What is the difference between a national application, provisional application, and nonprovisional 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.

The terms ‘national application,’ ‘provisional application,’ and ‘nonprovisional application’ are defined in 37 CFR 1.9(a). Specifically:

• A national application refers to a U.S. patent application that is not an international application.
• A provisional application is a type of patent application that allows filing without a formal patent claim or any information disclosure statement.
• A nonprovisional application is a regular patent application that includes a specification, claims, and other formal requirements.

These definitions help distinguish between different types of patent applications in the U.S. patent system.

For more information on nonprovisional application, visit: nonprovisional application.

For more information on provisional application, visit: provisional application.

For more information on USPTO, visit: USPTO.