Submit Provisional Patent

Absolutely! Attorney Kameron W. Kramer, a seasoned patent attorney with over 11 years of experience, will draft, review and file your provisional patent application. Kameron will answer your questions and provide guidance to help you every step of the way.

Successfully submitting a provisional patent is so much more than just filling out a form. It’s understanding the nuances of adequately defining and describing your invention.

Patent attorney Kameron W. Kramer will work collaboratively with you to fully understand and capture the essence of your invention, increasing the likelihood of success and maximizing the compatibility with successor utility patents.

We are also a full-service law firm able to meet your small business needs, as they may arise. We’re comprehensive. We’re strategic and accessible. We’re licensed and insured. We’re experienced.

We’ll tell you whether we believe you will succeed in the long-term or not, and we’re the folks you’d turn to whether you have questions, problems or need assistance in licensing, negotiating, contracts, dispute resolution and more. We’re here for you throughout this very important endeavor. We support you.

A provisional patent application provides the applicant one year patent pending status. By the end of the one year deadline, applicant must file a utility patent application claiming priority to the provisional patent application in order to maintain patent pending protection. Failure to file a non-provisional patent application within the one (1) year deadline claiming priority to the provisional will result in the expiration of the provisional patent application and you may be statutorily barred from obtaining any patent protection. Provisional patent applications are not reviewed/analyzed by the USPTO. They are essentially placeholders and a way to obtain a priority date. The full utility patent application will be reviewed/analyzed by the USPTO and there is likely to be back and forth with the USPTO at that time (called the patent prosecution).

No, but a Provisional Patent Application will permit you to obtain an earlier filing date, which can be critical to establish priority over later inventors, as well as help avoid the 1-year statutory bar for public knowledge or use of your invention.

For example, if you’ve been demonstrating your invention in public, you have no more than 1-year to obtain a filing date for your invention starting when you first demonstrated your invention in public. A Provisional Patent will establish a filing date that could stop the clock on this statutory bar should you exceed the 1-year limitation.

After submitting your order, the patent attorney will review and discuss your invention with you during the initial 30-minute consultation. If you and the patent attorney determines that we are not going to proceed with the provisional patent, you will be refunded the fees you paid for your order, less $150 (which pays for the initial consultation).

You lose the ability to claim priority to the Provisional Patent application — specifically, you lose the filing date of the Provisional Patent. The law is very draconian about this, and there are no exceptions.

If there has been any public disclosure of your invention, you may be statutorily barred from obtaining any patent protection.

If you have publicly disclosed your invention more than one (1) year ago, you are statutorily barred from obtaining any patent protection. This applies to any offers to sell your invention, listing your invention on a website, using the invention in a public setting, etc.

It is vital that you file for patent protection within one (1) year of the first public disclosure, and it is highly recommended that you file for patent protection before any public disclosure.

The United States is a “first to file” system for patents, which means that priority is given to the first person to file a patent, not the first person to invent.

Micro entity status offers a 75% discount on most patent fees. There are two ways to qualify for micro entity status: (1) gross income basis; or (2) institution of higher education. To qualify for micro entity status on (1) gross income basis:

• The applicant qualifies as a USPTO-defined small entity;
• Neither the applicant nor the inventor nor a joint inventor has been named as an inventor on more than four previously filed applications (do not count applications filed in another country, provisional patent applications, international applications, or applications that you assigned, is obligated to assign, all ownership rights as a result of previous employment.;
• Neither applicant nor the inventor nor a joint inventor had a gross income in the previous year from when the fee(s) is paid of more than the “Maximum Qualifying Gross Income,” which is three times the median household income (current, the”Maximum Qualifying Gross Income” for purposes of paying any eligible fee at the micro entity discount rate is currently $202,563 in 2022); and
• Neither the applicant nor the inventor nor a joint inventor has assigned, granted, or conveyed, nor is under an obligation to assign, grant, or convey, a license or other ownership interest to another entity that does not meet the same “Maximum Qualifying Gross Income” limit.

To qualify for micro entity status on (2) institution of higher education, an applicant must either: (A) obtain the majority of their income from a United States institution of higher education as defined in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)); or (B) have assigned, granted, or conveyed, or be under an obligation by contract or law to assign, grant, or convey an ownership interest in the application to such a United States institution of higher education.

Small entity status offers a 50% discount on most patent fees.

Small entity is defined as an entity that: (i) is a nonprofit organization; OR (ii) does not, together with all affiliates, have 500 or more employees; AND has not assigned, licensed or otherwise conveyed an interest in the invention to a non-small entity.