  A patent pending does not stop you from selling a similar or the same product.  Only a patent gives the patent owner legal options to stop you from selling, or requiring you to pay a royalty.  The person may have a provisional patent, or may have a patent that will not prevent you from selling.  Remember though you only have 12 months to patent an idea after it is publically disclosed.  So you should apply for your own patent even if you see patent pending.  Your claims may be different, though you won’t know for uncertain if your claims are different when applying, and if the patent office does issue an office action stating that another patent claims the same invention, your patent agent or patent attorney may be able to change your inventions claims so that it claims a different invention than the cited patent.  If you are worried about spending too much money, apply for a provisional patent first and then review the other’s patents for six to nine months to see what occurs before proceeding with your own non-provisional patent.Searching Provisional Patents
   Searching provisional patents is not possible because first they are not published and second they are not even opened and evaluated until a utility patent claiming priority on that provisional patent is applied for. Standard non-provisional utility patents also aren’t published for 18 months so you also run the risk of a utility patent being filed that you won’t know about in a typical patent search. What are the consequences for inventors as they evaluate what other patents have priority under the United States and most International countries first to file rules. The consequence is that there is always some uncertainty as to what other patent applications might be in place with the Patent Office which could affect your ability to patent your idea.
   Inventors’ Game Plan in Response
   1. Don’t panic and start thinking patents are not worthwhile. There are ways to effectively address the issue that you don’t know all of the patent in process, but not yet published. The first point to remember is that the patent office doesn’t often issue broad patents that exclude all other competitive products. So you still may be able to patent your idea as long as its claims an invention that has differences from the other product. A second point is that provisional patents may not properly describe the invention the provisional patent holder eventually describes in a non-provisional patent application. In that case the priority date of the provisional patent would not apply. A third point is that the patent office may not allow a patent contained in a published application so you still may be able to patent your idea even if an application looks similar to your product
   2. Apply early as you can. Start with a provisional patent if you are still doing market or reliability testing of your idea. You can place a large number of possible embodiments in a provisional patent and you can also information regarding a method of use patent in your provisional. You aren’t limited to a specific invention in a provisional patent, so you can leave your options to what specific idea you want to patent. You can also apply for multiple patents based on a provisional patent’s priority date provide all the inventions are covered in the provisional patent. If you have already have decided on what you want to patent proceed forward with a non-provisional patent application.
   3. Don’t be intimidated by the term patent pending, especially if your cost to produce your product idea is low. A patent pending does not stop you from selling a similar or the same product. Only a patent gives the patent owner legal options to stop you from selling, or requiring you to pay a royalty. The person may have a provisional patent, or may have a patent that will not prevent you from selling. Remember though you only have 12 months to patent an idea after it is publically disclosed. So you should apply for your own patent even if you see patent pending. Your claims may be different, though you won’t know for uncertain if your claims are different when applying, and if the patent office does issue an office action stating that another patent claims the same invention, your patent agent or patent attorney may be able to change your inventions claims so that it claims a different invention than the cited patent. If you are worried about spending too much money, apply for a provisional patent first and then review the other’s patents for six to nine months to see what occurs before proceeding with your own non-provisional patent.Do you need web content?  Don Debelak, who has written 15 books published by major publishers such as McGraw Hill and Entrepreneur Press is currently writing web content.  Check out more information at:https://onestopinventionshop.net/web-content-writing-services Don Debelak offers affordable patent work. Check out http://patentsbydondebelak.com/