I will file for your provisional patent pending status to secure a priority date

A Provisional Patent Application is typically less complicated and less expensive to prepare than a Utility Patent Application. It establishes a filing date and provides an opportunity to further develop, design and market the invention before a Utility Patent Application would need to be filed.

No. This process occurs when a Utility Patent Application is filed. Given the potentially important nature that the Provisional Patent Application can play in the process, the responsibility of prompt and proper filing should be taken seriously by the inventor.

A patent for an invention grants to an inventor the legal ownership rights for his or her invention. Once a patent has been granted to an inventor, an invention may not be lawfully manufactured, used, sold, offered for sale or imported into the U.S. without the inventor’s consent.

U.S. patent law provides for the granting of patents in three major categories: (a) Utility patents; (b) Design patents; and (c) Plant patents.

In the United States, inventors have a grace period of one year after they make an invention public to file for a patent. After that time, the law offers no protection.