What is a provisional patent application?

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.

A provisional patent application is a type of U.S. patent application that allows inventors to establish an early filing date for their invention without the need for a formal patent claim or oath/declaration. According to MPEP 201.04, a provisional application is defined as:

“A provisional application as used in this chapter means a U.S. national application for patent filed in the Office under 35 U.S.C. 111(b).”

Provisional applications are simpler and less expensive to file than regular nonprovisional applications, but they are not examined for patentability and automatically expire after 12 months.