A provisional patent application is a limited patent application designed to provide inventors a quick and inexpensive method to file for a patent application. However, unlike the other types of applications described above, this is not truly a patent application. A provisional patent application is an application which allows a later filed application to claim the filing date of the earlier filed, provisional application. In effect, a provisional patent application simply extends the filing of a single patent application into two different applications, one which is provisional and the second which is non-provisional.
Before deciding which patent application would be best suited to your needs and which is most cost effective, we suggest meeting with one of our knowledgeable patent attorneys to discuss patents in relation to your intellectual innovation.