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

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.