What are the requirements for a nonprovisional application to claim benefit of a provisional application?

What are the requirements for a nonprovisional application to claim benefit of a provisional application?

For a nonprovisional application to successfully claim the benefit of a provisional application, several requirements must be met:

• Timely filing: The nonprovisional application must be filed within 12 months of the provisional application’s filing date.
• Proper reference: The nonprovisional application must contain a specific reference to the provisional application.
• Common inventor: At least one inventor named in the nonprovisional application must also be named in the provisional application.
• Adequate support: The provisional application must provide adequate support for at least one claim in the nonprovisional application under 35 U.S.C. 112(a).

As stated in MPEP 211.01(a):

“For a claim in a subsequently filed nonprovisional application to be entitled to the benefit of the filing date of a provisional application, the provisional application must have at least one inventor in common with the nonprovisional application and must provide adequate support under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) for the subject matter of the claim.”

Meeting these requirements ensures that the nonprovisional application can properly claim the earlier filing date of the provisional application for the supported subject matter.

To learn more:

• nonprovisional application
• provisional application
• benefit claim
• requirements