Are claims required for a provisional patent application to receive a filing date?

This page is an FAQ based on guidance from the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure. It is provided as guidance, with links to the ground truth sources. This is information only: it is not legal advice.

No, claims are not required for a provisional patent application to receive a filing date. This is explicitly stated in 35 U.S.C. 111(b)(2), which provides that “[a] claim, as required by subsections (b) through (e) of section 112, shall not be required in a provisional application.”

The MPEP confirms this by stating: “In addition, 35 U.S.C. 111(b)(2) provides that ‘[a] claim, as required by subsections (b) through (e) of section 112, shall not be required in a provisional application.’”

This provision allows inventors to quickly establish a priority date for their invention without the need to draft formal patent claims, which can be a complex and time-consuming process.