Patent Law FAQ

Can a provisional application claim the benefit of an earlier application?

No, a provisional application cannot claim the benefit of an earlier-filed application. This is explicitly stated in MPEP 211.01(a):

“A provisional application is not entitled to the benefit of the filing date of an earlier filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119, 120, 121, 365, or 386.”

This means that a provisional application stands on its own and cannot extend its effective filing date by claiming priority to any earlier application, whether it’s another provisional, a nonprovisional, or a foreign application. The purpose of a provisional application is to establish an early filing date for a subsequent nonprovisional application, not to claim priority to earlier filings.

To learn more:

• provisional application
• benefit claim
• earlier application
• priority claim