#2 of 5 Common Misconceptions About Provisional Patent Applications
That’s simply not true. The quality of your disclosure matters—a lot.
Here's the Truth
Your non-provisional application can only claim priority to what was actually disclosed in the provisional application. If key elements weren’t clearly described, you won’t be able to claim the provisional application priority filing date for those features in the non-provisional application.
This mistake is common with rushed, vague, or minimalist filings. I see it regularly when people come to me to handle the non-provisional application based on their DIY or online-service provisional application. Sometimes those provisional applications are even useless.
Rushing to get a filing date is pointless if you can’t take advantage of the filing date because the provisional application was too sloppy or lacked sufficient detail.
Here's What to Do
Treat the provisional application like the technical legal document that it is. Fully describe all variations, features, and possible uses of your invention. If it’s important to your invention or your business model, take the time to put it in the provisional application in clear terms.
If you’d like help with a patent, let’s talk. You can use my contact form or book a consultation online at kingpatentlaw.com or by calling my office at 312-596-2222 or 217-714-8558.
Please check out the other posts and pages on my website for more information on patents and other intellectual property and business law issues.
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