Why You Want To Get A Provisional Patent To Protect Your Idea

By Dave Korpi
If you have been reading the news about Google's Street View you have probably become aware of the power of the provisional patent.

In this instance we learn that two doctoral students at California Institute of Technology, Di Bernardo and Goncalves co-conceived the idea in 2000 to build a system to let Internet users look at street-level views of neighborhoods. It turns out that the model now used by Google Street View is strikingly similar to the provisional patent filed by Di Bernardo and Goncalves. What this teaches us is the extraordinary value of a provisional patent.

In this example we have two students ending up spending the $110 to file a provisional that could mean that they may never have to work attain, ever, when they settle with Google.

Some ideas to consider when you want to protect your new awesome idea. If you have lots of money then by all means spend a big fat wad and hire the very best patent attorney and get a non provisional patent filed, like right now.

If you do not have unlimited funds then file a provisional, like next week, and then find someone you want to work with to bring it to reality. If things look good, and before 1 year, file a non-provisional patent and have the long term protection and rights to sell.

When writing a provisional be sure to include everything you can ever imagine and then more, then sleep on it, then ask buddies for ideas, and THEN I add all that new supporting and enabling matter in the description and add as many drawings as necessary to support what you going after.

Using this method, in my view, puts your new invention in a proactive defensive mode when it comes to filing your non provisional. I say this because if you are trying to get a patent on an item and "forget" to mention something it is not too uncommon for the item you "forgot" to be "new matter" and this means you will NOT get what you want. If you have a provisional that mentioned what it is you "forgot" you will be able to include that item.

The reason the USPTO provides for the provisional option is to allow you to get an early filing date. They understand the patenting process is expensive so they give you 1 year to get your paperwork in order so that when you are ready you can get a non provisional.

In closing I strongly suggest you take a look at what a provisional patent can do for you!